The Mahale Wildlife Conservation Society was established in 1994 to promote conservation, research and public education activities related to the wildlife (chimpanzees, in particular) of the Mahale Mountains and other areas of western Tanzania. The objectives for which the Society is established are:

• To promote research on primates and their conservation in Tanzania, in particular the Mahale area in Western Tanzania where chimpanzees and other primates are found in the wild, attracting both researchers and tourists from all over the world.
• To promote the conservation of the remaining natural forests in the Mahale area that form important habitats for non-human primates.
• To serve as an organ that will bring together primate researchers - both novices and established authorities, forest ecologists, conservationists and general public to share their views about primates and their conservation.
• To work with other non-government organisations in raising funds and dispersing them towards research and conservation of non-human primates and their habitats in the area of Mahale.
• To assist its members in identifying suitable training opportunities in the country and overseas.
• To assist its members both within Tanzania and overseas in identifying suitable research topics.
• To establish and maintain in the Mahale area facilities that will be made available in supporting field researchers and conservationists in Tanzania.
• To act as a link between wildlife researchers and conservationists on one hand and Government institutions on the other hand, in achieving optimum cooperation in their efforts to develop the wildlife resources in the natural forest of the country.
• To promote public involvement in the conservation of primates and their habiat in the Mahale area by cooperating with similar non-government organisations and the government in organising public education programmes.
• To collaborate with, and when appropriate to offer assistance to, other organisations and workers in closely related fields, namely: primate research, wildlife research and conservation within Tanzania, and any activities with a strong local connection to the Mahale area.
• To do all such things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objectives.