Our achievements
Hunting of chimpanzees stopped
With the help of the local population we stopped the hunting of chimpanzees for the pet market. The exceptional farmer that killed a chimpanzee in his field, got heavily penalized.
Legal protection increased
In 2015 Vendu Cham has been designated a RAMSAR site https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2230 while in 2017 part of the Boé became a legally protected National Park.
Local welcome for the lion (and other wildlife)
When we found evidence that the (for West Africa very rare) lion lives in/came back to Boé, the people were very proud. Our community rangers report that hunting in general has decreased over the last 10 years.
The local population empowered
The local radio, as the most important means of communication for the Boé, reaches out to the whole population thanks to our investments. We set up a kind of Village Council (the PH) in which the representatives of the population can ask attention for its opportunities and needs.
Lives improved and in some cases even saved
With rice banks we improve the availability of affordable rice in the Boé, we transported children with Lepra and Noma to specialized hospitals, found a family in Bissau for an orphan, saved lives with our stock of snake venom anti-serum, helped people to get free HIV medication in time, gave Ebola prevention training, etc..
Ecotourism
A visitor campsite has been set up in Beli, Boé‘s administrative centre where international visitors can safely be lodged and where local meals can be provided. Trained guides can accompany visitors to the field.
Research
Over 50 students and scientists from The Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, India, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, and Canada did research that has contributed to the conservation of the Boé. Boé has been one of the PANAF sites thanks to our cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.
Worldwide (scientific) attention gained for the special behaviour of the chimps in Boé
A publication on this accumulative stone throwing behaviour in 2016 in Nature, Scientific Reports was one of the top 100 highly read articles out of 20.000 published.
Protection of sacred sites increased
We set up a successful programme to create fire breaks at the beginning of the dry season, to prevent the spreading of large fires towards the end of the dry season when farmers start preparing their fields.
Large forest fires decreased
We set up a successful programme to create fire breaks at the beginning of the dry season, to prevent the spreading of large fires towards the end of the dry season when farmers start preparing their fields.
Skills of many people improved
We provide alphabetisation, foreign language-, computer-, administration-, and tourist guiding trainings. Four local staff members were sent for a year to Mweka Wildlife school in Tanzania. We make scholarships available for girls from the Boé to attend secondary schools outside the area.
Awareness and education
We have have organised training sessions for teachers, soldiers, farmers and local leaders such as imams and village chiefs.
Integrating Boe in the international conservation movement
We have presented the case of the Boé at workshops, seminars and congresses such as the World Parks Congress (Sydney) and the World Conservation Congress (Barcelona, Jeju, Hawaii). We are a member of GRASP, IUCN, ASI, and of GlobeGuards.