s a l ly jewell coxe and michael hurleydocs.bonobo.org/ngsvoices2.pdfwe’ve a saying in lingala:...

Pi ctu re a great ape , deep in a Con go ra i n fore s t ,pon dering her futu re . For the bon obo (Pan pa n i s-c u s) , the pe ace a bl e , fem a l e - dom i n a ted bra n ch of

the ape family tree , the probl em is homo sapien s . Si n cethe early 1990s, h er treetop tra n qu i l i ty has been ru f f l edby armies on the move bel ow; h er flesh is in demand onthe bushmeat market ; and now the growl of ch a i n s awsbri n gs a daily scra m ble for altern a tive accom m od a ti on .So mu ch for evo luti on .

In a co u n try vexed by war, mass ra pe , and A I D S , the casefor bon obo con s erva ti on is a hard sell . Yet since Sa lly JewellCoxe and Mi ch ael Hu rl ey answered the call , the bon obo hasfound ti reless ch a m p i ons in Con golese vi ll a ge s , in Ki n s h a s a’scorri dors of power, and in their home base of Wa s h i n g ton ,D. C . Th ey have ga lva n i zed the Con golese to pro tect bon o-bos and are known loc a lly as Mama and Papa Bon obo.

Sally Coxe became enchanted by mankind’s closest relativeswhen working at the National Geographic Society. She laterfounded the Bonobo Conservation Initiative, dedicated to theprotection of the lesser-known ape and its Democratic Repub-lic of Congo habitat. Working with a network of local and in-ternational partners, BCI scored a major coup recently whenthe DRC government established the Sankuru Nature Reserve,the first part of a planned Bonobo Peace Forest (see map). San-kuru’s 30,570 km2 encompass an area the size of Belgium.

BCI has confounded classic conservation models by basingdecisions on indigenous knowledge and using local socialstructures to spread awareness. Their indigenous conservation(IKCON) approach gives communities a long-term stake in theforests by providing health facilities, education programs, andalternative employment opportunities in areas threatened bylogging concerns and commercial hunters. “The race for therainforests is on,” says Director Michael Hurley. “The huntersand loggers have many advantages. But if we get the people onthe side of the bonobos, we believe their future can be secured.We’ve a saying in Lingala: Salisa bonobo mpe bonobo bakosalisayo: Help the bonobos and the bonobos will help you.”

S a l ly Jewell Coxe and Michael Hurley Mama and Papa BonoboI N T E RVIEW BY JUSTIN KAVA N A G H

33PHOTOS: REBECCA HALE /NGS (LEFT), BONOBO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE (ABOVE)

Sally Coxe and Michael Hurley ofthe Bonobo Conservation Initiativework with partners like Centre de Recherche en Ecologie etFo resterie (CREF) to combat c o m m e rcial hunting and loggingin the Congolese ra i n fo rests.

B a by Mabali (above), an orphanrescued when hunters killed hismother for bushmeat, is now care dfor at a sanctuary in Kinshasa.

If you would like to learn moreabout the bonobo and how you canhelp, visit the Bonobo Conserva t i o nI n i t i a t i ve online at: www.bonobo.org

V O I C E S

V O I C E S | M I C H A E L H U R L E Y A N D S A L L Y J E W E L L C O X E

S a l l y, how did you first fall forbonobos? You started out atNational Geographic?S a lly Jewell Coxe : Ye s , I was acopy wri ter at the Soc i ety, and I’da lw ays been passion a te abo utcon s erva ti on . I begged to wri tethe prom o ti on for the book Th eGreat Apes: Betwe en Two Wo rl d sand became absolutely captiva t-ed . The ph o togra ph er Ni ckNi chols was the driving force

and a real inspira ti on , and I re ad the works ofDian Fo s s ey and Jane Good a ll .

