The Peace Forest has a life of its own!

Forêt Riche leader, Albert Alukana

The Bonobo Peace Forest continues to inspire leaders in the bonobo habitat!

Located to the east of the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, Forêt Riche is the Bonobo Peace Forest's newest site. While employed as head nurse at Kokolopori, leader Albert Alukana was inspired by BCI’s collaborative, community-based, and holistic approach. He returned to his home village, in the neighboring Tshopo province, to establish bonobo conservation activities in the region. Upon securing community and local government support, and being trained in GPS techniques, Albert and his team conducted preliminary mapping of their 270,000 acre forest block. During the process, the presence of bonobos and two groups of forest elephants was confirmed.

Bonobo outreach flyer created by Foret Riche

In recent months, the Forêt Riche team launched a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of conservation in their forest. They met with leaders of 10 villages to distribute outreach materials, consult communities in preparation for participatory mapping of the region, and discuss potential community projects to reduce threats to bonobos. The communities are supportive of these efforts and are eager to continue the process of protecting their forests through participatory mapping.As always, the progress that we have made has been because of the generous support of donors like you! Thank you for standing with us.