The Kinshasa Declaration on Great Apes was a high-level political statement on the future of (non-human)

great ape The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the east ...

s. It was signed during the Intergovernmental Meeting on Great Apes and the first council meeting of the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

on September 9, 2005. By signing this declaration, more than 70 representatives - including 18 range states, six donor countries, 25

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

partners, two Multilateral Environmental Agreement partnerships, and two

intergovernmental organizations An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...

- affirmed a commitment to protect great apes.

Detailed statements

Representatives agreed to protect apes through: * affirming their commitment to the GRASP Global Strategy and to support, and for the range states, implement, effective measures to counter the threats facing the great apes; * emphasizing the need to stimulate and enhance range state cooperation to ensure the effective enforcement of great ape legislation and coordinated efforts to halt activities that have a detrimental effect on great ape populations; * emphasizing the role of national and international measures and participation in regional initiatives, and encourage ratification and compliance with international treaties such as the biodiversity and conservation-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs); * urging development and implementation of National Great Ape Survival Plans (NGASPs) by the range states; * urging GRASP Partners and others to support range states in the implementation of their NGASPs; * encouraging the provision of long-term ecologically sustainable economic benefits to local communities; * inviting international institutions and agencies to prioritize policies promoting ecologically sustainable livelihoods for local and indigenous communities which prevent activities detrimental to the survival of the great apes; * reaffirming their commitment to ensure GRASP has the capacity to realize its full potential; * resolving to set the target of securing a constant and significant reduction in the current loss of great ape populations by 2010 and to secure the future of all species and subspecies of great apes in the wild by 2015; and * inviting the international community to provide effective and coherent support, including funding, to assist efforts made by the great ape range states.

References

Kinshasa Declaration on Great Apes

External links

UNEP GRASP
{{great apes Primatology Government documents Primate conservation 2005 in the environment 2005 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Detailed statements

See also

References

External links