L i ke most peop l e , I ’d never heard of bon obo s ,so to find this ape that was female em powered ,h i gh ly sex u a l , and that didn’t wage wars intri g u edm e . I have a degree in psych o l ogy, and all my in-terests coa l e s ced . … if t h ere’s su ch a thing as fate ,this was it. I call it my life ex p l o s i on : I quit my joband freel a n ced to su pport my bon obo habit!

Th ro u gh the Soc i ety, I met or intervi ewed sev-eral ex perts like Geor ge Sch a ll er, a n d , s eren d i p i-

to u s ly, Sue Sava ge - Ru m b a u gh , a pion eer in great ape languages tu d i e s . She came to Na ti onal Geogra phic at that ti m e , and af-ter I left the Soc i ety, I vo lu n teered to work with her at the lab atG eor gia State Un ivers i ty. At that time Kanzi and Pa n b a n i s h a ,the bon obos who use human language , l ived there .

How was your first encounter? What was it about bonobosthat so charmed you?

I hit it of f i n s t a n t ly with the bon obo s . We would go for walks inthe fore s t . Som etimes I’d carry Panbanisha on my back . S h ewas just a yo u n gs ter then — n ow she’s got two kids of h er own .To get to know them on a pers onal basis was fascinati n g, ex h i l-a ra ting—and hu m bl i n g. We’d play hide - a n d - s eek with Pa n-b a n i s h a . Th ey are very mu ch like peop l e : very, very intell i gen t ,and su per- s en s i tive to human body language .

How did they compare with the chimpanzees at the lab? The differen ce in dispo s i ti ons was marked . Chimps are by na-tu re more aggre s s ive . Bon obos re a lly do “m a ke love not war.”Th ey also smell won derf u l — very different from ch i m p s . Th eyh ave this sweet smell , almost like a faint perf u m e . Maybe theych a rm us with their ph erom ones!

You look in their eyes and you see not on ly intell i gen ce , butalso a deep consciousness and com p a s s i on . As we know, t h eyh ave sex of ten and in every way. But they also have squ a bbl e sand figh t s — t h ey ’re no angel s . But they don’t wage terri tori a lw a rs like ch i m p s . Th ey ’re also ex trem ely soc i a l . Wh en bon obogroups meet in the fore s t , i t’s been ob s erved that they ’ve shared

Established in 2007, the SankuruN a t u re Reserve encompasses ana rea larger than Belgium. The re-s e r ve anchors the proposed BonoboPeace Fo rest, a linked constellationof community-managed re s e r ves.

NGM MAPS. SOURCE : BONOBO CONSERVATION INITIAT I V E


food and had a group … you know … “cel ebra-ti on .”

How do they differ in captivity, Michael? Isit more useful to study them in the wild, ina more relaxed and nurturing environment? Michael Hurley: They are different in captivity.They’re more sensitive than chimps. Frans deWaal writes that during World War II, somebonobos died of stress during air raids in Ger-many. Some in zoos pull their hair out; actual-ly they become more like hum a n s . Th ere’s asimilar human afflicti on call ed tri ch o ti ll om a-n i a .

Th ey ’re obvi o u s ly averse to war, and they ’re very matri a r-ch a l . So it’s important to keep them alive in the wild wh ere wecan ob s erve all these aspect s . Bon obos have been a recogn i zeds pecies on ly since 1933 and they ’ve on ly been stu d i ed in thewild interm i t ten t ly since the mid-1970s, so we’re sti ll learn i n g.

The natural habitat of the bonobos is one of the most re m o t eand inaccessible rainforests on Earth—an obvious target forboth hunters and logging interests. Can you describe the re-gion topographically and politically?

Hurley: The bon obos inhabit the area south of the Con go Riverand north of the Kasai River, s ome of the last unex p l ored ra i n-forest on Eart h — ex trem ely difficult to acce s s . Wh ere our te a m swork in the Lac Tumba regi on is the largest swamp forest inAf ri c a . The bon obo evo lved here by the standard spec i a ti onm echanism of being isolated from chimps and gori llas wi t h i nthese geogra phic con fin e s . Th ey gen era lly live in the trop i c a lra i n fore s t , but also ven tu re into the savanna for certain plants.

