AFRICAN
CONSERVATION AND WEB SITES FOR AFRICA FROM
AFRICANWEBSITES.NET
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The
Congo Basin
Forest Partnership (CBFP) is an association of 29 governmental and
nongovernmental organizations that works to improve
communication and coordination among its member organizations vis-à-vis
their projects, programs, and policies to promote sustainable management
of Congo Basin Forest ecosystems and wildlife and improve the lives of people
living in the region. CBFP does not itself implement or fund programs and
it has no
secretariat or staff. Instead, it provides a service to
donors and implementing agencies working in the region by operating as an
information clearinghouse, a mechanism for promoting coordination of programs
across multiple donors and implementing agencies, and a forum for dialogue.
CBFP aims to increase awareness of the programs being funded and implemented
by its member organizations, enhance the efficiency of these programs and
relevant coordination processes, and identify and eliminate gaps and overlaps
in programs and funding. In so doing, the Partnership hopes to encourage
potential donors to engage in the Congo Basin region and the crucial work
of protecting its globally important endowments of wildlife and biological
diversity, ensuring good governance, and raising the living standards of
its people.
The Gulf of Guinea Islands' Biodiversity Network
is an informal
network of scientists, conservationists and
organisations interested in the biodiversity of the Gulf of Guinea islands
of Bioko, Príncipe, São Tomé and Annobón. Network
participants come from a wide range of disciplines including botanists,
geologists, herpetologists, entomologists, malacologists, primatologists
...
and those just interested! The network distributes
news of research, scientific and conservation developments and initiatives,
environmental issues, publications, web resources etc that are relevant to
the Gulf of Guinea islands and is also a forum for putting researchers with
similar interests in contact.
The Gulf
of Guinea Conservation Group had its origin
at a workshop on the biodiversity of the islands held at the Jersey Wildlife
Preservation Trust in June 1993 entitled Biodiversity and Conservation of
the Gulf of Guinea Islands. The workshop reviewed current knowledge on species
richness and endemism in the islands and identified issues that threaten
the conservation of the islands' unique fauna and flora. Papers delivered
at the workshop were published in a special issue of the journal Biodioversity
and Conservation (1994 Vol. 3 No. 9). To find out more,
visit their website or
email them.
Central Africa is home
to the second largest area of tropical forest on
earth after that of the Amazon. The riches of
its unparalleled biodiversity remain largely unexplored. The forest is a
vital resource for the people who live in and around it; exploited rationally,
it can be a real vector for development. But it is also an ensemble whose
stability depends on the multitude of inter—relationships between plants
and animals. Loss of the latter impoverishes the forest and impairs its capacity
to regenerate. The
ECOFAC
programme combines two basic and complementary principles: conservation
and development. It is a tangible expression of the European Union's commitment
to the protection and rational utilization of Central Africa's
forest ecosystems. It also fully involves the
forest dwelling people in its activities. The six countries covered by the
programme - Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe - have a combined population of 20 million,
which is growing by 3.2% yearly. Tropical rainforest stretches over about
670,000 km2 of these countries' territory but this area is dwindling at a
rate of almost 1% a year. Email
ECOFAC.
The mission of the
International Fund for
Animal Welfare (IFAW) is to improve the welfare
of wild and domestic animals throughout the world
by reducing commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats,
and assisting animals in distress. They seek to motivate the public to prevent
cruelty to animals and to promote animal welfare and conservation policies
that advance the well-being of both animals and people.
IFAW was founded in 1969
to confront the cruel commercial slaughter of harp and hooded seals. Having
successfully rallied worldwide condemnation of the hunt, they have grown
to become one of the largest international animal welfare organizations in
the world. Today IFAW
has offices in 12 countries and a staff of more than 200 experienced campaigners,
legal and political experts, and internationally acclaimed scientists. They
are a pragmatic and dedicated family of professionals who believe that animals
suffer far too much from commercial exploitation, habitat destruction, and
needless cruelty. And they are joined in that belief by more than 1.8 million
supporters. You can email
IFAW -
info@ifaw.org.
Much of Africa's habitat
and its wildlife is threatened by overpopulation and unsustainable use of
natural resources
by poor people. Raptors are no exception; over 100 species
either breed in Africa or migrate there each winter from Europe and Asia.
Conservation of far ranging species like raptors and other migratory birds
presents special problems to biologists. How do we protect animals that range
so far and need widely dispersed habitats in which to survive?
The Peregrine
Fund's Pan Africa Program aims to establish projects throughout Africa
that train local people to do the studies needed to achieve conservation
of birds of prey and other species. The programme will bring biologists from
diverse countries and cultures together in a common effort to protect Africa's
natural resources. You can email The Peregrine Fund at
tpf@peregrinefund.org.
The bushmeat crisis is
the most significant immediate threat to the future of wildlife populations
in Africa. Hunting of wildlife to meet people’s
demand for protein may still be sustainable in
the few remaining areas where population densities are less than 2 people/km2,
trade routes are poorly established, and human population growth rates are
low. The scale of the illegal, commercial bushmeat trade now occurring in
Africa, however, is driven by markets with large, rapidly-growing populations
of consumers and is considered by experts to be unsustainable. This
commercial-scale trade threatens the survival of numerous species as well
as posing considerable health and economic threats for future generations.
The Bushmeat Crisis
Task Force (BCTF), founded in 1999, is a consortium of conservation
organizations and professionals working throughout Africa and dedicated to
the conservation
of wildlife populations threatened by illegal,
commercial hunting of wildlife for sale as meat. The BCTF operates under
the direction of an elected Steering Committee and is funded by Supporting
and Contributing Members. BCTF's primary goals are to: a) work with the general
members of the BCTF to focus attention on the bushmeat crisis in Africa;
b) establish an information database and mechanisms for information sharing
regarding the bushmeat issue; c) facilitate engagement of African partners
and stakeholders in addressing the bushmeat issue; and d) promote collaborative
decision-making, fund-raising and actions among the members and associates
of the BCTF. For more information about the BCTF and the bushmeat issue,
please visit their
website or email them
directly.
The Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP)
is a not-for-profit conservation organization
which is a part of Beaver College in Glenside,
Pennsylvania, USA. The Program has the following objectives :
To protect the wildlife of Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa.
To accomplish this objective, the Program:
Sponsors an annual expedition of scientists, undergraduates and adult volunteers
to Bioko Island, conducts an ongoing survey of the large forest mammals living
in Bioko Island's Gran Caldera, conducts an ongoing survey of the Malabo
bushmeat
market and bushmeat buyers. BBPP also promotes Bioko Island
as a site for biodiversity research and education, especially in conjunction
with the faculty and students of the Universidad and identifies and promotes
ecologically sound enterprises for the local people. BBPP is represented
on Bioko Island by the Bioko Business Center (BBC). The Program employs a
translator (Lorenzo Oyono Obama); two research assistants (Valentin Mohoso
Sepa and Fortunato-Eko Nsogo Mangue); one field advisor (Leoncio Riaco Richard);
two field supervisors (Cirilo Riaco and Gonzalo Pons); and a team of field
assistants (Apolonio Eparalele, Momo Siabu, Bernardo Siabu, Crescencio Riaco,
Fidel Teache, Mansuerto Mualeri, Filipe Teache, and Jesus Pons). For more
information contact Gail Hearn :
info@bioko.org.
For more information on Equatorial Guinea, click
here.
If you would like to
contact us please email
terry@africanconservation.org
