Great Apes on the brink of extinction.

University Degree Historical and Philosophical studies

Gorillas, chimpanzees and orang-utans could be extinct in as little as 50 years, United Nations Delegates warned this week. At a crisis meeting held at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris, leaders appealed for $25 million (£15m) to begin an immediate ape conservation programme. Representatives from 23 African and Asian states met with scientific experts from the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) to develop a Global Great Ape Conservation Strategy.

“$25 million is the bare minimum we need,” stressed Klaus Toepfer, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director. “The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes. They share more than 96 percent of their DNA with humans; if we lose any of the great ape species, we would be destroying a bridge to our own origins and with it a part of our humanity.”

The UN first became concerned about the diminishing number of apes in 2001 and founded GRASP to raise awareness and attempt to impede the growing problem. Since then, research has revealed that great ape populations in Africa have decreased dramatically as a direct result of various human activities. Civil war, poaching and human disease have all had an effect on the decline in their population.

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In addition, a recent increase in logging is destroying the ape’s natural habitat, whilst the human presence in the jungles is increasing the risk of infectious diseases “jumping” between apes and humans. Chimpanzees and gorillas are highly susceptible to many human conditions such as influenza, measles, tuberculosis, mumps and even the common cold. This is proving to be a greater risk than first anticipated, in one population studied, 137 gorillas died after becoming infected with the Ebola virus- just 4 survived.

In order to survive and procreate effectively, apes need relatively undisturbed forest. According to a recent UNEP report – “The Great Apes-the road ahead,” less than 10 percent of the remaining habitat of the African great apes will be left undisturbed by 2030 if human construction developments continue at current levels.

Research conducted about the orang-utans of South Eastern Asia is even bleaker. The report indicates that in 28 years time there will be almost no habitat left that can be considered “relatively undisturbed.” Other countries where the western ape is threatened include Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Benin Gambia and Togo.

The premier aim of the Paris meeting was to bring together UN agencies, conservationists and country officials in order to plan a survival strategy, the results of which will be published next week. It will also prepare for an inter-governmental ministerial conference to be held late next year.

“ I doubt if there is any challenge of greater importance than that presented by the current status of the great ape,” stated Richard Leakey, famous conservationist and paleoanthropologist. “ Conservationists and governments must come together to put the necessary measures in place to ensure that the great apes are saved from extinction.”

For further information contact The Great Ape Project at , alternatively contact the UN at www.unep.org/grasp.