Speeches

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF TACUGAMA SANCTUARY

October 06, 2005

Statement On the 10th. Anniversary of Tacugama Sanctuary

Mr. President, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Chimpanzees are special creatures in our universe.  Chimpanzees and humans differ by just over one percent of our DNA.  They are capable of reasoned thought, make decisions, use tools, and have a concept of self.  Researchers have found their behavior, intellect, and emotions to be similar to ours.  If you have met Bruno here at the sanctuary, you know what I am talking about.
 
Despite our similarities, chimpanzees are animals who belong in their natural habitat as part of an ecosystem that we humans depend on.  But, humans and other species have always had an uneasy co-existence.  As human populations have grown, habitats have been lost and hunting has decimated animal populations.  Chimpanzees have declined to the point where they face extinction in the wild in the near future.  
 
For the past ten years, Tacugama has been an important refuge for chimps  who have been orphaned or otherwise taken from their natural habitats.  We are indebted to the vision, leadership, and concern of one man, Bala Amersekaran, for having made this possible.  The American Embassy is proud to have contributed $50,000 from the State Department to build enclosures to allow these chimpanzees to live in an environment resembling their own and to provide other support.
 
While offering refuge to chimpanzees is both important and humane, we recognize that the survival of the species requires us to do more.  This is more than a noble gesture toward a weaker species for we depend on chimpanzees for their contributions to the forest ecosystem that produces our oxygen and to the life-cycles of other species that support pollinators necessary for the economically important cultivated plant species that farmers depend on.  When an animal becomes extinct, it is lost forever, and we still have much to learn medically and in other respects from our primate cousins.  Those who hunt chimpanzees for bushmeat or trap them for the pet trade may realize some short-term economic gain, but they do so at the expense of the rest of humanity.
 
Recognizing that chimpanzee conservation is both critical and complex, the American Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) granted $700,000 to the Jane Goodall Institute earlier this year to partially fund a $793,000 project for chimpanzee conservation in Sierra Leone and Guinea.  The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary will play a key role in this project.  The forest areas of Sierra Leone and Guinea shelter the most diverse mammals in the world, and are one of the two most important regions in the world for primate conservation.  These forests have been reduced to just 10% of their original size by farming, logging, and surface mining.  Their fragmentation and decimation  must be reversed if animal species, including human beings, are to survive.
 
The American Embassy earlier this year sponsored a workshop by the United States Forest Service with the police, communities,  ministry officials, and NGO representatives to address the problem of encroachment into the Western Area Forest Reserve; encroachment that could eventually threaten the Tacugama Sanctuary itself.   I expect that our Forest Service will return next year to assist with conservation of other forests in this country.   The United States Fish and Wildlife Service also intends to come to  Sierra Leone next year to help to conserve elephants in the Outamba Kilimi National Game Reserve.   
 
The groundwork for the success of these other initiatives will be laid by the Jane Goodall Institute in collaboration with local partners.  Time does not permit me to describe the chimpanzee project comprehensively, but, Mr. President, I do want to emphasize that success of the project will depend on the involvement of the Government and citizens of Sierra Leone. 
 
Like any effective development project this one will be a partnership of government, communities, non-governmental organizations, international donors, and concerned individuals.  We look to the Government of Sierra Leone for a conservation policy framework, and strategy for ratification of international conservation agreements that it has signed, for strengthening wildlife protection laws, and for the enforcement of those laws.  International donors and non-governmental organizations will contribute resources and incentives to communities and indigenous institutions to raise public understanding of the imperative to conserve wildlife and to adapt economic practices to environmental realities.  Communities, led by concerned individuals will be key, for their commitment and active participation will be essential for success.  Ordinary Sierra Leoneans must come to understand that destruction of the forests and the wildlife that they contain will only produce short-term gains, while conservation of those resources will contribute to new economic opportunities for income generation such as eco-tourism, primate viewing, and the accompanying cottage industries.  Without those opportunities, however, conservation will be elusive.
 
The Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary is leading the way in showing Sierra Leone what conservation of wildlife can achieve.  I therefore want to conclude by congratulating the sanctuary on its 10^th anniversary, and wish you even greater success in the future.  The American Embassy is proud to be your partner.