African elephant - Cameroon

Caused by the continuous expansion of human population and the quick conversion of lands, the destruction of the elephants’ habitat in Cameroon often forces the pachyderms to feed in the villagers’ farming lands, thus increasing the number of human-wildlife conflicts. The NGO “Des Éléphants & des Hommes” (Elephants & Men) has carried out a program named “My elephant neighbour”, which Beauval Nature has supported. This project was focused on environmental and conservation education, while developing actions to make the human-elephant cohabitation more harmonious. The work that has been carried out among the local populations has notably enabled a better land use planning and the development of activities in favour of the environment: new agricultural techniques, a sustainable use of natural resources, ecotourism, etc.

African manatees - Senegal

The survival of African manatees is threatened by traditional hunting and the destruction of their natural habitat, due to the silting-up of flood plains, agricultural development, pollution, the construction of dams for irrigation and the deforestation of mangrove swamps. Supported by Beauval Nature, the Oceanium association has carried out a rescue program of manatees trapped in the waters of the Senegal River: this river periodically experiences important rises in water level, leading the manatees to go up very far in its branches, before remaining trapped when the river decreases. In order to watch the river, Oceanium has created a sentry network: their mission is to make the local populations aware of manatee conservation and preservation of their habitat. They also alert the Oceanium teams when animals are trapped and need to be transferred to another area of the river.

Asian elephants - R.D of Lao

Formerly known as the “Land of a Million Elephants”, Laos now provides a habitat for less than 1,200 pachyderms. The loss of their habitat, ivory poaching, the very low reproduction rate of mahouts’ elephants (because of the infernal pace they have to keep up in wood exploitations), the lack of medical staff… all these factors could lead elephants to become extinct in Laos within thirty years. Beauval Nature has supported the Elefantasia association by completely financing the construction of a veterinary hospital, where some quality and free health care is now provided to elephants, as well as the purchase of medical supply and equipment essential for the wellness of the animals living on site.

Blue-throated macaw - Bolivia

With 120 individuals surviving in the wild, the blue-throated macaw is considered as one of the most endangered species of birds in the world. Deforestation, captures for trade and competition with other parrots for nesting sites are the reasons of its disappearance. In collaboration with the Loro Parque Foundation, Beauval Nature has worked for the protection of this species. Some protection measures have been carried out in Bolivia, a protected area has been created, artificial nests have been settled and a reintroduction program of individuals born in zoological parks has been developed. At the same time, an education and awareness raising program dedicated to the local populations has been carried out.

Central African Chimpanzee - Gabon

During the last twenty years, the numbers of Gabonese chimpanzees have decreased by 50%: the current population is now estimated at 40,000 individuals. Illegal hunting for the bushmeat trade and the exotic animal trade, the destruction of their natural habitat and deadly epidemics like the one caused by the Ebola virus are responsible for this decline. Beauval Nature has decided to support the Jane Goodall Institute in its work of making the local populations aware of those issues. The objective of this project is to make the communities realize how important chimpanzees are in the preservation of the forests and thus in the conservation of all the other species living in them. The project members also wish to encourage everyone to protect the species and its environment, to raise public awareness of hygiene and health, as well as of the health consequences of living near chimpanzees and the laws protecting these animals.

Cheetah - KENYA

The cheetah is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Besides the degradation of its natural habitat, one of the main causes of its decline is the predation of the young by other feline species, such as lions or hyenas. In collaboration with Cheetah For Ever, Beauval Nature was involved in the monitoring of females cheetahs and their litters in order to avoid any attempts of predation. A network of guards has been set up to protect the young cheetahs. In parallel, awareness-raising, education and training campaigns have been developed with the Maasai populations of the region.

Colobuses, Cercopithecidae and Mangabeys - Ivory Coast

Located southeast of Ivory Coast, the Tanoé Swamps Forest is a biodiversity hotspot, since it provides a habitat for three primate species threatened by human activity: Miss Waldron’s red colobus, Diana’s monkey and the collared mangabey. As the habitat of these monkeys disappear, their food resources decrease as well. Beauval Nature has provided a financial support to studies enabling to protect the forest and to classify it as a community reserve (in order to prevent it from being turned into an industrial palm grove). Beauval Nature has also supported the development of research projects, campaigns to raise awareness among the local stakeholders and local development projects.

Eastern Chimpanzee - Uganda

Kibale National Park is home to the largest contiguous population of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). According to the Ugandan government, 95% of the inhabitants of the National Park depend exclusively on wood for energy. The New Nature Foundation has developed an energy management programme for local populations. This includes the constructing of low-cost stoves and the planting of indigenous crops for firewood, therefore reducing anthropogenic pressures on the Kibale National Park's forests. Through its educational programmes, the New Nature Foundation also promotes changes in behaviour that are needed to protect the park's forests.

