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Daily Web Coverage
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Summary report
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12 September 2005 |
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Highlights from Monday, 5 September 2005
The first Intergovernmental Meeting for
Great Apes (1st IGM) convened today in Kinshasa
with an opening ceremony hosted by M. Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi on behalf of
Joseph Kabila (President of the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)).
More than 300 participants attended,
from 16 of the 23 Great Apes Range
States, several donor countries,
intergovernmental organizations, more
than 40 non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), members of the private sector
and the press.
In the opening session, panel members
representing the GRASP Secretariat, UNEP,
UNESCO and the DRC, warned against this
becoming a bureaucratic meeting, urging
delegates to agree on concrete actions
and to adopt the draft GRASP strategy
and a draft Kinshasa Declaration.
![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/enerunga-tn.jpg) |
Samy Mankoto, Secretary
General of the 1st IGM
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/ishwaran-tn.jpg) |
Natarajan Ishwaran,
Director of the UNESCO Division
of Ecological and Earth Sciences
and Secretary of the Man and
Biosphere Programme (MAB) called
GRASP a unique alliance between
UNEP, UNESCO, the Range States,
NGOs and government partners
joined to promote and strengthen
Great Apes conservation |
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/Ndombasi-tn.jpg) |
DRC Vice-President Abdoulaye
Yerodia Ndombasi, speaking
on behalf of President Kabila
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Samy
Mankoto, Secretary General of 1st IGM, stressed the enormity of the
challenge faced in ensuring the survival
of the Great Apes. Dr Richard Leakey,
GRASP Patron, said the 1st IGM was
addressing the future of man’s family,
highlighting the nature of man’s
relationship with the Great Apes and
saying man should have been classified
as the 6th Great Ape. He said the
greatest pressure for the survival of
the Great Apes is the loss of habitat
caused by climate change, highlighting
also the similar pressure being placed
on the people living around the great
ape habitats, stressing the urgent need
for unifying policy to address these
issues. While recognizing the existence
of the political goodwill to achieve
this, he stressed the limitation of the
range states’ financial resources and
suggested the Great Apes conservation
projects be considered as part of the
solution for poverty.
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/veerle&Leakey-tn.jpg) |
Richard E. Leakey,
conservationist, speaks with
Veerle Vanderweerd of UNEP
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/ghana01-tn.jpg) |
A. Adjei-Yeboah, Deputy
Minister of Lands, Forestry &
Mines of Uganda (left) and
Mike Adu-Nsiah of the Ghana
Wildlife Division (Forestry
Commission) |
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Speaking on behalf of Klaus Toepfer,
Executive Director of UNEP, Veerle
Vandeweerd, UNEP, noted the launch of
the World Atlas of Great Apes and their
Conservation on 1st September and hoped
that this initiative, together with the
the 1st IGM would convince other major
players to join the GRASP partnership
and bring the decline of the Great Apes
to an end. She emphasized, inter alia,
the promotion of high-level national and
international dialogue; the facilitation
of cooperation and technical support
among stakeholders; awareness raising
about the threats facing the Great Apes;
and the soliciting of new and additional
funding.
Natarajan Ishwaran, UNESCO, called GRASP
a unique alliance between UNEP, UNESCO,
the Range States, NGOs and government
partners, joined to promote and
strengthen Great Apes conservation. He
outlined UNESCO’s initiatives in species
conservation through its biosphere
reserves and World Heritage sites,
highlighting the setting aside of funds
for research grants through its MAB
Young Scientists Research Grants Scheme
for Least Developed Countries (LDCs). He
said UNESCO looks forward to greater
operational success as a result of this
meeting.
Aselme Enerunga, DRC Minister of
Environment, Conservation, Water and
Forests pointed out that the DRC is home
to 3 of the 4 Great Ape species and six
of the sub-species and that this meeting
is being held out of concern that human
unsustainable use of biodiversity
threatens their survival. He called for
permanent recommendations and the
adoption of a Kinshasa Declaration,
which will only be effective if common
actions are based on accepted standards.
Natarajan Ishwaran, UNESCO, called GRASP
a unique alliance between UNEP, UNESCO,
the Range States, NGOs and government
partners, joined to promote and
strengthen Great Apes conservation. He
outlined UNESCO’s initiatives in species
conservation through its biosphere
reserves and World Heritage sites,
highlighting the setting aside of funds
for research grants through its MAB
Young Scientists Research Grants Scheme
for LDCs. He said UNESCO looks forward
to greater operational success as a
result of this meeting.
