New Wildlife Reserve is Big Win for Endangered Bonobos

WINTER 20071961-2007Craig R. SholleyAWFHome to elephants,rhinos and more,African Heartlandsare conservationlandscapes large enough to sustain a diversity ofspecies for centuries to come. In these landscapes—places like Kilimanjaro and Samburu—AWF and itspartners are pioneering lasting conservationstrategies that benefit wildlife and people alike.Inside THIS ISSUECraig R. SholleyPresident’s MessageAWF and The Nature Conservancyenter exciting new partnership for Africa.Highlights from 2006A year of accomplishment and challengeas AWF wraps up its 45th anniversary.page 2page 4page 7Grevy’s Zebras Threatened by Second AttackAWF responds quickly to second outbreak ofanthrax among endangered zebra population.Africa’s bonobo is an endangered great ape foundonly in the Democratic Republic of CongoNew Wildlife Reserve is Big Winfor Endangered BonobosMore than adecade ofpainstakingeffort by AWF and othershas finally paid off with theestablishment of a newwildlife reserve in the CongoHeartland, home to one ofthe world’s best studiedbonobo populations.The new protected area,called the Faunal Reserve ofLomako-Yokokala, wasrecently announced by theDemocratic Republic ofCongo. At 1,400 squaremiles, the forest reserve notonly protects an importantpopulation of bonobos, italso harbors many otherwildlife species, includingthe Congo peacock, goldencat, giant pangolin, andan estimated ten speciesof primates.The survival of Africa’sbonobos—genetically ourclosest relatives and arguablythe most peaceful ofprimates—is one of AWF’stop priorities. Researchersfrom around the worldwould like to know muchmore about the bonobo, aspecies found only in theCongo. Unfortunately, thebonobo’s low reproductiverate, together with threats toits dwindling forest habitat,make its survival in the wildfar from certain.AWF helped secure thenew Lomako-YokokalaReserve by providing satellitemaps that demonstrated theincreasing loss of forest coverin the region over the pastdecade. Working with localpartners—most notably theRepublic of Congo’s nationalparks department (theInstitut Congolais pour laConservation de la Nature,or ICCN)—AWF trainedwww.awf.org continued on page 3

2 African Wildlife News www.awf.orgMachache ~ A FEW WORDSBOARD OF TRUSTEESDennis J. KellerchairMatthew T. Weirvice chairWariara MbuguasecretaryCrandall C. BowlestreasurerEdward M. Armfield, Jr.Robin BerkeleyWendy McCrary BreckJacques J. BusquetPaul CampbellStephen D. CashinDale F. (Tucker) DornJames L. Foght, Ph.D.Donald C. GrahamChristine F. HemrickWilliam E. (Wilber) JamesDr. William KalemaWalter H. Kansteiner, IIIRobert E. KingMark D. KvammeShana LaursenVictoria LeslieJames F. MakawaSir Ketumile MasireBenjamin W. MkapaEleanor G. NalleDr. Mamphela A. RampheleTia N. RoddyLisa M. StevensDavid ThomsonC. Bowdoin TrainJohn R. WalterRichard W. Weeningtrustees emeritiArthur W. ArundelE.U. Curtis BohlenDavid Challinor, Ph.D.Joan DonnerJohn H. HeminwayGeorge C. HixonRichard M. JacksonHenry P. McIntosh, IVSally PingreeStuart T. Saunders, Jr.Russell E. TrainAfrican Wildlife Newsis published four times a year.communications officerPaul Thomson©2007 African Wildlife Foundation1400 16th Street, N.W., Suite 120Washington, D.C. 20036202-939-3333202-939-3332 (fax)1-888-494-5354E-mail: awn@awf.orgWebsite: www.awf.orgCFC# 0919AWF and The NatureConservancy EnterNew Partnershipfor AfricaSome partnershipsare planned inadvance. Othersdevelop organicallybecause they simplywork—they are a goodfit, with good chemistry,between good friends.Over the years, theAfrican WildlifeFoundation and TheNature Conservancy(TNC) have developedthat kind of relationship.As we begin this new year,I am pleased to announcethat our twoorganizations have createda formal partnership topromote wildlifeconservation, landprotection and humanwell-being in Africa.Under thispartnership, TNC willprovide technical andfinancial resources to AWFto help support the AfricanHeartlands Program. Atthe same time, the resultsof this program willbecome part of TNC’sglobal goal for the effectiveconservation of 10 percentof major habitat types by2015. AWF and TNC willlaunch this excitingcollaboration by focusingon two key habitats: theflooded grasslands,woodlands and floodplainriver systems of southernAfrica and the tropicalgrasslands and savannahsof East Africa.This venture serves asa powerful example ofhow organizations canrealistically assess theircomparative advantagesand strengths, and formreal partnerships thatproduce moreconservation impact forthe shared resourcesinvested—instead ofduplicating or competingwith each other’s efforts.We salute The NatureConservancy, and believefervently that our newpartnership holdsenormous potential forconserving the wildlifeand wild lands of Africa.Dr. Patrick BerginAWF President & CEOJames Weis/eyesonafrica.netPrinted with soy-based inkRecycled PaperThe AWF and TNC partnership will focus on the conservation of the flooded grasslands, woodlands and floodplain river systemsof southern Africa and the tropical grasslands and savannahs of East Africa.