Th ey have an amazing mnem onic map of the forest floraand they know wh en trees are fru i ti n g. We have a list of over120 types of foods they eat. So they ’re a very important “u m-brell a” s pec i e s , as they play a vital role in dispersing a vast va-ri ety of s eed s , wh i ch regen era tes the fore s t . Hen ce pro tecti n gthe bon obo also con s erves the ra i n fore s t . In terms of pred a-tors , the bon obos are on ly in danger from humans—and po s-s i bly an occ a s i onal leop a rd .C o x e : From 1996 on , the Con go has su f fered back - to - b ack wars .L a u rent Ka bila came and ousted Mobutu . Th en forei gn arm i e sof occ u p a ti on invaded from Uganda and Rwanda. Su b s equ en t ly,the Af rican “World Wa r ” eru pted , wi t h , at one poi n t , nine co u n-tries invo lved . Wh en I went back to Wamba in 2002 thro u ghsu pport from Na ti onal Geogra phic Ex ped i ti on s , the Japanese re-s e a rch camp was occ u p i ed by FAC soldiers , but thro u gh ourcon t acts in Ki n s h a s a , Pre s i dent Jo s eph Ka bila gave us a high - l evels o l d i er as a bodyg u a rd . It’s vital to have good rel a ti onships on thegro u n d . We’ve built a strong net work from the gra s s roots all thew ay up to the top levels of the DRC govern m en t .

PHOTO: ALEX GEORGIEV/BON OBO CONSERVATION INITIAT I V E

Local ecoguards at Ko kolopori o b s e r ve wild bonobos. BCI hast rained, equipped, and curre n t l ysupports more than 100 monitorswho also act as ambassadors fo rc o n s e r vation. The Initiative seeksto germinate economic opportun-ities for villagers within the bono-bos’ habitat. Educational, medical,and community pro g rams aim tofoster future generations of ra i n-fo rest stewa rds.


In the bon obo habi t a t , t h ere was a lot of k i ll i n g,ra pe , and spre ading of A I D S ; terri ble damage wasdone as armies passed thro u gh , s tri pping everyt h i n gdown like ants. Wh en we went to Wa m b a , you co u l dtell the people were terrori zed . Old fri ends werea f raid to talk. Th ey loo ked like they had just shru n k .Hurley: One of Sa lly ’s fri en d s , N koi , ( wh i ch meansl eop a rd) is a great tracker and a real hero. So l d i erswould coerce people into hu n ting bon obo for meat.Back in Mobutu’s ti m e , he would give vi s i ting dign i-t a ries gifts of rhino or bon obo, and this one ti m eN koi got bet ween the soldiers and the bon obos andsaid “Yo u’re going to have to kill me firs t .”

N koi is typical of the kind of l e ader who we tryto work wi t h . The kind of pers on who inspire s —and de s erve s — re s pect , wh en he bri n gs the ideas ofthe BCI to his peop l e .

What are the aims of the Bonobo Conserv a t i o nInitiative? Coxe: We’re ded i c a ted to en su ring the su rvival ofthe bon obo and its habi t a t ; the two main threats arehu n ting and loggi n g. The bon obo habitat now hasm ore con ce s s i ons for logging than any other part of

the Con go, because it harbors the large s t , least ex p l oi ted fore s t .Iron i c a lly, the war and lack of i n f ra s tru ctu re had kept the log-gers out ; n ow, with pe ace , the logging companies are on theCon go like fli e s : the Eu rope a n s , Ma l ays i a n s , Leb a n e s e , and theChinese are on their way. O f ten , l oggers come in with bags ofs a l t , beer, su ga r, s ome mon ey for the ch i ef , and trade it for thefore s t . Un der the new Forest Code they have to obtain ri gh t sand provi de su b s t a n tial ben efits to the local peop l e . We’ve tak-en the lead to get the code tra n s l a ted into Linga l a , so that thepeople of the forest are aw a re of t h eir ri gh t s , and their opti on s .But som etimes all it takes is a few bags of salt and 50 or 60bu ck s , and a mill i on - do llar forest is gone forever.

