Photo Courtesy of Partners in Conservation

The Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda is home to a large chimpanzee population. The chimpanzees face a threat from local people who enter the forest to harvest wild bee honey, a traditional and valued nutritional resource. The bees nest in tree holes. The harvesters cut down trees to get at the honey or set smoky fires at the base of the tree to drive the bees away while the harvesters climb the trees to collect the honey. The fire may damage the tree or spread and damage a larger area. The bees themselves are also harmed by these harvest methods which is detrimental because bees provide essential ecosystem services by pollinating a wide variety of plants.

Photo Courtesy of Partners in Conservation

Partners in Conservation, based at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, has worked effectively for ape conservation in central Africa for many years.  Their solution to the honey problem is to teach villagers how to keep bees while providing them equipment and supplies to establish artificial hives. The artificial hives are erected at the edge of the forest.  This allows the bees to continue their valuable work within the forest and eliminates the need for the former harvesters, now beekeepers, to enter the forest or extract honey in ecologically damaging ways.  The beekeepers produce enough honey to fill their own local needs and to sell to others, further benefiting their families’ well-being. Some of the honey is of sufficient quality to export to European markets.

Great Ape Trust provided funds to Partners in Conservation for their beekeeping project in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest.