U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund

Apes, by their has become exacerbated as roads built Additionally, recent outbreaks of nature, are for logging and mining operations hemorrhagic fevers, like Ebola, have extremely allow poachers access to previously reduced some ape populations to a vulnerable. They remote forests, which once served as fraction of their previous numbers, have very low refuges for apes. In villages where killing up to 90% of individuals in densities, grow meat from domesticated animals is affected populations. relatively slowly, scarce and expensive, wild animals are are long-lived, have hunted as a cheap and locally available Apes are susceptible to many of the low reproductive rates, and complex source of protein. In cities, eating same diseases as humans. As growing social relationships. Today, the entire bushmeat has become a status symbol human populations penetrate further world’s great ape species are for the wealthy and the demand for into ape habitat, the potential for threatened with extinction. wild meat has steadily increased. disease transmission between apes and people, and vice versa, increases. As In Asia, both orangutans and gibbons a result, the bushmeat trade poses a are facing a multitude of serious serious health risk for humans. threats. Asia’s only great ape species, the Sumatran orangutan and In response to these many pressing the Bornean orangutan, are found threats, the United States Congress respectively on the islands of Sumatra enacted the Great Ape Conservation and Borneo. They will both be extinct Act in 2000 which created the Great if illegal logging, forest fires, poorly Ape Conservation Fund for the planned road construction, conversion conservation of gorillas, chimpanzees, of indigenous forest to plantations, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons. draining of peat lands, and poaching The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continue unchecked. Stopping habitat (USFWS) awards grants from the loss and protecting remaining forests fund for activities and research that are essential to save these unique strengthen law enforcement and species. conservation education, safeguard habitat, monitor and prevent the Asia’s lesser apes, the gibbons, spread of infectious diseases, and are threatened by habitat loss, much more. With the help of this Act fragmentation and degradation, and many committed conservationists, and hunting for food, medicine, and there is hope that these animals will sport. This situation is made worse beat the odds of extinction. by the lack of effective sanctuaries for gibbons. Existing protected areas suffer from inadequate management, and poor enforcement of wildlife laws.

Africa’s apes - gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos - are also facing a variety of threats including hunting, habitat loss, illegal pet trade, and disease outbreaks. These threats have combined to rapidly decimate populations. In 1960, there were more than 1,000,000 chimpanzees in the dense forests of Africa. Today, fewer than 200,000 survive in the wild and their numbers continue to fall.

Throughout West and Central Africa, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos are being hunted for food. The situation

Top right: Adult Bonobos (Pan paniscus) forage in the grass Credit: Vanessa Woods/Friends of Bonobos Bottom: Mountain Gorilla Credit: Richard Ruggiero/USFWS In 2013 a Congressional appropriation of nearly $2 million to the Great Apes Fund was leveraged with more than $3.1 million million in matching and in-kind funds to support 32 projects in Asia and Africa including vital conservation efforts:

• In partnership with the Diane • In partnership with the Wild Chim- Fossey Gorilla Fund, protect a panzee Foundation, increase man- significant portion of the remaining agement capacity and community mountain gorilla population in the involvement to conserve chimpan- Democratic Republic of Congo’s zees and associated biodiversity in Virunga National Park through daily Liberia’s newly established Grebo patrol and monitoring activities. National Park.

• With support to the Wildlife Conser- • Together with Bucknell University, vation Society, ensure the survival establish and sustain an effective of the critically endangered Cross conservation management and anti- River gorilla by supporting the poaching presence by the Ministry development of a network of core of Wildlife Conservation and Tour- protected areas and corridors in ism in the Game Reserves of West- Nigeria and Cameroon managed in ern Equatoria State, South Sudan, collaboration with local communities to protect eastern chimpanzees. Eco-toursit views Mountain Gorillas and government partners. (Gorilla gorilla) in Virungas National • In partnership with Health In Har- Park, Democratic Republic of Congo • In collaboration with International mony, initiate the reforestation of a Credit: Emmanuel de Merode Conservation and Education Fund corridor important to orangutans, (INCEF), conserve great ape conduct a trial of a low cost refores- populations in northern Republic of tation method, maintain a seedling Congo by raising awareness in rural nursery, provide reforestation • In partnership with the Wildlife communities through screenings training to communities who want Conservation Society, provide and dissemination of films to reduce to restore their forests on the edge adaptive enforcement response illegal great ape and bushmeat hunt- of Gunung Palung National Park in in Nam Et-Phou Louey National ing, ritual wildlife killings, habitat Indonesia, and contribute to sup- Protected Area landscape in Lao destruction, and disease transmis- port the park’s aerial monitoring of PDR through a quick response sion. illegal logging. patrolling unit near key northern white-cheeked gibbon habitat, • Support Yayasan Penyelamatan translate the Spatial Monitoring Orangutan Borneo to reintroduce and Reporting Tool (SMART) into orangutans into Kehje Sewen For- the local language; and provide est, Kutai Kartanegara and East training on data input and analy- Kutai districts in East Kalimantan sis. with the support and involvement of the local community and other stakeholders. This will be done by reintroducing the rehabilitated orangutans into the forest, carrying U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service out post monitoring on the released International Affairs orangutans, conducting education Division of International Conservation and community development activi- 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS: IA ties, and providing regular updates Falls Church, Virginia 22041 to the communities, government 703/358-1754 Adult female Gibbon (Nomascus partners and the scientific commu- 703/358-2115 fax gabriellae) in China. Credit: Zhao Chao nity. [email protected] http://www.fws.gov/international Great Ape Conservation Funding from 2007 through 2013 twitter.com/USFWSInternatl www.facebook.com/USFWSinternationalaffairs Total Number of Grant Proposals Received 790 CFDA# 15.629 Total Number of Grants Awarded 423 August 2014 Total Funds Distributed through Grants $30,446,682* Total Matching/In-kind Funds Leveraged by Grants $38,422,252 *Amount includes funds from USAID/CARPE and from Save Vanishing Species Stamp