Th ere is also little en forcem en t . The Forest Code shouldm a ke the logging more con tro ll ed , but like the law aga i n s thu n ting en d a n gered spec i e s , h ow can it be en forced in su ch ahu ge , rem o te are a , unless it is actively mon i tored by local com-mu n i ties? Hurley: We’re up against the cl ock . The vi ll a gers want to pro-tect their forest but they need our help now, because the log-gers aren’t waiti n g. Logging of fers a livi n g, but for how lon g ?We have vi s i ted a con ce s s i on area wh ere the forest is gon e , a n dthe vi ll a ge is now a shanty town . We urgen t ly need to provi dea l tern a tive livel i h oods in these regi ons before more damage isdon e . People are so deva s t a ted from the war that there is no ac-cess to servi ce s , no way to make a livi n g, no edu c a ti on , n o t h-i n g. This is a regi on wh ere the U. N . has decl a red the wors thu m a n i t a rian crisis on Earth in terms of l ack of h e a l t h c a re ,

PHOTO: JEFFRY OONK/BON OBO CONSERVATION INITIAT I V E

Estimates of wild populationsswing from 10,000 to 40,000. BCI conducts surveys while cre a t-ing re s e r ves for the wide-ra n g i n gape, whose habitat is veined withtributaries of the Congo Rive r .S t ewa rdship pro g rams pro m o t en a t u ral re s o u rce management,aimed at safe g u a rding large tra c t sof the globally significant CongoBasin wa t e rshed.


child mort a l i ty ra te , disease ra te , and poverty.One of the few ways to make a living is byhu n ting bush meat com m erc i a lly. So we alson eed to give hu n ters altern a tive opti on s .

B C I ’s IKCON idea is a somewhat radical ap-p roach to conservation. How does it work?Hurley: Put simply, we trust in the wi s dom ofthe indigenous Con go l e s e . We bel i eve that thebest way to help the bon obo is to help and en-ga ge the people who live around them . We hel pt h em devel op coopera tive con s erva ti on andcom mu n i ty devel opm ent progra m s ; we hel p

i m prove edu c a ti on , h e a l t h , and em p l oym ent pro s pects so thatt h ey wi ll become the guardians of the fore s t s . But first we listento what com mu n i ties tell us, we listen to their need s , trad i ti on s ,and custom s , ra t h er than con du cting long and co s t ly stu d i e s ,and imposing programs wri t ten in Wa s h i n g ton or New York .

The IKCON met h odo l ogy was devel oped by BCI thro u ghc a reful stu dy and ex peri en ce of h ow to ef fect tru ly su s t a i n a bl econ s erva ti on in this particular con tex t . My back ground in et h-n obo t a ny has also con tri buted to this approach . The norm a lac ademic approach to fin d i n g, s ay, c u ra tive properties wi t h i nplants invo lves ra n dom screen i n gs , wh i ch invo lves ex h a u s tives a m p l i n gs of m i ll i ons of plant screen i n gs at a sign i ficant co s t .Now the et h n obotanical approach draws direct ly on local wi s-dom : you ask the shaman abo ut the properties of the sap of acertain tree , and most likely, h e’ ll also tell you abo ut 20 otherproperties in that tree . L i kewi s e , BCI draws on the local knowl-ed ge of the forests to pinpoint bon obo pop u l a ti on s , m i gra ti onp a t tern s , feeding habi t s , etc .

We don’t shun the standard approach of con du cting a for-e s t - wi de su rvey, wh i ch is nece s s a ry in the long term . But unfor-tu n a tely that takes time and mon ey. If you start there , yo u’ lll e a rn wh ere the bon obos m i gh t be — or m i ght have been , a sm a ny could die or move on in the co u rse of your su rvey. An din the meantime no pro tecti on takes place .

