Convention on Migratory Species declares 2009 Year of the Gorilla

 

BONN, Germany, October 10, 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild

Animals (UNEP/CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, will declare 2009 the Year of the Gorilla (YoG) on 1 December at its ninth Conference of Parties in Rome.

 

Partners in this campaign will be the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), in cooperation with UNEP and UNESCO, and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

The Year of the Gorilla is part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

 

Three of the four gorilla species are listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ in the International Union

for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Gorillas are listed on Appendix I of the IUCN.

 

The legally binding CMS Gorilla Agreement on the conservation of gorillas and their habitats in

the ten African range states aims at securing the survival of gorilla populations in the wild.

The main threats to gorillas are hunting for food and traditional medicine, destruction of habitat

through logging, mining and production of charcoal, the effects of armed conflicts and diseases

like Ebola.

 

The YoG campaign will work for the implementation of the CMS Gorilla Agreement by

supporting conservation action in gorilla habitat. Other aspects will be the funding and training of

rangers, support for scientific research, development of alternative sources of income, e.g.

ecotourism, as well as education and awareness raising. Interested parties will be given the

possibility of supporting specific projects presented on the website (www.yog2009.org)

 

SOURCE : United NationsEnvironment Program (UNEP)