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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 Tuesday, 6 September 2005
The
first IGM on Great Apes reconvened today
with Chair Musibono inviting further
statements from the floor.
Delegate Statements:
Range
States outlined some of the national
actions taken towards conserving the
great apes and outlined the particular
threats facing the great ape species in
their country. BURUNDI and the RURAL
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION
(Rwanda) highlighted the impact of their
country’s socio-political crises on both
human and great ape populations, and
GUINEA said the influx of refugees over
the past 5 years had contributed to the
destruction of his country’s natural
habitat. The CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
underscored the difficult and hostile
nature of the environment the great apes
inhabit and said survival of the great
apes is predicated on overall economic
restructuring. Several range States
pledged their commitment to GRASP and
called for technical and financial
assistance in implementing their
national great apes survival plans.
CAMEROON and others emphasized the
importance of involving local
communities in biodiversity conservation
initiatives and the CONGO BASIN FOREST
PARTNERSHIP drew delegates attention to
their website
www.cbfp.org and pilot projects
being carried out with the private
sector.
ITALY
emphasized the potential of the great
apes as a resource and urged range
States not to allow their extinction.
The BORN FREE FOUNDATION urged partners
to set aside individual agendas and to
abandon apathy, cynicism and resignation
to achieve their common goal.
In a
video presentation, GRASP Patron Jane
Goodall urged partners to commit to a
conservation approach based on
partnership with the people living in
and around the great apes habitats.
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The GRASP IGM dais with (from
left)
Natarajan Ishwaran,
Director of the UNESCO Division
of Ecological and Earth Sciences
and Secretary of the Man and
Biosphere Programme (MAB),
Samy Mankoto, Secretary
General of GRASP, Professor
D. E. Musibono, Chair
of the IGM, Melanie Virtue,
GRASP Secretariat, and
Stanley Johnson, Advisor on
the IGM |
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Dr. Peter J. Stephenson
from the Africa and Madagascar
Programme at WWF International
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Veerle Vandeweerd,
director of UNEP's Global
Programme of Action for the
Protection of the Marine
Environment from Land-based
Activities |
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Stanley Johnson, Advisor
on the Inter-Governmental
Meeting presents the GRASP
Global Strategy
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GRASP
Global Strategy:
Stanley Johnson outlined the draft GRASP
Global Strategy for the Survival of the
Great Apes, explaining the draft text
with the participants comments would be
submitted to the GRASP Council for
consideration over the following 2 days.
Comments included proposals that: all
range States be considered for permanent
GRASP membership with collective veto
powers; GRASP create an anti-poaching
data intelligence network and the
strategy should include collaboration
with the CITES Bushmeat Working Group
and Great Ape Enforcement Task Force in
GRASP’s longer term objectives.
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William Travers, Chief
Executive of the Born Free
Foundation
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Damascene Gashumba,
Executive Director of the Rural
Environment and Development
Organization in Kigali, Rwanda |
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Dr. Patrick Mehlman, Vice
President of the Dian Fossey
Gorilla Fund International
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GRASP Rules:
Melanie Virtue, UNEP GRASP Secretariat,
outlined the GRASP initiative history,
structure and workplan and then Stanley
Johnson presented an outline of the
draft GRASP rules, and, while urging
delegates not to turn GRASP into a
bureaucratic organisation underscored
the need to establish an organised
structure. Comments from delegates
included a request from a coalition of
range State NGOs that GRASP undertake to
strengthen national NGOs to allow for
better follow-up in the field.
As part of the
discussion that followed, UGANDA
proposed that the Chair of the IGM and
of the Council be the same individual,
while the REPUBLIC OF CONGO cited the
need to ask States that have great apes
in captivity.
Delegates agreed to
provide written comments on the Rules to
the Secretariat so that the Council can
consider them on Wednesday.
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Hemmo Muntingh, Senior
Policy Advisor for the
International Fund for Animal
Welfare (IFAW) |
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Henri Djombo, Minister of
Forest Economy and the
Environment of the Republic of
Congo, Brazzaville |
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Christophe Besacier,
Regional Counselor for Forests
and Environment at the French
Embassy in Gabon |
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GRASP Workplan and
Distinctive Approach:
Melanie Virtue, UNEP
GRASP Secretariat, presented on the
existing GRASP workplan and introduced a
new document that outlines GRASP’s
current priorities. She noted that many
of the targets contained in the
2003-2007 workplan have already been
met, and that the Secretariat has
produced a document summarizing
achievements. She noted that the IGM
might wish to charge the Executive
Committee to work with the Secretariat
on developing a new workplan. Included
in the discussion were comments by
CAMEROON, supported by the UNITED STATES
and IFAW, that law enforcement should be
broadened to include internal and
cross-border anti-poaching and support
for national judiciaries and legal
systems. The UNITED STATES noted that
such support need not be financially
burdensome, and could include technical
expertise, information sharing, and
cooperation between international
organizations. Delegates will provide
written comments to the Secretariat so
that the GRASP Council can consider how
to move forward.
GRASP Kinshasa
Declaration:The
drafting group, chaired by Eric Blencowe,
UK, met twice during the day in the
lunch break and in the evening, between
IGM sessions, to work on revisions to
the draft Kinshasa Declaration text for
submission to the GRASP Council. |
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Eric Blencowe, Head of
Zoos and International Species
Conservation at DEFRA in the UK,
chairs the drafting group during
the lunch hour |
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