So our met h ods com bine bi o l ogical and social scien ce . Th i sfirst step we call su rveys and inform a ti on exch a n ge .

So step two is to stop the locals hunting? Hurley: Th ere’s a differen ce bet ween su s t a i n a ble hu n ting andcom m ercial bush meat hu n ting and that’s what people con f u s e .This is another example of I KCON at work . In d i genous peop l eevery wh ere have been rem a rk a bly diligent stew a rds of the ra i n-fore s t s . Ma ny of the large s t , most intact forests with the gre a te s td ivers i ty of s pec i e s , a re places wh ere indigenous people hu n t .Why is this? Because they have sys tems in place wh i ch haveevo lved with the fore s t s . Th ey use knowl ed ge and age-old wi s-dom . Th ey wi ll ro t a te areas of fore s t , or ro t a te spec i e s . If t h eyk i ll all the animals, t h eir ch i l d ren won’t eat.

Mongandu women paint their fa c e sred to ritually celebrate a firs t - b o r nchild. But the future looks any t h i n gbut ro sy. “People are so deva s t a t e df rom the war that there is no ac-cess to services, no way to make aliving, no education, nothing,” saysMichael Hurley.

PHOTO: SALLY J. COXE/BON OBO CONSERVATION INITIAT I V E


We work around these indigenous sys tem s .In our are a s , the sys tems va ry: In Ko ko l oporithe Mon ga n du people have taboos aga i n s thu n ting bon obo s , while in the Ikela terri tory,bel i efs are mixed : s ome hu n t , s ome don’t . Th enf u rt h er south people grind the bones and uset h em in ri tuals to increase ferti l i ty. In d i gen o u sgroups also de s i gn a te sac red fore s t s . Th ere is as ac red swamp wh ere spirits are said to pro h i bi tfis h i n g. But this is also a breeding gro u n d , so itm a kes perfect sense in terms of su s t a i n a bi l i ty.It’s a com bi n a ti on of s c i en ce and spiri tu a l i ty;both sym bi o tic rel a ti onship and spiri tual bon d

to the landscape . This is how cultu res evo lve with natu re , a n dwe should re s pect them .Coxe: One of our first interven ti on s , and one of our most su c-cessful has been introducing disease-resistant cassava , wh i ch isthe staple crop. It had been deva s t a ted by a horri ble mosaicvi ru s . People were malnouri s h ed . Working with agri c u l tu ra lp a rtn ers , we bro u ght in improved cut ti n gs , tra i n ed loc a la gron om i s t s , and hel ped people rep l i c a te this stra i n . It took of fl i ke wi l d fire . The new cassava produ ces hu ge roo t s , and thel e aves are made into pon du , wh i ch is like a su per- s p i n ach , f u llof pro tei n . The new cassava gen era tes incom e , and incre a s e syi eld by abo ut 400%, t hus reducing the impact on the fore s t .Beyond that, we’ve initi a ted microc redit programs and inve s tedin training and infra s tru ctu re to cre a te new econ omic opportu-n i ties and altern a tives to the bushmeat trade .Hurley: But it’s not just a quid quo pro : you pro tect the ra i n-fore s t s , we’ ll help you eat. I KCON is a shared ven tu re in pre s er-va ti on . We ask what re s o u rces do we have to work toget h er. Wes ay “ well if you guys are going to be the stew a rds of the land,you have to eat, and your ch i l d ren can’t die of d i s e a s e .” And wec a n’t ex pect the forest to be pro tected wi t h o ut edu c a ting peo-ple to manage natu ral re s o u rce s . Bel i eve me—Af ricans don’tjust ask for mon ey or hando ut s . What they want is edu c a ti onand opportu n i ty. My first time in Mom p a n o, I almost cri ed : Iwas su rro u n ded by little kids shouting “ Bi c , Bi c , s tyl o, s tyl o? ”Th ey didn’t want mon ey, or candy, f rom the mon dele (wh i tem a n ) , t h ey wanted a pen to wri te , t h ey wanted edu c a ti on . Th eywere begging for a futu re .

