Regional action plan for the conservation of western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees 2015-2025

The action plan lays out a conservation strategy for gorillas and chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa. The Endangered central chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes and the Critically Endangered western lowland gorilla Gorilla gorilla gorilla are undergoing a dramatic decline due to poaching, disease and habitat loss, driven by demands for bushmeat, a lack of law enforcement, by corruption, and by increased access to their once-remote habitat -- like the recent expansion of industrial agriculture. This document is the product of the second regional workshop on conservation planning for the two subspecies of great ape, which brought together senior representatives of the wildlife authorities in the six range states, protected area managers, NGOs, scientists, wildlife health experts, industry representatives and donors. These stakeholders assessed great ape conservation needs for the next 10 years, building on an action plan published in 2005, to develop a new plan of action that will serve as a guide for range-state governments, donors and conservation organisations to target conservation investment in the region.