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Background & Information about the WCAP Community

© Erin Wessling

THE CREATION OF THE PLAN & METHODOLOGY

A stakeholder workshop took place over four days in Monrovia, Liberia, in December 2017, hosted by the Section on Great Apes of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group (SGA), Flora & Fauna International (FFI) and the Forestry De­velopment Authority of Liberia. Sixty-two participants, including representatives from governmental departments in the eight countries of the western chimpanzee’s range, conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), researchers and donor organisations, worked together to determine the actions needed to ensure the survival of western chimpanzees.

 

The methodology used to create this action plan was an adaptation of the Open Standards conservation-action-planning approach (OS). This method involves identifying conservation priorities (‘Conserva­tion Targets’) in a precise geographic area (‘Scope of the Project’), then assessing the target’s viability, and identifying threats to the targets. An assessment of the important stakeholders and the political and environmental context in which this action plan will be implemented was also undertaken. These analyses then led to the development of conservation strategies with precise, concrete and measurable objectives, as well as an implementation and monitoring plan.

Conservation targets were defined by a technical committee in advance of the workshop. Participants at the workshop grouped conservation targets, defined the threats, and created conceptual models for each. The actions list­ed in the conceptual models were then grouped according to theme, to become region-wide strategies.

 

Workshop results were synthesised in a post-workshop meeting to reduce redundancy and merge them into a single outline from which a cohesive plan could be created. In its synthesis, the resulting plan deviates from standard OS meth­odology in that it broadens the conservation targets to encompass the entire range of the western chimpanzee, including all habitat types, and as such the needs of populations in all habitat contexts equitably, and thereby extending the scope of conservation actions to tackle the region-wide issues that threaten them. These threats and the measures detailed to deal with them are viewed solely at the subspecies’ level and provide the scaffold for future national and sub-national plans tailored to local contexts. Nonetheless, many actions needed for chimpanzee conservation should be defined at the national level, as threat intensity imperils chimpanzee populations differentially at different scales, and the scale of action varies according to the intervention.

THE WCAP COMMUNITY

The workshop brought together 62 representatives from the eight range states as well as international stakeholders, but the broader WCAP community extends well beyond this group. Here you can find a list of participants and WCAP community members.

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IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE

As a means of achieving the vision of the WCAP, in March 2021 an Implementation Committee was established with the responsibility to coordinate stakeholders and to organise activities that allow efficient, proactive planning and implementation of the WCAP actions. The ImpCom is a mix of elected seats and chosen governmental representatives from across all western chimpanzee range states, and covers major topics within the WCAP. It is currently composed of 27 seats of equivalent standing: 10 topical and 17 national-level seats. Eight of 10 topical seats are supported by deputy or adjoint seats, totaling 37 total participants, in addition to the committee coordinator.

Topical Seat representatives
 

Genevieve CAMPBELL - Bashiru KOROMA

Private industry / ESIA coordination


Michael BALINGA - Salimata KONE

Land use planning 

James WINGARD - Kevin GNAGNE

Legal (text) coordination


Kathelijne KOOPS - Serge SOIRET

Chimpanzee cultural diversity

Mimi ARANDJELOVIC - Sery GONEDELE BI

Chimpanzee genetic diversity

Tatyana HUMLE - Joseph Ano Kouao KOUASSI - Kim HOCKINGS

Human-chimpanzee interaction

Celestin KOUAKOU - Noémie CAPPELLE - Keifala LAHAI

Population monitoring

Jimmy DESOMND - Léonce KOUADIO

Health

Yves KABLAN - Mamadou DIOP

Protected Areas

Jenny DESMOND - Aram KAZANDJIAN

Law enforcement / sanctuary coordination

National Seat Representatives

Alexandre KONATE

Guinea: (Inter)national scientist or NGO


Mamady TOUNKARA 

Guinea: Representative of  OGPR

 

Itai ROFFMAN & Saibou SANOGO

Mali: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

 

(yet to be chosen)

Mali: Representative of DEF

Ambrose Bockarie KANNEH

Sierra Leone: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

Babar TURAY

Sierra Leone: Representative of NPAA

Simone BAN

Cote d’Ivoire: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

Abdoulaye DIARRASSOUBA

Cote d'Ivoire: Representative of OIPR

(yet to be chosen)

Cote d'Ivoire: Representative of MINEF

Clement TWEH

Liberia: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

 

Trokon GRIMES

Liberia: Representative of FDA

Paul TEHODA

Ghana: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

 

Richard OFORI-AMANFO

Ghana: Representative of Forestry Commission

 

Hellen BERSACOLA

Guinea-Bissau: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

 

Aissa REGALLA

Guinea-Bissau: Representative of IBAP

 

Papa IBNOU NDIAYE

Senegal: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

Daniel MANGA

Senegal: Representative of DEFC

 

Djibril DIOUCK

Senegal: Representative of DPN

Past members

Doudou SOW

Senegal: Representative of DEFC

Menladi LORMIE

Liberia: Representative of FDA

Marc FOURRIER

Topical: Land use planning

Ammie KALAN

Topical: Chimpanzee cultural diversity

Inza KONE

Topical: Protected Areas

Ibrahim BAKARR

Sierra Leone: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

Fabian LEENDERZ

Topical: Health

Landing BADJI

Topical: Private industry / ESIA coordination

Mamadou Bella DIALLO

Topical: Law enforcement / sanctuary coordination

Emmanuel DANQUAH

Ghana: (Inter)national scientist or NGO

Dairou DIALLO

Senegal: Representative of DEFC

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