So this principle works by helping communities take the fir s tsmall steps to help themselves?

Coxe: Ye s , i t’s all abo ut partn ership—and loc a lly - b a s ed leader-s h i p. We are a young or ga n i z a ti on so we don’t have hu ge re-s o u rces at this poi n t , but we help Con golese partn ers , a n dcoord i n a te with intern a ti onal partn ers , to build vi ll a ge con s er-va ti on cen ters wh i ch act as com mu n i ty meeting place s , and weh elp establish sch oo l s , and cl i n i c s , su ch as the one just built inKo ko l opori . An intern a ti onal or ga n i z a ti on has provi ded dis-

With infra s t r u c t u re deva s t a t e dt h roughout the DRC, smoked bush-meat is among the few commodi-ties not to spoil on the ard u o u sj o u r n ey to market. Although out-l awed in protected areas, commer-cial hunting remains a serioust h reat to all wildlife in the CongoBasin. Effe c t i ve policing of the va s tra i n fo rests depends on the willingvigilance of local communities.

PHOTO: SALLY J. COXE/BON OBO CONSERVATION INITIAT I V E


co u n ted med i c i n e s , and the clinic is now oper-a ti onal with a fantastic local doctor and threenu rs e s .

IKCON seeks to integrate indigenous cultural customs and beliefs with the aimsof pre s e rvation. How does this principlework in practice? Coxe: The talking drums are a good example ofh ow IKCON can work . Every vi ll a ge has a hu gewooden dru m , wh i ch is placed at a cen tra lm o u n d . Any news , a ny ga t h eri n g, a ny death isa n n o u n ced thro u gh a tonal tribal language ,wh i ch they use in both drum and whistle form .

Th ey send their message , wh i ch is picked up in the next vi ll a geby the dru m m er on duty that day, and it’s passed along to then ext vi ll a ge , and so on . It’s amazingly fast and acc u ra te .Mi ch ael on ce found out thro u gh the talking drum that Al berth ad a flat ti re in Yo tem a n kel e , and would be late for a meeti n g.It’s that spec i fic . Now we also install HF rad i o s , wh i ch vi ll a ge sw a n t , to help with fore s try pro tecti on and com mu n i c a ti on overl on ger distance s , but it also makes sense to use this re ady - m adecom mu n i c a ti on sys tem and to simu l t a n eo u s ly pre s erve the cul-tu re .

Con golese cultu re is vi brant and va s t , but to draw on it yo umust re s pect that cultu re and not distu rb it. A good ex a m p l ewas in Ko ko l opori wh ere the wom en oppo s ed a proposal for an ew well in their vi ll a ge . We wanted to use microc redit funds tobest serve the wom en : and we though t , i t’s obvi o u s , sink a welland save them a difficult daily walk of s everal kilom eters carry-ing water from a faraw ay source . But it tu rn ed out that thewom en con s i dered those walks as precious time toget h er totalk abo ut their men fo l k . Wh i ch proves it’s not alw ays wise toi m pose our ide a s , de s p i te the best inten ti on s .

Pa rt of your policy is to change the way that the Congolesesee the bonobo. For example, you said that certain tribesuse the bonobo’s bones and ashes for fertility rituals. In thec o u n t ry where the scramble for Africa reached its nadir,how do you change attitudes without appearing to be cul-turally imperialistic?

Coxe: We do this by not being the ones del ivering the message .The wh i te man, the m o n d el e, for on ce , is showing Con go l e s el e aders the re s pect of mutual tru s t , and of u l ti m a tely let ti n gt h em propose these principles and plans to their peop l e . So it’sthe Con golese who are convincing their bro t h ers and sistersthat the bon obos are a lot more va lu a ble alive than de ad . T h eya re saying “ you don’t need them for that ri tu a l ,” not us. An dt h ey are the best messen gers . Our role is to provi de the fin a n-cial and practical back - u p, to help them ach i eve these ch a n ge s .We share ideas and work as a te a m .

