A new conservation plan launched for eastern and central Africa definitely doesn’t skimp on chimps. And why should it? Humans do share about 98 percent of the same genes as chimpanzees.
So over a 10-year effort to save our shorter, hairier ape cousins, WCS and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature will work to protect 16 crucial areas wherein eastern chimpanzees number between 200,000 and 250,000.
That’s about 96 percent of all known chimpanzee populations.
Last August, more than 30 experts from 7 countries met in Uganda to develop an action plan to save these primates. Classified by IUCN as Endangered, eastern chimpanzees face threats from hunting, disease, kidnapping for the pet trade as well as habitat destruction via mining, farming and deforestation.
Illegal hunting and trafficking are two of the greatest threats to eastern chimpanzees. Through the action plans, conservationists hope to reduce the levels of these activities by half within most of the species range.
“In the next decade, we hope to minimize the threats to these populations and the ecological and cultural diversity they support,” said Andrew Plumptre, director of WCS’s Albertine Rift Program and the plan’s lead author.Through the ambitious plan, researchers will survey the chimp’s populations across their wild range, which includes the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia. For more than 22,000 GPS-located points, wildlife experts will gather data on the chimpanzees—where they nest, where they eat, where they make noise. Unfortunately, the chimps frequent some places that are off-limits to the researchers due to violent conflict. To fill in these data gaps for these areas, the plan authors formulated predictive models to estimate the density of local chimpanzee populations.
Chimp conservationists also aim to deepen their understanding of the health risks to chimpanzee populations, including human-transmitted diseases, to encourage local community support for conservation, and to secure sustainable financing for chimpanzee conservation units.
“The plan will require considerable support from the global community—approximately $315,000 per chimpanzee conservation unit, or $5 million each year—but will ensure the continued survival of eastern chimpanzees in their natural habitats,” said Dr. James Deutsch of WCS-Africa.
The development of the Action Plan was funded by WCS through the generous support of the Arcus Foundation, a leading global philanthropic foundation advancing pressing conservation and social justice issues, and the Daniel K. Thorne Foundation.
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Mpango mpya wa uhifadhi uliozinduliwa kwa ajili ya Afrika mashariki na kati kwa hakika haupunguzi nyani. Na kwa nini ifanye hivyo? Kwa kweli, wanadamu wana asilimia 98 ya chembe za urithi zinazofanana na za chimpanzee. Kwa miaka 10 iliyopita, WCS na Umoja wa Kimataifa wa Uhifadhi wa Asili (IUCN) wamekuwa wakifanya kazi ya kulinda maeneo 16 muhimu ambapo chimpanzi wa mashariki wana idadi ya kati ya 200,000 na 250,000. Hiyo ni asilimia 96 ya idadi yote inayojulikana ya chimpansii. Wataalamu zaidi ya 30 kutoka nchi saba walikutana nchini Uganda mwezi Agosti ili kuandaa mpango wa kuokoa wanyama hao. Chimpanzee wa mashariki, ambao wamewekwa katika orodha ya wanyama walio hatarini, wanakabiliwa na vitisho vya kuwinda, magonjwa, utekaji nyara kwa ajili ya biashara ya wanyama wa kufugwa, na uharibifu wa makazi kupitia uchimbaji madini, kilimo na ukataji miti. Uwindaji haramu na biashara haramu ni hatari kubwa zaidi kwa chimpanzi wa mashariki. Kupitia mipango ya hatua, watetezi wa mazingira wanatarajia kupunguza viwango vya shughuli hizi kwa nusu ndani ya eneo kubwa la spishi. "Katika muongo ujao, tunatarajia kupunguza vitisho kwa idadi hii na utofauti wa ikolojia na kitamaduni wanaounga mkono, ""alisema Andrew Plumptre, mkurugenzi wa WCS Albertine Rift Program na mwandishi mkuu wa mpango huo. ""Kupitia mpango huo wa kutamani, watafiti watachunguza idadi ya chimp katika eneo lao la mwituni, ambalo linajumuisha Jamhuri ya Afrika ya Kati, Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania na Zambia." Katika maeneo zaidi ya 22,000 yaliyo na GPS, wataalamu wa wanyama wa porini watachunguza data kuhusu chimpanzees - mahali wanapofanya viota, mahali wanapokula, mahali wanapopiga kelele. Kwa kusikitisha, nyani hao hutembelea maeneo fulani ambayo watafiti hawawezi kufika kwa sababu ya mapigano makali. Ili kujaza mapungufu haya ya data kwa maeneo haya, waandishi wa mpango waliunda mifano ya utabiri ili kukadiria wiani wa idadi ya chimpanzee wa ndani. Wanasayansi wa uhifadhi wa chimpanzee pia wanakusudia kuimarisha uelewa wao wa hatari za afya kwa idadi ya chimpanzee, ikiwa ni pamoja na magonjwa yanayopitishwa na binadamu, kuhamasisha msaada wa jamii ya ndani kwa uhifadhi, na kupata fedha endelevu kwa vitengo vya uhifadhi wa chimpanzee. "Pili, mpango huo utahitaji msaada mkubwa kutoka kwa jamii ya kimataifa - karibu $ 315,000 kwa kila kitengo cha uhifadhi wa chimpanzee, au $ 5 milioni kila mwaka - lakini utahakikisha kuendelea kuishi kwa chimpanzees za mashariki katika mazingira yao ya asili, ""alisema Dk James Deutsch wa WCS-Africa." Mpango huo wa vitendo ulifadhiliwa na WCS kupitia msaada wa ukarimu wa Arcus Foundation, taasisi inayoongoza ya kimataifa ya misaada inayoendeleza masuala ya uhifadhi na haki ya kijamii, na Daniel K. Thorne Foundation. Kujiunga na zaidi ya milioni moja ya wapenzi wa wanyama wa porini kufanya kazi ili kuokoa spishi duniani zaidi thamani na hatarini. Asanteni kwa kujiunga