Aselme Enerunga, DRC Minister of
Environment, Conservation, Water and
Forests pointed out that the DRC is home
to 3 of the 4 Great Ape species and six
of the sub-species and that this meeting
is being held out of concern that human
unsustainable use of biodiversity
threatens their survival. He called for
permanent recommendations and the
adoption of a Kinshasa Declaration,
which will only be effective if common
actions are based on accepted standards.
AbdoulayeYerodia Ndombasi,
DRC Vice President, highlighted the
DRC’s great ape strategy and action plan
established in 2005, confirming his
country’s commitment to protection of
the great apes. He concluded by
declaring the Intergovernmental
Conference officially open. |
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/ian02-tn.jpg) |
Ian Redmond, Chief
Consultant for GRASP
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/leiman4ngos-tn.jpg) |
Ashley Leiman, Director
of The Orangutan Foundation,
speaking on behalf of the 17
NGOs present at the meeting who
have been accepted as GRASP
Category E Partners |
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In
the afternoon, the IGM met in plenary,
chaired by Prof. Dieudonné Mosibono, DRC.
Opening the session, GRASP Secretary
General, Samy Mankoto, said a working
group, chaired by Eric Blencowe, (UK-DEFRA),
would be set up tomorrow to finalize the
draft Kinshasa Declaration for adoption
on Friday. Chair Mosibono echoed Dr
Richard Leakey’s words, emphasizing that
the plight of the Great Apes is a
warning sign that needs to be taken
seriously, since when one part of our
ecosystem is under threat, the whole is
in danger. He urged concrete action and
invited delegates to make statements to
the session. Range States outlined their
national and regional strategies,
underscoring their awareness of the
danger of extinction of the Great Apes.
They supported the strengthening of
these initiatives through the GRASP and
highlighted the importance of collective
action. Many emphasized that solutions
should take into account poverty
alleviation in the communities living
alongside the Great Apes, others
emphasized the need for improved law
enforcement and capacity building. The
Central African Forest Commission
underscored their role in working
towards the conservation and sustainable
management of the forest systems and
called for a harmonizing framework.
Donor States, including Belgium, the UK,
US and Japan, also welcomed the GRASP
initiative and indicated their awareness
of the urgency of the plight of the
Great Apes. They outlined their funding
activities, with the European Union's
pledge of 2.4million Euros earmarked for
the GRASP initiative being greeted by
applause. CITES, representing the
multilateral biodiversity conventions,
urged the GRAP Partnership to draw on
its Secretariat’s vast experience and
law enforcement networks.
The
Lusaka Agreement Working Group welcomed
the GRASP initiative, saying this is an
opportunity to create a regional
cooperative approach, strengthening
legislation and taking into account the
transboundary nature of the traffic in
Great Apes.
In a
joint statement, a consortium of 17
NGOs, urged the GRASP partnership to
capitalize on the international and
multi-sectoral nature of GRASP to
mobilize new resources and urged
result-oriented action to avoid the
indicators of our own state of danger.
Volcanoes Safaris, a private sector
organization, underscored that
conservation and development can be
mutually reinforcing and that
conservation efforts can be a source of
development resources, and said the
future of Africa lies in private sector
sustainable development.
Chair
Mosibono summarized the statements and
again urged concrete action. He said
statements would continue the next day
and declared the meeting closed. |
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/CITES-tn.jpg) |
John M. Sellar, Senior
Enforcement Officer, Legislation
and Compliance Unit of CITES
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/ec-tn.jpg) |
Michel van den Bossche of
the EuropeAid Co-Operation
Office of the European
Commission
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/japan-tn.jpg) |
Noriaki Sakaguchi,
Assistant Director, Wildlife
Division, Nature Conservation
Bureau of the Japanese Ministry
of Environment
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/ivorycoast01-tn.jpg) |
Venance K. Tieha of Cote
d'Ivoire
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/US-tn.jpg) |
Matthew V. Cassetta,
Regional Attaché for the
Environment from the US Embassy
in Gabon |
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/angola-tn.jpg) |
Soki Kuedikuenda,
National Director of Natural
Resources in Angola
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/uganda-tn.jpg) |
Jovino Akaki Ayumu,
Minister for State for Tourism
wildlife and Antiquities from
Uganda
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/indonesia01-tn.jpg) |
Professor Samedi of the
Directorat General of Forest
Protection and Nature
Conservation, Ministry of
Forestry in Indonesia |
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![](/crs/igmkinshasa/images/5sep/pintera&boesch-tn.jpg) |
Lilian Pintea, Director
of Conservation Science for the
Africa Programs at the Jane
Goodall Institute visits with
Cristophe Boesch, President
of the Wild Chimpanzee
Foundation |
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