Darkness in the heartland?Joseph Conrad compared his Congo voyage to “…travelling back to the earliest beginnings ofthe world, when vegetation riotedon the Earth and the big trees we re kings.” To d ay, as logging companies scramble for conces-sions, the DRC government mustweigh protection of the bonobohabitat as part of its pledge toreduce global warming. The ra i n-fo rests’ flagship species face anuncertain future.

PHOTO: MICHAEL HURLEY/BON OBO CONSERVATION INITIAT I V E


Hurley: In terms of edu c a ti on , we also have to del iver the mes-s a ge in a way the Con golese rel a te to cultu ra lly, be that thro u ghs tory, s ong or wh a tever. We’ve en l i s ted the help of World Mu s i cs t a r, Papa Wem b a , who is from Sa n k u ru to del iver the pre s erva-ti on message thro u gh a song and radio spots abo ut bon obo s .He is the perfect messen ger. We must learn to see the issue ofcon s erva ti on thro u gh Af rican ra t h er than We s tern eye s .

Is it difficult to gain the trust of the Congolese, given their his-t o ry with the mondele?

Coxe: The real key has been the local Con golese leaders . So inp l aces like Ko ko l opori and Sa n k u ru , the people are em pow-ered . It gives them hope and re s pect and that is essen ti a l . Th e s epeople have been thro u gh hell for over a cen tu ry. Th ey wereen s l aved by the Bel gi a n s . Th en they su f fered the dict a torship ofMobutu , and the wars and ex p l oi t a ti on that fo ll owed . So wh ent h ey see that our atti tu de is to devo lve power into their hands,wh en we seek their hel p, and do it thro u gh their leaders , t h i sm a kes a differen ce . This is the key to our su ccess at Ko ko l opori ,Sa n k u ru , and other Pe ace Forest site s . We’ve been very fortu-n a te to find inspired and capable local con s erva ti on leaders .

The Bonobo Peace Forest seems a hugely ambitious plan—how much of the rainforest exactly does the final pro j e c t i o nencompass?

Hurley: In the case of the Sa n k u ru Na tu re Re s erve the ICCN—the DRC park aut h ori ty — actu a lly ex p a n ded our initi a lly pro-j ected areas to inclu de a cri tical waters h ed and to en ga ge moreof the com mu n i ty, so we listen ed to them . Sa n k u ru is 30,570s qu a re kilom eters . As curren t ly envi s i on ed , the en ti re Pe aceForest wi ll inclu de Lilu n g u , Ko l o l opori , Lonu a , L i n gom o,Mom p a n o, Samba and Monieka (see map). All these wi ll bel i n ked : the bon obo pop u l a ti on is fra gm en ted so it’s vital to linkthe com mu n i ty - b a s ed re s erves with bi o l ogical corri dors . Th i scould be over 50,000 squ a re kilom eters in all . The idea startedin 2002 with a stu dy su pported by Con s erva ti on In tern a ti on a l ’sG l obal Con s erva ti on Fu n d . In con su l t a ti on s , we discoveredthat people didn’t want another nati onal park because therewere people living in the habi t a t . The forest was their hom e . Sowe evo lved tow a rds com mu n i ty - b a s ed re s erves with linkingcorri dors—a model now being recogn i zed as more practi c a bl eand more su s t a i n a bl e .Al re ady with Sa n k u ru , we’ve ach i evedthe worl d ’s largest con ti nuous pro tected area for any great ape .

What is the political significance of this recent decision by theg o v e rnment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to cre-ate the Sankuru Nature Reserve?

