THE CREATION OF THE PLAN & METHODOLOGY
A stakeholder workshop took place over four days in Monrovia, Liberia, in December 2017, hosted by the Section on Great Apes of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group (SGA), Flora & Fauna International (FFI) and the Forestry Development Authority of Liberia. Sixty-two participants, including representatives from governmental departments in the eight countries of the western chimpanzee’s range, conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), researchers and donor organisations, worked together to determine the actions needed to ensure the survival of western chimpanzees.
The methodology used to create this action plan was an adaptation of the Open Standards conservation-action-planning approach (OS). This method involves identifying conservation priorities (‘Conservation Targets’) in a precise geographic area (‘Scope of the Project’), then assessing the target’s viability, and identifying threats to the targets. An assessment of the important stakeholders and the political and environmental context in which this action plan will be implemented was also undertaken. These analyses then led to the development of conservation strategies with precise, concrete and measurable objectives, as well as an implementation and monitoring plan.
Conservation targets were defined by a technical committee in advance of the workshop. Participants at the workshop grouped conservation targets, defined the threats, and created conceptual models for each. The actions listed in the conceptual models were then grouped according to theme, to become region-wide strategies.
Workshop results were synthesised in a post-workshop meeting to reduce redundancy and merge them into a single outline from which a cohesive plan could be created. In its synthesis, the resulting plan deviates from standard OS methodology in that it broadens the conservation targets to encompass the entire range of the western chimpanzee, including all habitat types, and as such the needs of populations in all habitat contexts equitably, and thereby extending the scope of conservation actions to tackle the region-wide issues that threaten them. These threats and the measures detailed to deal with them are viewed solely at the subspecies’ level and provide the scaffold for future national and sub-national plans tailored to local contexts. Nonetheless, many actions needed for chimpanzee conservation should be defined at the national level, as threat intensity imperils chimpanzee populations differentially at different scales, and the scale of action varies according to the intervention.



THE WCAP COMMUNITY
The workshop brought together 62 representatives from the eight range states as well as international stakeholders, but the broader WCAP community extends well beyond this group. Here you can find a list of participants and WCAP community members.

IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE
As a means of achieving the vision of the WCAP, in March 2021 an Implementation Committee was established with the responsibility to coordinate stakeholders and to organise activities that allow efficient, proactive planning and implementation of the WCAP actions. The ImpCom is a mix of elected seats and chosen governmental representatives from across all western chimpanzee range states, and covers major topics within the WCAP. It is currently composed of 27 seats of equivalent standing: 10 topical and 17 national-level seats. Eight of 10 topical seats are supported by deputy or adjoint seats, totaling 37 total participants, in addition to the committee coordinator.
Topical Seat Chairs
(Deputy Chairs)
Genevieve CAMPBELL (Landing BADJI)
Private industry / ESIA coordination
Marc FOURRIER (Michael BALINGA)
Land use planning
James WINGARD (Kevin GNAGNE)
Legal (text) coordination
Ammie KALAN (Serge SOIRET)
Chimpanzee cultural diversity
Mimi ARANDJELOVIC (Sery GONEDELE BI)
Chimpanzee genetic diversity
Tatyana HUMLE (Joseph Ano Kouao KOUASSI)
Human-chimpanzee conflict
Celestin KOUAKOU (Ambrose Bockarie KANNEH)
Population monitoring
Fabian LEENDERZ (Léonce KOUADIO)
Health
Inza KONE (Yves KABLAN)
Protected Areas
Jenny DESMOND (Mamadou Bella DIALLO)
Law enforcement / sanctuary coordination
National Representatives
Alexandre KONATE
Guinea: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Mamady TOUNKARA
Guinea: Representative of OGPR
Itai ROFFMAN & Saibou SANOGO
Mali: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
(yet to be chosen)
Mali: Representative of DEF
Ibrahim BAKARR
Sierra Leone: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Babar TURAY
Sierra Leone: Representative of NPAA
Simone BAN
Cote d’Ivoire: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Abdoulaye DIARRASSOUBA
Cote d'Ivoire: Representative of OIPR
(yet to be chosen)
Cote d'Ivoire: Representative of MINEF
Clement TWEH
Liberia: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Menladi LORMIE
Liberia: Representative of FDA
Emmanuel DANQUAH
Ghana: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Richard OFORI-AMANFO
Ghana: Representative of Forestry Commission
Kim HOCKINGS
Guinea-Bissau: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Aissa REGALLA
Guinea-Bissau: Representative of IBAP
Papa IBNOU NDIAYE
Senegal: (Inter)national scientist or NGO
Abba SONKO
Senegal: Representative of DEFC
Djibril DIOUCK
Senegal: Representative of DPN