www.awf.org African Wildlife News 3New Wildlife Reserve is BigWin for Endangered Bonoboscontinued from page 1285 local research assistants and 4 teamleaders to help with biological surveys,detailed mapping, and recordinghuman activity and bushmeat hunting.And we financed workshops and keymeetings that helped make Lomako-Yokokala a reality.To ensure the most effectiveoutcome possible, AWF also involvedlocal communities when proposingboundaries for the new wildlife reserve.A landmark achievement, this is thecountry’s first reserve to formallyrecognize community involvement inits development.Still, much remains to be done.“The real work on the ground is nowjust beginning,” says Jef Dupain whohas worked in the region for years andtoday leads AWF’s program in theCongo Heartland. “We are busy nowsecuring funds to ensure Lomako-Yokokala has the infrastructure andtechnical assistance to provide effectivesafeguards for the forest and wildlife itaims to protect.” ■New Look, NewFeaturesIf you haven’t already seen it, besure to log onto www.awf.org tocheck out our newly redesignedwebsite. Launched this fall, thewebsite better reflects our missionand uses new features to highlightour work in the African Heartlands.New maps, more photos, and videoslet you experience the impact of ourprograms and showcase the uniquewildlife and wild lands of Africa.The new site also offers moreways to stay in touch withKarl AmmannAfrica’s bonobos are threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. By supporting new protected areas like the reserve atLomako-Yokolala, and providing funds for anti-poaching patrols, AWF is working to stem both threatsSatellites’ Big PictureHelps Save BonoboHabitatWhen you look out across theforest floor in the CongoHeartland, the trees seem endless. Butif you could look down from space,you would see countless patches ofsmoke—where farmers are trying togrow crops on poor forest soil—andnetworks of roads and paths spreadinglike spider webs deep into the forest.This is the kind of datagovernments need to make informedland-use policy decisions, and this isthe kind of information AWF isproviding. The University of Maryland,USAID, and NASA are helping AWFmonitor the state of these forests byoverlaying satellite images on a map ofthe Congo Heartland. The imagesillustrate precisely which forest areashave been destroyed since the 1990s.Thanks to these maps, we now have apowerful new tool for identifying keythreats—and for proposing land-useoptions that will be more effective inimproving the lives of people in thearea while protecting the forest andanimals that live there. ■conservation efforts in Africa andhighlights ways you can get involvedand make a difference. When youvisit the site, you’ll be able to pickways to support African conservationthat are most meaningful to you. Isyour passion for elephants? Or,perhaps you have a special concernfor a particular region of Africa. Justclick on the appropriate pages andyou’ll find relevant information onwhat’s happening and what you cando to help.We hope you find AWF’sredesigned website more useful andfun to use. And, we hope to reacheven more people with it. Will youhelp? Share this article with a friend– or tell them to log ontowww.awf.org. ■

4 African Wildlife News www.awf.org45 Years of Celebrating Africa—Highlights fWe all carry a piece ofAfrica in our hearts.Africa was the firstplace on Earth where humanbeings told stories by firelight andlifted their voices in song. It is oneof the last wild places where largemammals roam in vast herdsacross unfettered landscapes.Craig R. SholleyDaryl & Sharna BalfourBut while all of Africa isextraordinary, certain key landscapes areabsolutely essential to conserve—thanksto their unmatched concentrations ofwildlife, and their potential to sustainviable populations for centuries to come.AWF has identified these landscapes, andwe call them the “African Heartlands.”Far larger than any park or reserve, anAfrican Heartland combines nationalparks and local villages, government landsand private lands into a large, cohesiveconservation landscape that often spansinternational boundaries.In African Heartlands, you and everyother AWF member are helping usprotect the most spectacular wildlife onearth, the habitats that sustain them, andthe people who aspire to safeguard thisunrivaled natural heritage.Landscape ConservationFive years ago, elephants makingseasonal treks from Tanzania’sNgorongoro Crater through LakeManyara National Park in the MaasaiSteppe Heartland might not havereached their final destination at TarangireNational Park.Forty kilometers ofunprotected landlay betweenManyara andTarangire, and itwas filling up withmore farms anddevelopment everyday. The traditionalmigration route—known asKwakuchinjaGiven thatelephant numbersare still droppingcontinent-wide,finding ways tohelp the region’selephants andneighboringcommunitiesavoid conflict isa challenge AWFis pleased toaccept.corridor—began to disappear. To protectKwakuchinja, AWF