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4 - The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) and the Taï Chimpanzee Project (TCP)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2019

By
Emmanuelle Normand ,
Ilka Herbinger ,
Kouassi A.K. Joseph  and
Yves A. Kablan
Edited by
Christophe Boesch  and
Roman Wittig
Edited in association with
Catherine Crockford ,
Linda Vigilant ,
Tobias Deschner  and
Fabian Leendertz
Christophe Boesch
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Roman Wittig
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Catherine Crockford
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Linda Vigilant
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Tobias Deschner
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Fabian Leendertz
Affiliation:
Robert Koch-Institut, Germany
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Summary

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) is a spin-off from the Taï Chimpanzee Project (TCP), created after TCP researchers witnessed wild chimpanzee populations in and around Taï National Park diminish due to wildlife poaching and massive deforestation of the tropical forest. Prof. Christophe Boesch initiated conservation efforts with help from his PhD students, who know the region and problematics. The first conservation efforts the WCF initiated were interactive theatre campaigns and biomonitoring programmes. The theatre campaigns were based on previous sociological studies and included collaboration with sociologists from the national universities. The biomonitoring programme started in 2004 in collaboration with Ivorian students, quickly scaling up to the national level and including other protected areas. From 2007 onwards, the collaboration of TCP/WCF initiated a law enforcement and biomonitoring programme in the research area. Between 2009 and 2016, this project helped secure the research area and allowed the most important animal species to repopulate. WCF now undertakes pilot studies for innovative and new methodologies to further improve the park and chimpanzee protection.

Keywords

Science-based conservationInnovationBiomonitoringLaw enforcementBehaviour changeEco-tourism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest
40 Years of Research
 , pp. 58 - 69
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

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