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Recycle for Rainforests!
Conservation The mission of GTAP is to improve the conservation outlook of both chimpanzees and gorillas through applied conservation research, enhanced protection of important ape populations and their habitats, and strengthening of local capacity to implement conservation programs. GTAP works in a pristine rainforest within the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and an adjacent forestry concession. These areas have long been considered a stronghold for central chimpanzees (endangered) and western lowland gorillas (critically endangered). However great apes in this region are threatened by alteration of their habitat, the pressures of commercial bushmeat hunting, and emergence of disease. Despite conservation efforts to create protected areas over the past decade, it has been estimated that ape populations will decrease by 80% due to a combination of hunting pressure and Ebola in the next 30 years. More than half the areas in which western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) overlap in range is allocated to forestry concessions. Roads are being constructed in previously inaccessible tracts of intact forest, increasing hunting pressure. Logging transport routes now encircle the northern, eastern, and southern frontiers of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. Little is known about the specific effects of timber exploitation on great apes. GTAP has deployed survey teams into the Kabo logging concession for the past six years. These missions provide invaluable insights into the forestry process and impacts on wildlife, while also safeguarding wildlife in real-time. Team leaders are outfitted with satellite telephones to communicate any unlawful activities to local law enforcement agencies. This has resulted in immediate conservation action. Funding from the Minnesota Zoo’s “Recycle for Rainforests Program” helps support these survey teams. GTAP also works to increase the capacity of Congolese nationals to implement conservation programs. Building the capacity of local forest managers and conservationists is crucial for protecting apes and their forest community long-term, but few wildlife management and scientific training opportunities are currently available in Congo. Funding from the Zoo’s recycling program also helps support these training efforts. The Minnesota Zoo is excited to support GTAP’s conservation efforts. Not only does this project Visit the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project’s website: www.congo-apes.org
MPC – environmental standards and privacy issues MPC maintains a strict and audited 100% zero-landfill policy and proudly hold R2, ISO:14001 and ISO:9001 certifications. All customer material is processed in the United States. MPC is a NAID Member and provides Data Destruction in compliance with: HIPAA, FACTA, Gramm Leach Bliley, FERPA, FISMA, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Patriot Act of 2002, Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, US Safe Harbor Provisions, FDA Security Regulations (21 C.F.R. part 11), PCI Data Security Standards.
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help protect great apes and their rainforest home, but also the species that the Zoo exhibits in its Faces of the African Forest exhibit (link to FOAF page): colobus monkeys, de Brazza’s monkeys, red river hogs, hyrax, dwarf crocodiles, and fruit bats. Make a difference for this rainforest community by recycling your old cell phone(s) through the Minnesota Zoo.