pursued innovativestrategies with the parks, localcommunities, and newly formed landtrusts to create a network of corridors thattoday protects not only the parks, but thelands the elephants must traverse to movebetween them safely.Mozambique’s Banhine NationalPark is renowned for its wetlands, itspopulation of endangered wattled cranes,and other wildlife. But following years ofcivil unrest that disrupted conservationefforts and destroyed the park’sinfrastructure, Banhine needed to berebuilt. In 2004, Mozambique called onAWF to help. Since then, we havecompleted construction of a researchcenter at Banhine, an aerial survey of theregion’s terrestrial wildlife, and a detailedsurvey of the park’s aquatic resources.Both surveys show great promise for thearea’s natural resources—good news for thepark’s wildlife and Mozambique residentswho will benefit from Banhine’s recoveryand the ecotourism that will bring.Species ConservationMay 2006 marked the secondbirthday of rare mountain gorilla twinsborn in Rwanda. No other set ofmountain gorilla twins is known to havesurvived in the wild. But these twinsremain strong and healthy, as does AWF’scommitment to protecting their entirespecies. This year also marked thecompletion of a landmark conservationplan with the participation of all three

www.awf.org African Wildlife News 5rom AWF’s 2006 Annual ReportCraig R. SholleyMay 2006marked thesecond birthdayof rare mountaingorilla twins bornin Rwanda…anomen we hope ofgood things tocome.countries wheremountain gorillaslive—DemocraticRepublic of Congo,Rwanda, andUganda. TheInternationalGorillaConservationProgram, a jointproject of AWF, Fauna and FloraInternational, and the World Wide Fundfor Nature, was the driving force behindthis comprehensive transboundary plan.In AWF’s Zambezi Heartland, aregion that spans parts of Mozambique,Zambia, and Zimbabwe, complaintsabout conflicts between people andelephants have skyrocketed. But is itbecause there are more elephants, or morepeople? To get at the real numbers beforewe could propose any workable strategy,AWF conducted a region-wide aerialsurvey of large mammals. Preliminaryresults indicate the elephant populationhas indeed grown substantially, at least inZambia. This is good news forconservation, but not so good forcommunities trying to keep elephantsfrom damaging their crops. Given thatelephant numbers are still droppingcontinent-wide, finding ways to help theregion’s elephants and neighboringcommunities avoid conflict is a challengeAWF is pleased to accept.Conservation EnterpriseBecause coffee can be a conservationfriendlycrop when managed properly,AWF partnered with Starbucks in 2005on an innovative three-year project inEast Africa’s Samburu Heartland. In spiteMohamed Hashim/raqey.comof a drought, the project madetremendous progress this year. Workingtogether, AWF and Starbucks trained 827African farmers in coffee-growingpractices that increase coffee quality whileaddressing issues like forest conservation,water purity, and reducing conflictsbetween wildlife and local communities.In recognition of this progress, Starbuckshosted an “African Coffee Celebration” inJune to honor East Africa’s coffee farmers.In the Virunga mountains ofRwanda, tourists pay top dollar for theprivilege of seeing mountain gorillas inthe wild. Finding ways to help localcommunities benefit from this ecotourismgives them more incentive to protectgorillas. That’s why AWF is sponsoring anew high-end camp called SabyinyoSilverback Lodge, from which the Kinigicommunity will benefit. AWF successfullybrokered the deal earlier this year with thecommunity, which owns the land, andgovernment and private partners who areWorkingtogether, AWFand Starbuckstrained 827African farmersin practices thatincrease coffeequality whileaddressingconservationissues.investing in thelodge. To minimizethe community’sfinancial risk, AWFhelped structure theloan so that interestpayments are dueonly when newtourism revenues aresufficient to supportthem—a precedentthat could provide a new model forconservation tourism and communitybenefits across the continent.Conservation LeadershipFrom day one, AWF has invested indeveloping African conservation leaders.Our first project was to help establish theCollege of African Wildlife Managementin Tanzania in 1962.We created theCharlotte FellowshipConservationProgram in 1996,which has helped 41Fellows from East,West, Central, andSouthern Africapursue graduateCreatingcommunity landtrusts is a complexprocess, but ithappens to be thefuture ofconservation inAfrica—and AWFis leading the way.degrees in fields ranging from biology toconservation economics. Now we arefocusing on building capacity at threecritical levels: supporting leadershipwithin national parks, local organizations,and other institutions; continuing tosupport graduate studies for futureleaders; and developing conservationmanagers at the diploma and bachelordegree level in countries that still haveshortages in this essential tier.“SUBRAP” isn’t a music genre, but itis rocking the conservation world insouthern Africa. It stands for “Scaling UpBenefits for Rural Area Populations,”and through it, AWF is focusing onsixteen target communities in fourcountries. SUBRAP’s centerpiece is theformation of community land trusts,legally recognized institutions throughwhich villages can manage pooledresources in ways that supplement theirlivelihoods. Creating community landtrusts is a complex process—but ithappens to be the future of conservationin Africa. And as we have for the past 45years, AWF is leading the way. ■James Weis/eyesonafrica.net

