GRASP Meetings

Executive Committee Meetings

The GRASP Executive Committee meets annually to ensure the efficient functioning of GRASP.

 

6th GRASP Executive Committee Meeting

28-29 November 2011, Bergen, Norway

 

10-11 September 2009, London
Meeting Documents [English] [Français]

26-27 November 2008, Rome
Meeting Documents [English] [Français]

2-3 May 2007, Nairobi
Meeting Minutes [English] [Français]

20-21 July 2006, Paris
Meeting Minutes [English] [Français]

5-6 December 2004, Paris
Meeting Minutes [English]

 

Interim Executive Committee Meetings

Between the experts meeting held in 2003 in Paris and the Intergovernmental meeting in September 2005, an Interim Executive Committee was in operation.

7-8 July 2005, Paris
Meeting Minutes [English] [Français]

17 Feb 2004, Nairobi 
Meeting Minutes [English] [Français]

Council & Intergovernmental Meetings

The first Intergovernmental Meeting on Great Apes and the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) and the first GRASP Council Meeting was convened from 5-9 September 2005 in Kinshasa , Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), under the high patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Joseph Kabila.

The meeting saw the participation of over 200 international delegates, as well as more than 300 participants from the DRC. Eighteen of the 23 great ape range states from Africa and Southeast Asia were represented, nine of these by Ministerial-level delegations. 29 GRASP non-governmental organization Partners attended the meeting, as well as seven donor countries (including the UK Minister of Biodiversity), the European Commission, the Central Africa Forest Commission (COMIFAC), three GRASP Patrons, three of the biodiversity-related conventions and representatives of the scientific community, indigenous groups and the private sector.

At the Intergovernmental Meeting, Ministers, heads of delegations, representatives of the biodiversity-related conventions, the European Commission , COMIFAC, UNEP, UNESCO, GRASP non-governmental organization Partners and other civil society and private sector representatives signed the Kinshasa Declaration, affirming political will at the highest level for the first time in the history of the Great Apes. Participants also adopted a global strategy for the survival of Great Apes, a set of rules to govern the organization of the GRASP Partnership and a revised workplan.

5-9 September 2005, Kinshasa
Outcomes [English] [Français]

 

Donor Meeting

25 October 2007, Paris, France

GRASP Organized a donors’ meeting which was held on 25 October, 2007 as part of the Paris Meetings on Primates and their Habitats which took place at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris from 22 to 26 October. These meetings were organized in conjunction with the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

Report of the GRASP Meeting of Donor States [English] [Français]

List of Participants [English]

Final Agenda [English] [Français]

Information on the Paris Meetings on Primates and their Habitats

The Paris Meetings on Primates and their Habitats was comprised of four meetings which were scheduled as follows:

The 20th meeting of the Francophone Society of Primatology (SFDP), 22-24 October,2007.

The 1st meeting of the Range States to the CMS Ngagi Agreement on Gorillas, 22-24 October, 2007.

GRASP meeting of donor countries and agencies, and others interested in supporting Great Apes conservation, 25 October, 2007.

The 5th meeting of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), 26 October, 2007.

Plan it for the Apes: GRASP Activity and Finance Plan [English] [Français]

Other Meetings & Workshops

October 2009, Tai-Sapo Transboundary Workshop in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Spanning the border of Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia are remnant fragments of one of the most important ecosystems within the Upper Guinea Forest Region. These lowland forests form the largest block of relatively intact tropical rainforests in West Africa. They are also home to more than a quarter of Africa’s mammals, including 12 species of primates, important chimpanzee populations, and endemic species such as pygmy hippos and forest elephants.   

From the 5th to 6th of October 2009, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) and the Great Apes Survival Partnership/United Nations Environment Programme (GRASP/UNEP) in collaboration with relevant partners in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia organized a workshop to initiate transboundary collaboration between Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia for the creation of the Taï-Sapo Forest Complex. Under the patronage of the Minister for the Environment, Water and Forests of Côte d’Ivoire, more than 100 participants from both countries from various ministries, donor organizations, development agencies, research institutions, local and regional public services, national and international NGOs as well as representatives from the local communities were present.