Coxe: The su ccess of the Sa n k u ru Re s erve and the en ti reBon obo Pe ace Forest con cept ori gi n a lly stem m ed from wh a twas su ppo s ed to be a 10-minute appoi n tm ent with Pre s i den tKa bila in 2002, wh i ch en ded up lasting for two hours . It tu rn ed

What [Africans] want is education and oppor-t u n i t y. My first time inMompano, I almostcried: I was surro u n d e dby little kids shouting“Bic, Bic, stylo, stylo? ”T h ey didn’t want mon-ey, or candy, they w a n ted a pen to write .T h ey we re begging fo ra future.


o ut that the pre s i dent loves apes—he had a pet ch i m p a n zee .The DRC govern m ent em braced the idea of an initi a tive drivenby local peop l e . Si n ce then , the govern m ent has also been keento hon or its re s pon s i bi l i ty to miti ga te gl obal warming bypre s erva ti on . So in their ra i n forest home the bon obos are wellp l aced to be icons of pe ace and the DRC ’s green creden ti a l s .

The scientist Gottfried Hohmann has said that in 100 yearsthe forest will be gone, that now is our last chance to studybonobos. Can you offer an alternative vision?

Hurley: We can, but to do that we need su pport . Our focus is topro tect the bon obo in the wi l d ; G o t tf ri ed Hohmann is a scien-ti s t , and a scien ti s t’s role is pri m a ri ly to ob s erve ra t h er thanpro tect . Our aim is to coord i n a te these ro l e s , to make the sci-en ce work alon gs i de the con s erva ti on , wh i ch is driven by peo-ple on the gro u n d .

The U. N . has esti m a ted that in 20 ye a rs on ly 4% of t h ebon obo habitat could be lef t . So we’re in a de s pera te racea gainst ti m e . Logging thre a tens the bon obos and it accel era te sgl obal warm i n g. The mon ey needed to help local people savet h eir ra i n forests is minimal, but the world now re a lly needs top ut its mon ey wh ere its mouth is.

The ch oi ce for these people is very re a l : t h ey get help to es-t a blish lon g - term progra m s , or the logging companies simplybuy them of f . The loggers can of fer the Con golese cake ri gh tn ow, but we can of fer seeds to sow a futu re . But every mon t hthat goes by we lose more of the fore s t . A little bit of s eed fund-ing goes a long way, but they need it n ow! Our main con cernn ow is that we have many similar com mu n i ties who want top a rti c i p a te in our progra m s , but we need mon ey to help themget started . We stay aw a ke at night worrying abo ut funding.

F i n a l l y, why is it so important for man to study bonobos now? Coxe: Si n ce chimps have been so well stu d i ed , mankind hasten ded to ju s tify our own bell i co s i ty by com p a ring us wi t ht h em . But we share the same amount of D NA (abo ut 98.6%)with the pe acef u l , l a i d - b ack bon obo. Th ey of fer us the ch a n ceto stu dy different aspects of o u rs elve s , to com p a re bon obos andchimps as the Yin and Yang of human natu re , the male and fe-male parad i gm .

It’s also intere s ting that bon obos are on ly coming to ligh tn ow. Look wh a t’s happening on our planet : i f at any time inhu m a n k i n d ’s cultu ral evo luti on we could learn from a pe ace -l ovi n g, n on - de s tru ctive , n on - terri tori a l , s i de of our ance s try, i tis su rely the pre s en t . Ot h erwi s e , I fe a r, we wi ll simply kill our-s elves of f . The bon obos are linked inex tri c a bly to us for manyre a s on s , not the least of wh i ch is wh ere they live . We are ch o k-ing the Eart h , but if we can save the bon obo, we can also savethe second lung of the planet . Bon obos inhabit the last basti onof the Con go ra i n fore s t , and they are the perfect fla gs h i ps pecies for it.

The lo g g e rs can o f fer [Congolese v i l l a g e rs] ca ke rightn ow, but we can offe rseeds to sow a future .But every month thatgoes by we lose moreof the fo re st. A littlebit of seed fundinggoes a long way, butt h ey need it n o w!

s a l ly jewell coxe and michael hurleydocs.bonobo.org/ngsvoices2.pdfwe’ve a saying in lingala:...

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