Bowling for Bonobos!

On March 11th, bonobo fans gathered at Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in Washington, DC to support the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI). Volunteers and BCI staff greeted customers at the entrance with information about the organization. There was also a special appearance by an ape character! 20% of all the proceeds from what customers spent on bowling, food and drinks went directly towards BCI’s efforts to save the bonobo and its rainforest habitat.

Special thanks to Lucky Strike Lanes and everyone who came out to bowl for bonobos! Check out pics from the event here.

If you were unable to attend the bowling event, we welcome you to join us this Saturday, March 27th at Patagonia in Georgetown (1048 Wisconsin Ave., NW). We will have materials, slide shows and videos, and fun kid activities, including bonobo masks! Hope to see you there, go bonobo!

BCI Urges Congress to Pass the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Act

On January 27, 2010, BCI president and co-founder, Sally Jewell Coxe, testified before the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife in support of the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act of 2010 (HR 4416). See a video of the hearing here!

Recognizing the many threats that great apes face, including habitat loss, illegal poaching, and consumption in the bushmeat trade, Congress passed the Great Ape Conservation Act (GACA) to allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to provide financial assistance for projects that support conservation and research of great apes. Since then, the FWS Great Ape Conservation Fund (GACF) has funded more than 250 projects in more than 30 countries across Africa and Asia

Since its historical passage in 2000, GACA has been instrumental to the survival of the bonobo and BCI’s success. BCI’s first grant from GACF was awarded in 2002, just as the Congo War was beginning to wind down in the bonobo habitat. The grant funded the first surveys and “information exchange” with local people at Kokolopori and Lac Tumba, and provided the foundation for ongoing efforts and long-term partnerships.

Thanks to direct support from GACF, BCI and its Congolese partners have discovered or confirmed the existence of bonobos in eleven strategic regions. This led to local agreements to protect bonobos in all areas surveyed and the establishment of two legally protected nature reserves: the Sankuru Nature Reserve and the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Together, these reserves span 13,650 square miles—an area greater than the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined!

While the major threats to bonobos remain in force and there are still tremendous challenges to overcome, substantial progress has been made over the past decade to mitigate these threats in key areas of the bonobo habitat. Continued and increased support from the U.S. government through the Great Ape Conservation Fund is critically important.

Urge your Congress-member to vote in favor of the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Amendments Act of 2010 (HR 4416). Visit www.congress.org and click "Get Involved" to learn how to contact your congressman.

Please act now-the great apes need our support!

BCI Receives Honors for Community-based Carbon Offset Project

In mid-December, BCI was one of seven honorees at the Support REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) gala in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event, sponsored by the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, lauded BCI's success in protecting a huge rainforest area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that harbors the endangered bonobo, a great ape most closely related to humans.

Other notable honorees unified in REDD's mission included Nobel Laureate, Wangari Maathi, renowned primatologist, Jane Goodall, and president of Conservation International, Russ Mittermeirer.

Upon receiving honors in Copenhagen, BCI president and co-founder Sally Jewell Coxe commented, “We are deeply honored by this acknowledgment of our ten years of work in the DRC, not only to save the bonobo, but to provide a new holistic paradigm for conservation and sustainable development. Our approach delivers globally significant ecosystems services, protects valuable biodiversity, and improves the quality of life of the indigenous people.”

Our recent press release highlights the significance of REDD and its role in financing carbon offsets. REDD allows the Congolese to protect their rainforest by providing an alternative to exploitation that delivers greater benefits on every level. Our project in the bonobo habitat mitigates global climate change by sequestering vast amounts of carbon in an area where the people are already committed to saving the forest.

Saving Bonobos and Lives-Reports From The Field!

BCI has learned through on-the-ground results that our community conservation approach is saving bonobos AND improving lives!

Along with our partners, we are saving lives at the health clinic located within the newly established Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Our clinic staff are making a difference for the Kokolopori community. In fact, they just performed the 150th surgery in the past 18 months. Our resident physician, Dr. Pondolo Saidi says, "We are saving lives...we've treated patients for appendixes, caesarian sections, hernias, ovarian cysts, tumors, and prostates."

To learn more, check out eyewitness accounts emailed to us on our new satellite phone from our Director of BCI Australia, Martin Bendeler! He just returned from a field site visit to Kokolopori.

BCI Receives Nkoyi Award for Outstanding Achievements!

BCI was chosen by the Congolese community of the Washington, DC Metropolitan area to receive the Honorary 2009 Nkoyi Merit Award of Goodwill for its "outstanding achievements in community development and nature conservation." The Nkoyi award is normally given to Congolese individuals who have demonstrated achievement in their respective field of work. BCI was selected as an exception to that rule.

The awards ceremony took place on Independence Day in honor of the 49th anniversary of DRC's independence from Belgium. The Congo's Ambassador to the USA, Dr. Faida Mitifu, gave the keynote address to an assembly of approximately 300 Congolese-Americans and expatriates living in the Washington area. BCI Executive Director, Michael Hurley proudly accepted the award.

Selected for excellence by Catalogue for Philanthropy

BCI was honored by the Catalogue for Philanthropy for excellence, innovation and cost-effectiveness. Check out our page on the Catalogue's new website at http://www.catalogueforphilanthropy-dc.org/cfpdc/nonprofit-detail.php?id=5905.

Bonobo Conservation Initiative | Catalogue for Philanthropy - Greater Washington