European Spadefoot Toad - France

The European spadefoot toad is classified as "critically endangered" on the Centre-Val de Loire amphibian species Red List and its population has rapidly declined in recent years. This is mainly due to wetlands drying up, pollution, and the introduction of invasive alien species. In the Centre-Val de Loire region of France, the species is rare and is localised to a small area. The Beauval Nature association has funded a research and conservation programme on the European spadefoot toad in the Centre-Val de Loire region in collaboration with the CDPNE (Departmental Committee for the Protection of Nature and the Environment) and the DREAL Centre (Regional Directorate for Environment, Development, and Housing).

FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL TRADE - INDONESIA

Indonesia has recently been listed by local authorities as the South Asian country with the highest level of illegal wildlife trade. A mission report revealed that on a single day, more than 19,000 wild birds were sold in the Jakarta markets. In order to combat this epidemic, the Scorpion Foundation, supported by Beauval Nature, aims to accurately quantify the number of wild animals that are victims of this illegal trade and gather the necessary evidence to enable the Indonesian environmental authorities to bring legal proceedings against offenders.

Gibbons - Indonesia

Park W's biodiversity is threatened by poaching and a whole range of human activities such as transhumance, agriculture, logging, and fishing. Beauval Nature has collaborated with the Association of Tourist Camps for the Endorsement of Regional Park Management W (ACTAG-PRW) in Niger. The latter was created to reinforce and accompany the implementation of protection and conservation measures for Park W in the field, in close collaboration with the competent authorities. At the end of 2016, ACTAG-PRW set up the 'Feline Brigade'. Comprised of nine eco-guards, two rangers, one coordinator and a scientific assistant, this brigade aims to monitor and identify the various species of threatened cats in Park W: mainly lions and cheetahs.

Golden-bellied capuchin - Brazil

Endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica in Portuguese), the most damaged ecosystem of the country, the golden-bellied capuchin is one of the most endangered primates in the world. Through the IPE (Instituto de Pesquisas Ecologicas), Beauval Nature has supported a program aiming to follow up capuchins equipped with radio collars, in order to determine their distributional range and understand their behaviour. These studies have notably improved their reproduction in-situ and ex-situ, since 20 young are born between 2004 and 2010, among which 18 have survived, thanks to the protection measures carried out. Furthermore, since 2010, a protected area of 11,336 hectares has been created for the species.

Humbold penguin - Peru

Only present along the Peruvian and Chilean coasts, Humboldt penguins have seen their numbers decrease quickly during the last thirty years. The Peruvian reserve of Punta San Juan provides a habitat for one of the most important penguin colonies, but its population suffers from uncontrolled harvests of guano, an excrement used by the local farmers to fertilize their lands. Those practices destroy nests and clutches and have thus a negative impact on the reproduction cycle of the penguins and on their survival. In the context of the “Punta San Juan guano harvest project”, three sustainable harvests have been carried out in 2001, 2007 and 2012. Volunteers from all around the world, mostly working in zoological parks, have participated in the project by watching the workers, advising them and making them aware of the species conservation. A zookeeper from Beauval has taken part in the success of the 2012 harvest.

Mediterranean Monk Seal - Mauritania

The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) inhabited French coasts until the 1930s and Corsican coasts until 1970 but is now no longer part of France's wildlife. Classified as "critically endangered" by the IUCN, it is considered to be one of the most endangered marine mammals on the planet. The Marineland Foundation is involved in a monk seal conservation project in Mauritania that is helping to improve the species' conservation status by ensuring its protection and that of its habitat. With the help of local authorities, a permanent surveillance patrol monitors Mauritanian waters, as well as coasts and caves that serve as breeding grounds. This is to prevent illegal hunting and any inconvenience that might affect the animals within the colony.

Niokolo-Koba National Park - Senegal

The Niokolo-Koba National Park, in Senegal, provides a habitat for a very diverse fauna: lions, cheetahs, elephants, hippopotamuses, giant elands, etc. Unfortunately, each year, during the dry season, 1,500 bushfires are recorded in and near the park, a consequence of human activities like a poor control of domestic fires or the start of fires by hunters to remove game from forests. In order to protect the Niokolo-Koba National Park, Beauval Nature has got involved with the Oceanium organization, which works to strengthen response capacities in the most sensitive areas of the park by acquiring mobile reservoir pumps. At the same time, Oceanium wishes to mobilize the villagers in the fight against bushfires, notably by providing trainings and equipment for them, as well as by creating a surveillance network across the country.

