St Bridget’s Church Eco-Congregation Green Sheet No. 31

Introducing: The Jane Goodall Institute, and how you could help support them by buying somebody the gift of becoming a chimpanzee guardian for Christmas; In the summer of 1960, 26-year-old Jane Goodall arrived on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa to study the area's chimpanzee population. Although it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the wilds of the African forest, the trip meant the fulfilment of Jane Goodall's childhood dream. Jane's work in Tanzania would prove more successful than anyone had imagined.

THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE

Founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, JGI is a global non-profit that empowers people to make a difference for all living things. We are creating healthy ecosystems, promoting sustainable livelihoods and nurturing new generations of committed, active citizens around the world.

JGI affiliated sanctuaries are committed to effectively addressing the root issues that threaten the survival of great apes in the wild. JGI also recognizes the immediate need to protect the victims of the illegal bushmeat trade – orphaned chimpanzees who are typically sold into the pet trade after watching their mothers being brutally killed. In cooperation with African governments, JGI is ensuring that illegally held chimpanzees are confiscated from poachers or market vendors and placed in sanctuaries across Africa. Most of the governments within host countries of chimpanzees have made it illegal to take endangered species from the wild. To ensure that facilities exist, JGI has created three sanctuaries in Africa (Congo and Uganda) housing more than 200 orphaned chimpanzees in total. JGI sanctuaries provide a safe refuge where chimpanzees can be cared for and given the chance to live reasonably full lives in spacious conditions. To bring tangible benefits to the local communities, by employing local staff and buying all fruits and vegetables to feed the chimpanzees from the local markets.

Reintroduction

Numerous chimpanzee host countries are currently under pressure due to the massive influx of young orphans who have been captured illegally from the wild. Although sanctuaries area good 'band aid' solution in the short term, they cannot provide the needed conditions for the orphans to express their whole range of natural behaviours. While in sanctuary, the orphans often become highly dependant on humans for food and protection making future reintroduction programs impossible.

It is has been argued that if the root causes of the threats to the species' survival are addressed at the same time as the welfare of the confiscated orphans, release projects can be highly successful. Reintroduction programs can benefit not only the animals that were released but also the release area, through effective protection from poaching and deforestation and can even help the local community that relies on the natural resources for their livelihood.

The goal of JGI's reintroduction research program is to conduct preliminary studies on the feasibility of such a project within Congo and Uganda where we currently have sanctuaries housing over 150 chimpanzees. The establishment of the appropriate

facilities (pre-release environment) where new arrivals to our sanctuaries will be able to learn how to forage for natural vegetation, build nests, and develop the social bonds necessary for their survival in the wild is an important first step in the development of a release program. A suitable release site must provide sufficient resources for the chimpanzees and permit no adverse effects on the species already present. The release site must also offer reliable protection from threats such as hunting and logging and must not expose the released chimpanzees to conflict with the local community. Potential risks to the wild chimpanzee population, local community, and released individuals will be examined by JGI within the biological and socio-economic framework of the chosen release sites.

A reintroduction program by JGI would be based on the experiences and lessons learned from previous chimpanzee release projects such as H.E.L.P.— Congo's chimpanzee reintroduction initiatives in the Conkouati Reserve— and would adhere to the IUCN/SSC guidelines for primate reintroduction.

It is an important policy of the Jane Goodall InstHitute that sanctuaries should not only serve the needs of the chimpanzees who live there, but that they meet other objectives

as well; Chimps in the wild are on the brink of extinction. At the turn of the last century, chimpanzees living across West and Central Africa numbered around one million. Today there areas few as 200,000 chimpanzees left in the wild. There are many reasons why chimps are disappearing. Their habitat is vanishing at an alarming rate due to deforestation caused by logging companies. Additionally, the commercial bushmeat trade in Africa has led to an increase in the poaching of chimpanzees and other primates. A crisis with far-reaching implications, this trade involves the slaughter of adult chimps, on a commercial scale, for human consumption. The commercial bushmeat trade doesn't end in Africa—it finds its ways to the tables in cities around the world, including the United States. And, all too often after witnessing the death of their mothers, infant chimpanzees are captured and sold illegally into the pet trade and for entertainment uses.

While working to put an end to the commercial bushmeat trade, the Jane Goodall Institute is ensuring that illegally held infant chimps are confiscated from poachers or market vendors and placed in sanctuaries across the continent. In Tchimpounga Sanctuary, orphan chimps live together in a natural environment in the hands of experienced and loving caregivers. They receive proper nutrition and learn to live in social groups that are necessary to their survival and essential for their development and well-being.

By becoming a Chimpanzee Guardian, you receive the satisfaction of knowing that your contribution will help us to provide housing, food, and medicine for the nearly 200 chimpanzees at Tchimpounga sanctuary. In addition, you will help support African villagers to build sustainable livelihoods that promote regional conservation goals such as reforestation or an end to the illegal bushmeat trade. Please help, become a Chimpanzee Guardian or give a Guardianship to someone you care about.

If you have items to contribute to the green sheets please contact Sally on 0151 625 2659.

The items included in the green sheets are for your information only, but we hope that you find some of them useful.