Forest of Hope "Lunch and Learn"
November 22, 2011
Written by Peter Clay, Senior Advisor to GACP
Blank Park Zoo's conservationists learn about Rwanda's Forest of Hope.
Des Moines' own Blank Park Zoo recently invited Peter Clay, senior advisor to Great Ape Trust's Gishwati Area Conservation Program, to present a Lunch and Learn program about the Rwanda chimpanzee conservation and reforestation initiative. The zoo's Conservation Committee, in consultation with Kevin Drees, director of animal care and conservation for the zoo, earlier this year made a generous donation of over $1,100 to support the Rwandan program launched four years ago by Great Ape Trust.
These funds were used to purchase new rain gear for the field teams as well as new global positioning system units (GPS), critical equipment for monitoring and protecting the forest. The Gishwati program's ecoguards use the GPS units to monitor illegal activities in the forest and the chimpanzee field team use them to record locations of the small, but growing population of eastern chimpanzees, the forest's "flagship" species. (In the accompanying photo, Community Engagement Manager Faustin Gashakamba and Ecoguard Team Leader Jean Damascene Uwanyirijuru enter data documenting locations of illegal activities, using a GPS unit donated by Blank Park Zoo.)
Over sixty people came to hear Clay speak about Great Ape Trust's successful and innovative conservation program in Rwanda. During the presentation, Clay emphasized how the program works to support local people who live around Gishwati, in addition to protecting and working to restore the forest itself. He also thanked Blank Park Zoo for their generous support and encouraged them to consider an ongoing relationship with the Gishwati program, which has truly made Gishwati the Forest of Hope.
