Dr. Benjamin Beck elected to Executive Committee
of Primate Specialist Group’s Section on Great Apes
 |
Dr. Benjamin Beck has been elected to a World Conservation Union leadership post that positions him to influence great ape survival issues. Great Ape Trust photo.
|
|
Des Moines, Iowa – April 25, 2008 – Dr. Benjamin Beck, director of conservation at Great Ape Trust of Iowa, a world-class scientific research center in Des Moines studying apes’ cognitive abilities and dedicated to their conservation in the wild, has been elected to a leadership position for a group of scientists around the globe working to save great apes from extinction.
Beck was elected to the Executive Committee of the Section on Great Apes (SGA) of the Primate Specialist Group (PSG) of the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC). The Section on Great Apes was created in 2004 in response to alarming declines in great ape populations, and its members focus exclusively on issues affecting the 13 known species and subspecies of orangutans, gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees. With close to 100 members, including some of the world’s most distinguished and experienced great ape researchers, the combined expertise of the SGA spans the scientific, social and ethical aspects of great ape conservation, providing a comprehensive perspective on the challenges and solutions available.
The SGA is specifically charged with facilitating the exchange of critical information; providing guidelines for research and conservation; producing regional and species action plans; and advising governments on effective conservation strategies. Its members deal with the technical, social and ethical aspects of great ape conservation, providing a unique and comprehensive perspective on great apes through action plans, regional surveys and up-to-date status assessments. According to the IUCN, no other group includes so many of the world’s top experts on great apes, and no other group has the potential to make such a difference.
Beck was the primary author of Best Practice Guidelines for the Reintroduction of Great Apes for the SSC. The 50-page document published in 2007 offers practical advice on how to repatriate some of the approximately 2,200 great apes living in sanctuaries in range countries where they occur naturally in the wild. He also led one of the most successful primate reintroduction projects in the world, coordinating the reintroduction and post-release monitoring of 160 golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) in Brazil.
Beck also is one of the chief architects of the recently announced Rwandan National Conservation Park, an ambitious effort to plant a 30-mile (50km) forest corridor to connect an isolated group of about 15 chimpanzees living in the Gishwati Forest Reserve to the Nyungwe National Park, thus increasing their chances for survival. The project is jointly sponsored by the Rwandan government, Great Ape Trust and Earthpark, a national environmental education center proposed for Pella, Iowa.
 |
Dr. Benjamin Beck is one of the chief architects of one of the most ambitious reforestation plans ever attempted in Africa. He is shown here in a recent trip to Rwanda. Great Ape Trust photo.
|
|
“It’s important that we have knowledgeable people on those executive committees and Ben certainly is very knowledgeable about habitat conservation and reintroduction, which are both important topics in primate conservation,” said Dr. Serge Wich, also a scientist at Great Ape Trust.
Wich, who has spent much of his professional career working on orangutan survival and conservation projects in the rain forests of Sumatra, is very much involved in primate conservation in his own right. Last year, Wich was elected to chair to the Scientific Commission of GRASP, or Great Apes Survival Project, a United Nations-backed effort to save great apes from extinction. Wich was selected for the position by fellow members of the SSC, and has assisted the World Conservation Union in gathering data for its 2007 Red List of Threatened Species.
“Both GRASP and the World Conservation Union, through specialist groups like the SGA, exert considerable international influence on the study and conservation of great apes and their natural habitats,” said Great Ape Trust Founder Ted Townsend. “These appointments highlight the growing stature and regard in which our scientific colleagues hold Great Ape Trust scientists.”
At the core of Great Ape Trust’s mission is a commitment to fund conservation initiatives in the range countries where wild great apes remain. In the past four years, Great Ape Trust has made conservation grants totaling nearly $300,000, most of it to in situ conservation (conservation in the wild) initiatives that support orangutans in Asia; bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa; and golden lion tamarins in South America.
“Great apes are a crucial component of our natural heritage, and a key species in the rain forest ecosystems in which they live,” Beck said. “If the great apes die, the forests die, and we lose priceless services such as maintenance of air quality, security of fresh water sources, control of erosion and siltation, temperature and climate stability and pollination of domestic crops. The ensuing poverty and desperation undermine world peace and the quality of life of people everywhere, including Iowa. This is not simply somebody else’s problem.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a scientific research facility in southeast Des Moines dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence. When completed, Great Ape Trust will be the largest great ape facility in North America and one of the first worldwide to include all four types of great ape – bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans – for noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities.
Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes and providing unique educational experiences about great apes. Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization and is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). |
Great Ape Trust is certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums
