GRASP Cheer Mountain Gorilla Census, Cautions Conservation Vigilance

The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) welcomed census results that indicate significantly more Mountain gorillas exist in Uganda than previously thought, but warned that the worldwide population remains at risk and requires greater conservation effort if the rare apes are to survive.

A census conducted in 2011 found a minimum of 400 Mountain gorillas living in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which boosts the population found in eastern Africa to an estimated 880.

Approximately 780 Mountain gorillas were thought to exist previously. The 13% rise was attributed to more accurate census techniques and actual population growth among the gorillas.

GRASP Council Confronts Crisis

Wild populations of chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos are in sharp decline and their habitat is under severe threat, adding urgency to the 2nd Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) Council meeting that gets underway 6-8 November in Paris, France.

GRASP will examine threats, consider solutions and ask its broad membership to craft a strategy to ensure the long-term survival of great apes, which are closer than ever to extinction.

The 2nd GRASP Council will be held at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which jointly hosts the GRASP secretariat with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

2nd GRASP Council Set for Paris

The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) will craft a long-term strategy that meets the demands of conserving great apes and their habitat in a rapidly changing world when it stages the 2nd GRASP Council from November 6-8 in Paris, France. Click here to visit the council Website.

UNESCO headquarters will host the event, which will bring together GRASP’s unique alliance of partner nations, United Nations agencies, conservation organizations, and private supporters.

The 2nd GRASP Council will also consider proposals suggested by the recent GRASP Strategic Review designed to make the partnership more effective, and consider reaching out to areas of government, industry, science, and research that could increase the scope and scale of GRASP’s work.

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From the Field

About GRASP

The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) is an innovative and ambitious partnership comprised of great ape range states with an immediate challenge - to lift the threat of imminent extinction faced by gorillas (Gorilla beringei, G. gorilla), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus) and orangutans (Pongo abelii, P. pygmaeus) across their ranges in equatorial Africa and Southeast Asia.

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A.P.E.S.Portal

The A.P.E.S portal is an online tool that provides real-time, visual representation of information about great apes, their habitats, populations, threats and conservation efforts around the world.