Chimpanzees
The Triangle: Educate. Protect. Rescue.
Three distinct bodies are involved in the protection of Chimpanzees: Environmental Education programs, Law Enforcement and Sanctuaries.
- Firstly, Environmental education programs educate community members on the importance of conserving the Chimpanzees, what they can to do help Chimpanzees, and emphasise on the consequences for those who seek to harm them. With the increase in awareness of the plight of Chimpanzees and the ways they can help, community members will be able to accurately detect crimes against Chimpanzees and be more motivated to report such crimes to the appropriate authorities.
- Upon notification to appropriate authorities, law enforcement measures would be employed to address the situation. This often involves the confiscation of Chimpanzees until authorities find a safe place to take him or her.
- Chimpanzees are often taken to sanctuaries such as the Jane Goodall Institution’s Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center. Rescued and confiscated Chimpanzees take refuge in these sanctuaries, where they are protected against external threats and provided with sufficient food and regular medical checks to ensure their wellbeing. Without the presence of sanctuaries, confiscated Chimpanzees would not have a safe place to take refuge in, and crimes against Chimpanzees would largely go unchecked.
Forests
Tropical rainforests harbour 90% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. However, forests are disappearing at a rate of 14 million hectares per annum. With the irreversibility of habitat loss, this poses a great threat to the long-term survival of Chimpanzees.
Conservation Action Planning: The Jane Goodall Institution utilises the Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Action Planning methodology to assist stakeholders in implementing land use planning strategies via technological means such as satellite imaging and participatory mapping techniques.
Jane Goodall Institution also emphasises on the importance of local participation in conservation planning and monitoring. Village Land Use Planning Committees were established to coordinate land use management across the landscape under the guidance and data provided by the Institution. Inter village organisations that focus on the preservation of natural resources work hand-in-hand to integrate land use planning activities, as well as reach out to local and foreign authorities and donors to seek funding. Individually, locals are empowered to make a difference within their own communities by leveraging upon mobile mapping technologies to provide communities with accurate information for conservation planning and management.
Community
1. Creating Sustainable Livelihoods via Agriculture and Ecotourism
Agriculture: The Jane Goodall Institution aims to preserve the natural environment and its resources for future generations by promoting sustainable production systems. This is carried out through agricultural projects like educating farmers on agro-forestry and control measures for soil erosion. In addition, farmers are also provided with knowledge on land-use planning as well as the use of organic manure and pesticides.
Ecotourism: Instead of turning to subsistence farming which may lead to environmental degradation, the Jane Goodall Institute provides an alternative to supporting the livelihood of the community through ecotourism – the charged, organised touring of natural habitats. Given the natural beauty and greenery of landscapes surrounding the communities as well as the presence of endangered, rare species like Chimpanzees, ecotourism ideally supports conservation goals and create income-generating opportunities for the communities – striking two birds with a single stone. Examples of successful case studies in Africa include the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary and habituated Chimpanzee viewing sites at Kibale and Kaniyo-Pabidi. Today, the Greater Gombe Ecosystem Program, Jane Goodall Institution’s leading community-centred conservation initiative, overlooks the coordination of ecotourism activities.
2. Creating Healthy Families
With unchecked population growth offering one of the greatest existing threats to the Chimpanzee habitats, Jane Goodall Institution recognises the importance of improving the health of the human population and educating them on the importance of birth control.
Community-Based Distribution Agents (CBDAs): Local community members are trained to serve as Community-Based Distribution Agents upon getting chosen by their peers. Their training involves learning how to educate the community members on various reproductive health issues as well as the proper steps that should be engaged to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Besides that, they also refer people to health centres located in the region to undergo medical checks and provide advice on family planning methods. Following every counselling session, CBDAs distribute contraception provided by the Institution to remind community members to engage in birth control. Today, the Jane Goodall Institution is the first and only provider of family planning services in many of the North Kivu villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Water and Environmental Sanitation: A top public health priority under the Jane Goodall Institution is to reduce the high rates of transmission of water borne communicable diseases such as Cholera. This mainly arises due to the heavy pollution of unprotected water bodies in western Tanzania such as springs, rivers and wells, which creates hot-spots for the transmission of water borne diseases. On the other hand, poor waste disposal methods often breeds enteric disease transmission in many villages. To combat these diseases, the Institution supports the construction of gravity based water systems, rainwater collection tanks and wells. Local water committees have been organised and trained to educate the community on the ways to maintain and manage these newer facilities. The Institution also provides basic hygiene training in hopes of reducing the rates of water borne disease transmissions. One model the Institution follows is the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) model.
3. Empowering women
Jane Goodall Institution empowers young women through means such as by granting them access to education via mentorship and scholarships. These are all stepping stones which allow them to create a better future not only for themselves, but also for families as well as the environment. Till date, mentorships and scholarships have benefited 600 and 309 young women respectively. Micro-credit programs are also established to allow women to borrow funds from the Institution so that they can use the funds to start up small business ventures, and return the borrowed funds only after they have earned sufficient revenue.