The bonobo's range is approximately 500,000 km2, but today isolated and fragmented bonobo groups may only survive in a quarter of this area.

Estimates of the total population of bonobos range from 10,000 to 50,000, but the realistic figure is likely to be at the lower end of that distribution.

The percentage of total potential bonobo habitat now relatively undisturbed and thus able to support viable populations has been estimated to be 23 percent (the lowest figure for any great ape) and has been projected to decline to 4 percent by 2030 (UNEP, Sept. 2002). 

The Green Abyss

The bonobo habitat contains some of the last and least scientifically explored rainforests on earth. Called the Green Abyss by some, it contains a mosaic of primary forests, secondary forests and virtually impenetrable swamp forests. However, it is a also a human landscape and home to indigenous and local people who have suffered greatly from recent conflicts, and who, lacking infrastructure and resources, rely more and more on unsustainable exploitation of forest resources, including bonobo and bushmeat hunting, and clearing forests for agriculture. The threat of logging looms large, and the future is uncertain.

There is Hope

In fulfillment of our mission to save bonobos, we must protect the rainforests in which they live. A major portion of BCI's work is to coordinate efforts with local populations and national authorities to establish official protected areas.

Our programs are designed to assure sustainability and effectiveness of these protected areas by assuring local involvement and approval, so that the rights of local and indigenous peoples may be respected, and so that they will be fully engaged in stewardship of their forests.

We believe that this is the most effective way for the forest and all its inhabitants to have a sustainable future.