Trustees of the Bioparc Foundation recently visited the project, promoted by the Jane Goodall Spain Institute (IJGE), which focuses on research and conservation of this species in serious danger of extinction, as well as sustainable development and education in this regard. of the Senegalese people.
February 27 2014. The famous English primatologist Jane Goodall, winner of the 2003 Prince of Asturias award, has just officially inaugurated the “Fouta Jallon” Biological Station, the first research center applied to the conservation of the Western Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), species at high risk of extinction in Senegal. This center, located in the Dindefelo Community Natural Reserve, in the southeast of the country, is managed by the Jane Goodall Institute Spain (IJGE), in collaboration with local, regional and national authorities competent in the management of natural resources and biodiversity.
La Bioparc Foundation, which actively participates in five conservation projects in West Africa, has supported this initiative in which 20 young Spanish researchers are involved. Specifically, the Fundación has been in charge of equipping the station and supporting the construction of a “satellite” in the new area of Goumbambere (Dakateli), neighboring Dindefelo and the first step in the creation of the cross-border one. It's about a multifunctional project, which has two classrooms that will serve as a school and education center and offices for the new reserve.
Thanks to the professional and voluntary work of young Spaniards, who live integrated into families in the communities in which they work, much progress has been achieved in the protection of chimpanzees and their habitat (creation of a nature reserve, training of ecoguards, censuses , studies, etc..) and in improving the quality of life and prospects of the local community (water wells, washing places, school, nurseries, ecotourism, alternative economy, etc.) comprehensively addressing the challenge of chimpanzee conservation and management sustainable use of natural resources.
THE WESTERN CHIMPANZEE
The Western ChimpanzeePan troglodytes verus) is one of the four recognized subspecies of chimpanzee, and also one of the most threatened. Its distribution area is restricted to the westernmost area of the Gulf of Guinea. In the Dindefelo forest there are between 200 and 500 specimens, the only chimpanzees in Senegal, and those with a more northern distribution. These are chimpanzees that regularly leave the forest to enter the savannah, something exceptional in their species, which has led them to develop behavioral patterns similar to the first humans. The disappearance of these specimens would mean an incalculable loss both for regional biodiversity and global natural heritage, as well as for science.
This population is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat due to human activities such as deforestation due to agricultural and livestock activity, fires, competition for water and food resources (wild fruits) and poaching (in Guinea).
Foundation maintains a reproductive group of this species that is part of a conservation program ex situ at European level (EEP).
BIOPARC FOUNDATION
La BIOPARC Foundation is a non-profit institution promoted by BIOPARC Fuengirola y BIOPARC Valencia which has the objective of developing conservation projects in situ, that is, in the natural habitats and countries of origin of different animal species.
To date, BIOPARC Foundation participates in 12 conservation projects, located in Equatorial Africa, Madagascar, Indonesia and the Philippines. Also in our country, the BIOPARC Foundation has started two projects. One of them focuses on the conservation of the Betic patero toad (Alytes dickhilenii), a species endemic to eastern Andalusia.
One of the priority areas of action for the BIOPARC Foundation is the forest of Northern Guinea, at the northwestern end of which is the “Fouta Jallon” Biological Station, and the last western chimpanzees of Senegal. At the opposite extreme, in Cameroon, the BIOPARC Foundation works with a local NGO to conserve the Ebo forest, home to 25 gorillas (gorilla gorilla) and a population of chimpanzees of the Nigerian-Cameroon subspecies (Pan troglodytes ellioti). This population shows an amazing protoculture of tool manufacturing and use. Other projects in the area include the reintroduction of drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) on Mount Afi, Nigeria, the conservation of several species of cercopithecids (primates) in Ghana and Ivory Coast, and the conservation of the last pygmy hippos (Choeropsis liberiensis) on Mount Loma, in Sierra Leone.