October 2009, Abidjan
Workshop Report and Press Release available at Tai-Sapo.org

 

November 2007, Joint GRASP / CITES Technical mission to Malaysia

As part of a series of missions planned to great ape range and consumer states of Africa and Southeast Asia as part of the implementation of the CITES Res. Conf. 13.4 adopted in Bangkok, October 2004, a joint technical mission was undertaken by UNEP/GRASP and CITES to Malaysia on 5-8 November 2007 to investigate the illicit trade in orangutans.

Report of the Technical Mission to Malaysia

 

April 2007, Joint GRASP / CITES Technical mission to Thailand and Cambodia

A second joint technical mission was undertaken by UNEP/GRASP and CITES to Thailand and Cambodia 23-28 April 2007 to investigate the illicit trade in orangutans in these countries.

Report of the Technical Mission to Thailand and Cambodia

 

February 2007, Exchange of Letters with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, signed an exchange of letters confirming a commitment to greater collaboration on the conservation of great ape habitats in wetland sites during the 24th Session of the UNEP Governing Council, at a GRASP event on 6 February 2007.

Ramsar letter to GRASP
GRASP letter to Ramsar

 

June 2006, GRASP's support for Great Ape Conservation

GRASP side event was held during the International Primatological Society (IPS) congress in Entebbe, Uganda, on 29 June 2006. GRASP Patron, Richard Wrangham, and President of the IPS in his closing speech during the congress stressed the importance of GRASP and the significance of the Kinshasa Declaration. He also stressed that all scientists and conservationists use the Declaration as a tool to engage the Great Ape Range States.

 

May 2006, Joint GRASP/CITES Technical mission to Indonesia

A joint technical mission to Indonesia was undertaken from 8- 12 May 2006 by UNEP/GRASP and the CITES secretariat to investigate illegal trade in orangutans. The mission was facilitated by the Ministry of Forestry and the CITES Management Authority in Indonesia. This was the first in a series of such missions planned to great ape range and consumer states of Africa and Southeast Asia as part of the implementation of the Res. Conf. 13.4 adopted in Bangkok, October 2004. A report on the mission, incorporating a number of suggestions and recommendations, has been submitted to the Government of Indonesia. Other joint missions to Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia are planned.

Report of the Technical Mission to Indonesia
Indonesia Reponse to the Report

 

May 2006, GRASP side event at CBD CoP8

Can the UN save the Great Apes and their Biodiverse Habitats? The GRASP side event was held at the 8th Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity on 30th May 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil. During the event, Sierra Leone and Sudan, added their signature to the Kinshasa Declaration on Great Apes. Seven other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also signed the declaration.

 

April 2006, GRASP Side Event at the AMCEN

A GRASP side event was held during the eleventh regular session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). Rwanda and Gabon signed the Declaration during the AMCEN meeting.

 

April 2006, Great Ape Priority Population and Habitat's Workshop

The Scientific Workshop was organised by the GRASP Scientific Commission and UNESCO to follow up on work that was done to define the priority populations and sites in time for the September 2005 Kinshasa meeting. It allowed key members engaged in this exercise to review and discuss criteria with experts in vertebrate ecology, taxonomy and molecular evolution, and to place these selections on a sound scientific basis    link to the Great Ape Priority Population Maps and Datasheets presented at the 2005 Intergovernmental Meeting.

 

October 2005, GRASP Side Event at the CMS CoP8

The side event was held during the occasion of the 8th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). 40 delegates from Great Ape Range States, NGOs and other interested parties attended. At the event, it was acknowledged that there is need for more concerted action and continuous collaboration to help save the Great Apes from imminent extinction.