Co-habitation between chimpanzees and local communities in the Fouta Djallon (Guinea), from 2019 to 2021
Launch of the COHAB project – 17th and 18th December 2019
The launch of the Project of Identification of solutions for co-habitation between chimpanzees and local communities in the Fouta Djallon (Guinea) and the presentation of the initiative to include the Saala-Serima site in the national Tentative List of UNESCO sites was held on 17th and 18th December 2019 in the village of Pellel Koura, Rural Commune of Diari, Prefecture of Labé.
This two-and-a-half year project has been financed by the ARCUS foundation and implemented by Biotope with the support of its partners Guinée Ecologie, the Jane Goodall Institute and Inspire/CIRAD.
That workshop brought together a hundred or so participants, composed of local and administrative authorities: the board of the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves, the Prefectural Directors, the section heads, the heads of the forest stations of the Environment, Water and Forestry, the mayors, the district presidents for the three prefectures concerned (Labé, Dalaba and Mali), the local associations for nature conservation (“ALCN”), the local community and the project team.
The objectives of that workshop were to:
- Proceed with the official launch of the COHAB project
- Present the initiative to include the Saala waterfall in the national Tentative List of UNESCO sites
- Inform and raise awareness among the project stakeholders
- Encourage involvement by the community and the local and administrative authorities in the implementation of the project.
On the first day, COHAB and the inclusion initiative were presented and debates followed to answer the participants’ questions. On the second day, a field visit enabled the discovery of the COHAB pilot site around Pellel Koura and the limits of the Saala-Serima site.
That launch was a success, with a positive reception from all the participants and undertakings given to support the implementation of the COHAB activities and the inclusion of Saala-Serima in the Tentative List of UNESCO sites.
You can find the project summary here Identification of solutions for co-habitation between chimpanzees and local communities in Guinea (114 downloads)
