BUILDING EQUATORIAL GUINEAS CAPACITY TO CONSERVE WILDLIFE AND DEFEND PROTECTED AREAS

The purpose of this project is to support a conservation effort in the protected areas of mainland Equatorial Guinea by building conservation capacity among local government officials and university students to monitor and conserve wildlife.

This project is intended to conserve western lowland gorillas, central chimpanzees, forest elephants, the African grey parrot and other species by addressing the impacts of rapid infrastructure development and the intensified bushmeat hunting and illegal logging that have followed.

Specific activities include: (1) conduct a stakeholder meeting to identify perceived conservation threats, critical conservation issues, and conservation priorities; (2) develop a one-year action plan to improve technical skills based on results of the stakeholder meeting; (3) train technicians with the national forestry and protected areas program and university students to perform passive protections in protected areas, including camera-trap monitoring, primate surveys and bird banding; (4) deploy trained technicians and students in protected areas on a monthly basis to perform passive protections; (5) deliver a final report to stakeholders on the passive protection activities at the end of the grant year; (6) develop a long-term action plan for continued funding, protected-area management and a wildlife conservation curriculum; (7) design a semester-long wildlife conservation course at AUCA; and (8) advocate with government officials for the creation of a university forest reserve at AUCA.