The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) is an association of wildlife centers in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, founded in 2000 in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. The activities of PASA includes rescuing and caring for orphaned

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

s and

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s, promoting the conservation of wild

primates Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

, educating the public, empowering communities, and working to stop the illegal trade in wildlife. The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance currently consists of 23 member sanctuaries in 13 African countries and a network of advisors and supporters from around the world. PASA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity registered in the US, a partner of the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

Great Apes Survival Partnership The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) is a UNEP and UNESCO-led World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Type II Partnership, established in 2001, that aims to conserve the non-human great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and oranguta ...

, and is a member of the

Species Survival Network __NOTOC__ The Species Survival Network (SSN), founded in 1992, is an international coalition of over 80 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) committed to the promotion, enhancement, and strict enforcement of the Convention on International Trade i ...

. Gregg Tully became PASA's Executive Director in 2015.

Rescue and care

PASA sanctuaries receives hundreds of rescued monkeys and apes annually. On average, 57

chimpanzees The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative the ...

arrived at PASA's member wildlife centers per year between 2000 and 2006. Of those animals, the majority were acquired through confiscation. PASA provides emergency support including funding and the technical assistance necessary to reach established standards of care and welfare for these primates confiscated from illegal trade practices. To do this, PASA provides training and skill-building workshops that bring together staff from member sanctuaries across Africa with other veterinary and medical experts from around the world. The sanctuaries have served to study veterinary topics. For example, non-invasive tests for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and parasitology researches have been conducted in their installations. PASA distributes equipment, supplies, and medicine that enable wildlife centers to deliver expert healthcare and rehabilitation services for confiscated primates and other wildlife.

Education and community empowerment

The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance provides funding, training, and materials to assist its wildlife centers in their conservation efforts within their communities. The centers facilitate projects that aim to promote sustainable incomes and include activities, like planting low impact crops that do not attract wildlife, creating native tree nurseries, raising livestock sustainable in the local environment to replace bushmeat hunting, and developing women's craft cooperatives that use local renewable or recycled materials to make crafts that can be sold to provide income. According to a study that involved the administration of surveys to each of the PASA member wildlife centers, "Sanctuaries reported that they provided employment for over 550 local community members across Africa, as well as resources for community education and infrastructure, with an economic impact over $3 million per year."

Reintroduction and protection of wild populations

Organizations that are members of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance have achieved reintroduction of great ape species in the wild and release chimpanzees and bonobos in the world. Among the PASA wildlife centers, about half are working on reintroducing individuals to the wild. The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance works to oppose unsustainable logging and palm oil concessions, oil and gas development in national parks, and other threats to primate habitats. Nearly three-quarters of PASA sanctuaries conduct anti-poaching patrols in primate habitats.

Wildlife centers

Ape Action Africa Ape Action Africa is a non-profit NGO founded in 1996 dedicated to the conservation of endangered gorillas and chimpanzees, threatened by the bushmeat trade in Central and West Africa. Ape Action Africa manages the rescue and rehabilitation of G ...

(Cameroon) *Centre pour Conservation des Chimpanzees (CCC) (Guinea) *

Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage is a sanctuary for chimpanzees, located in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. Chimfunshi started as a family-run wildlife orphanage, and today Chimfunshi is managed by a board of trustees to ensure the long-term sustainabili ...

(Zambia) *

Chimp Eden The Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden, commonly referred to as Chimp Eden, is a game reserve and animal sanctuary for rescued chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape ...

(South Africa) * Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project (Gambia) *Colobus Conservation (Kenya) *Drill Ranch (Nigeria) *Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project (Gabon) *HELP-Congo (Congo) *Jeunes Animaux Confisques au Katanga (J.A.C.K.) (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (DRC) * Lilongwe Wildlife Centre (Malawi) *Limbe Wildlife Centre (Cameroon) *

Lola ya Bonobo Founded by Claudine André in 1994, Lola ya Bonobo is the world's only sanctuary for orphaned bonobos. Since 2002, the sanctuary has been located just south of the suburb of Kimwenza at the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya, Kinshasa, in the Demo ...

(DRC) *Lwiro Primate Rehabilitation Centre (DRC) * Ngamba Island (Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust) (Uganda) *Project Protection des Gorilles-Congo (Congo) *Project Protection des Gorilles-Gabon (Gabon) *Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center (IDA Africa) (Cameroon) *Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary (Kenya) *Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (Sierra Leone) * Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre (Congo) * Vervet Monkey Foundation (South Africa)

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://pasa.org/ 2000 establishments in Africa Wildlife sanctuaries of Africa