The race to the $10,000 match is on! Two more weeks left to support an indigenous Congolese organization that's truly making a difference—our partner, Vie Sauvage!
The UN Development Programme recognized Vie Sauvage with the 2020 Equator Prize because Vie Sauvage is a proven leader in the field. They were instrumental in the creation of the Bonobo Peace Forest twenty years ago and they are the driving force behind the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve today. Their dedication to conservation and to their community is genuinely awe-inspiring.
The roots of Vie Sauvage extend deeper into the past than its 1999 founding, even deeper into the past than founder Albert Lokasola's childhood in the rainforest. The Mongandu people of Kokolopori have long-standing traditions regarding the relationship between humans and bonobos and the forest home they share.
Indigenous knowledge is key to understanding the region's past and protecting its future. Sadly, in oral cultures like that of the Mongandu, the traditional knowledge of conservation is rapidly disappearing as unsustainable development continues.
Vie Sauvage is producing, with the help of both elders and students, a textbook of regional tales, proverbs, and legends about biodiversity and conservation. The goal is to give these books to children in Kokolopori and ultimately throughout the Djolu territory—and beyond.
If you donate by September 29th, you can help preserve Mongandu traditions and educate the next generation of Congolese conservation leaders.
Your support makes their work possible.
Totondi bino botondi (Thank you very much)!