Workshop on strengthening collaboration in great ape conservation

For many years ITTO has been working for the conservation of great ape species, particularly the orangutan and gorilla, through conservation and sustainable forest management projects.

The Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) is an innovative project of UNEP and UNESCO which aims to lift the threat faced by gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans.

This workshop brought together experts from ITTO, UNESCO, the Japan Ministry of Environment, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, the Forestry Agency, the Nature and Environment Center of Japan, the Japan Lumber Importers' Association and other institutions to discuss ways in which ITTO and GRASP can work together to strengthen efforts to protect the world’s great apes.

Speakers included:

1. Dr Emmanuel Ze Meka (Assistant Director, Reforestation and Forest Management, International Tropical Timber Organization)
2. Dr Natarajan Ishwaran (Director, Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
3. Prof Toshisada Nishida (President of Great Apes Survival Project -Japan, President of Japan Monkey Center)
4. Dr Akira Suzuki (Director of Japan Wildlife Research Center, GRASP-Japan executive committee member)
5. Prof Tetsuro Matsuzawa (Executive committee member of GRASP Interim Scientific Committee, GRASP-Japan and IUCN Section of Great Apes)