8 African Wildlife News www.awf.orgMark Boulton/ICCEWildlife WATCHAmong nature’s mostunique looking mammals,Africa’s warthog has an enormoustusked head that comprises one-sixthof its body length.Is Africa’s warthog related to our domesticpig? Absolutely. Both belong to the FamilySuidae—as do the wild boar and forest hog, toname a few more members of the swine family.Among nature’s most unique lookingmammals, Africa’s warthog (Phacochoerusaethiopicus) has an enormous tusked head thatcomprises one-sixth of its body length.Warthogs also have some of the longest legs inthe pig family. The animal’s namesake“warts”—more developed in males—areactually thick protective pads that grow onboth sides of the head. These warts may helpprotect the animal’s eyes from an opponent’ssharp curved tusks when they clash in fightsthat can be violent between males.Found throughout most of sub-SaharanAfrica, warthogs are mainly grass grazers, butuse their snouts and tusks to dig for tubers androots during the dry season. They haveAfrican Warthogadapted an interesting and humorous-lookingpractice of kneeling on their calloused hairypadded knees to eat shorter grasses.But warthogs can also move quickly.They run up to 30 miles per hour, and whenthey do, they carry their tails upright, the tipwaving like a flag. Young warthogs trot alongin single file, and the characteristic tailposition may serve as a signal to keep themtogether. Seen against an African horizon, aline of trotting warthogs creates anunmistakable profile.Widely hunted by people, the warthog’schief predators in nature are lions and leopards.To protect itself, a warthog will either flee orslide backwards into a hole, where it uses itsformidable tusks to ward off an attack. ■Visit our website at www.awf.org/wildlife to learn more aboutAfrica’s warthog. To help protect one or more warthogs—as a giftto yourself, family member, or friend—visit AWF’s Wildlife AdoptionCenter at www.shop.awf.org/adopt, or phone toll-free 1-800-901-2779.Make AWF’s WildlifeAdoption Center YourFirst Stop forValentine’s DayThis Valentine’s Day, find a littlemore space in your heart forAfrican wildlife. Visit AWF’s onlineWildlife Adoption Center to protectyour own favorite animal, or find ameaningful gift for family, friends, evencolleagues who share your interest inAfrican conservation. At AWF’sWildlife Adoption Center, you canselect an individual animal for $25 oran entire group for $75. Choose fromamong mountain gorillas, elephants,lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, andwarthogs. Indeed, Valentine’s Day is theperfect time to remember that whilesome animals like the warthog (see storyat left) may have a face only a mothercould love, they still need help fromspecial friends like you.Whichever animal you choose—for Valentine’s Day, birthdays,anniversaries, graduations, or otherspecial events--you or your gift recipientwill receive a plush toy, representing thespecies you have chosen; a personalizedAWF Certificate of Adoption; a photoand fact sheet of your adopted animal;and a one-year membership in AWF,including a subscription to our quarterlynewsletter, African Wildlife News.AWF’s Wildlife Adoption Centeris fast and easy to use! Visit us online atshop.awf.org/adopt, or phone toll-free1-800-901-2779. ■Here’s My Special Additional Contribution!YES, I can see that my membership contributions are being put to gooduse—and to honor 45 years of AWF conservation accomplishments, Iwant to do even more to help Africa’s wildlife. Please use the enclosedtax-deductible donation where it is most urgently needed:■ $25 ■ $50 ■ $75 ■ $100 ■ $500 ■ $_____DONATE WITHCONFIDENCETODAY!Crait R. SholleyNAMEADDRESSCITY STATE ZIPPHONE■Please send me information about...___including AWF in my will.___gifts that pay me income for life.___I have already included AWF inmy estate plans.Please visit our website at www.awf.org.E-MAIL ADDRESS■Please send me your online newsletter,AWF Africa News Online, so I canreceive special updates on breakingnews affecting the wildlife and wildlands of Africa.Thank you! Please detach this form and return it with your tax-deductiblegift in the enclosed envelope to: African Wildlife Foundation,1400 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Suite 120, Washington, D.C. 20036.If you have questions, call us at 1-888-494-5354. Or, e-mail us atAfricanwildlife@awf.org.A073