GRASP Partners List & Categories

GRASP members, selected according to a set of GRASP Partnership Admission Criteria, have specific institutional capacities, resources and expertise that each brings to great ape conservation. Facilitating communication and cooperation to ensure the optimal use of partners’ attributes is of critical importance to GRASP. The GRASP executive committee determines admissions into the partnership on a rolling basis throughout the year.

(Category A)  Range States 

(Category B) Non-Range States 

Governments that offer funding for the conservation of great apes. UNEP and UNESCO have received generous financial support for GRASP from the governments of the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway and the European Union through the European Commission, while others such as the United States fund great ape conservation through other organizations.

(Category C) Secretariat

United Nations agencies involved in GRASP:

The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP).

UNEP provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and people to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO).

UNESCO works to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture. This role is critical, particularly in the face of terrorism, which constitutes an attack against humanity. The world urgently requires global visions of sustainable development based upon observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which lie at the heart of UNESCO's mission and activities.

(Category D) Intergovernmental Organisation

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES)

CITES is a multilateral treaty, drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention was opened for signature in 1973, and CITES entered into force on July 1, 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild, and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 33,000 species of animals and plants.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)   

CBD is an intergovernmental treaty to sustain the earth’s biological diversity, through conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Convention's program of work to establish effective networks of protected areas, and promote sustainable harvesting of timber and non-timber forest resources and forest law enforcement, are of particular relevance to the conservation of great apes. All individual ape range states are Parties to the CBD

Convention on Migratory Species(CMS)

CMS is an intergovernmental treaty to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their ranges. In relation to great apes, the Convention is primarily focused on the conservation of the Mountain gorilla, which crosses the border areas between Uganda, Rwanda and the DR Congo. The CMS Secretariat, together with the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) and GRASP, are developing a CMS Article IV agreement between the governments of these three range states for the transboundary conservation and management of the mountain gorilla and its habitat

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Ramsar is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources..The Ramsar and GRASP secretariats cooperate to provide assistance for the elaboration of management plans in Ramsar sites inhabited by great apes.

World Heritage Convention(WHC)

WHC defines and conserves the world's cultural and natural heritage through such mechanisms as World Heritage Sites, many of which are critical for the survival of great apes

National and regional non-governmental conservation organizations commited to the conservation of great apes and their habitat.

 (Category E) Conservation Organisations

(Category F) Private Companies