PARK W FELINES - NIGER

Park W's biodiversity is threatened by poaching and a whole range of human activities such as transhumance, agriculture, logging, and fishing. Beauval Nature has collaborated with the Association of Tourist Camps for the Endorsement of Regional Park Management W (ACTAG-PRW) in Niger. The latter was created to reinforce and accompany the implementation of protection and conservation measures for Park W in the field, in close collaboration with the competent authorities. At the end of 2016, ACTAG-PRW set up the 'Feline Brigade'. Comprised of nine eco-guards, two rangers, one coordinator and a scientific assistant, this brigade aims to monitor and identify the various species of threatened cats in Park W: mainly lions and cheetahs.

PICODE Programme - Djibouti

The PICODE programme works towards the economic, cultural, and social development of human populations as well as the conservation of Djibouti's extraordinarily rich biological heritage. It therefore strongly links conservation with development. This pilot action aims to restore the Republic of Djibouti's fauna and historical heritage to create a tool with which to further restore and conserve the country's biodiversity, primarily to the benefit of its inhabitants. An educational centre, mainly funded by the Beauval Nature association, has been built within the DECAN refuge, a wildlife sanctuary that spans 30 ha. It hosts schools as well as local and international researchers, allowing wildlife conservation projects to be carried out. Two protected areas have been created for the protection of two flagship species: the gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) and the beira antelope (Dorcatragus megalotis). Ecotourism programmes have also been put in place to finance these protected areas.

Red-shanked Douc Langur - R.D. of Lao

The red-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix nemaeus), a species classified as "endangered" by the IUCN, is threatened throughout its range due to habitat loss, particularly in Vietnam, where populations are fragmented, or even locally extinct. Hunting, for subsistence use and traditional medicine, strongly contributes to the decline of this species. The Anoulak project aims to ensure the long-term protection of red-shanked douc langurs through the establishment of ecological studies on the species, direct protection of their populations, and the establishment of an educational programme for local people.

San Martin Titi Monkey - Peru

Classified as “critically endangered” by the IUCN, the San Martin titi monkey (Callicebus oenanthe) is found only in the high-altitude tropical forests of Alto Mayo, in central Peru. Over the past few decades, these forests have been destroyed at an alarming rate due to logging, and to clear land for livestock breeding and the production of various crops (coffee, cocoa, rice). Today, only fragments of these forests remain which constitute the habitat of the species. A conservation programme led by Proyecto Mono Tocon seeks to protect the Alto Mayo forest and to identify the biodiversity found within it, in cooperation with the local population. Studies on titi family groups are also being carried out to establish tools that will allow effective conservation strategies to be put in place.

Sea turtles - Nigeria

Present in the Nigerian mangrove swamps, loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) and olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are threatened by the destruction of their habitat and laying sites. Beauval Nature has supported the Tropical Conservation Centre in several missions: creation of alternative economic activities for poachers, surveillance of the turtles and their habitat, replantation of the mangrove swamps and development of a long-term conservation plan for those three turtle species.

Vinaceous-breasted amazon - Argentina

Estimated at only 250 wild individuals, the vinaceous-breasted amazon population lives in a region where Paraná pines grow: the birds feed indeed on the pine cones they produce. The disappearance of this tree because of deforestation leads to the extinction of the parrots. In collaboration with the Temaikèn Foundation, Beauval Nature has taken part in a conservation and reintroduction project for the species, including the study of the genetic profile of the populations recorded in the region, and in a breeding program. At the same time, the replantation of araucaria pines has been carried out, in order to restore the vinaceous-breasted amazon’s habitat, while an information campaign has been led in schools to make the young generations aware of the protection of the amazons and of their habitat.

West Indian manatees - Guadeloupe

With a population estimated at only 5,000 individuals, the West Indian manatee is classified as “endangered” by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Poaching, the pollution of their habitat, accidental captures in fishnets or deadly collisions with boats have led the species to become extinct in the Lesser Antilles (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, etc.). In 2002, a reintroduction project of West Indian manatees has been initiated by the Guadeloupe National Park. Beauval Nature has undertaken to finance the construction of a reintroduction centre in Guadeloupe, the first step towards their release in the wild. The teams of Beauval, with over 30 years of experience in the management of endangered mammals, were also able to pass on their skills to local teams.

Western Chimpanzee - Sierra Leone

Poaching, the hunt for the bushmeat trade and deforestation have caused a serious decrease in the western chimpanzee numbers. The Tacugama sanctuary rescues chimpanzees who are victims of the illegal exotic animal trade and deforestation. With the support of Beauval Nature, Tacugama has taken a census of the Sierra Leonese chimpanzees and identified the potential reintroduction areas for the animals of the sanctuary. Thus, in 2010, scientists have discovered that the population was actually greater than estimated. The next year, Beauval Nature has supported an international meeting coordinated by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), during which the areas to protect in priority have been determined.

Western Chimpanzee - Senegal

The population of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), a "critically endangered" subspecies, is estimated to include only 500 individuals in Senegal, most of which are living outside of protected areas. The Jane Goodall Institute has developed a community conservation and chimpanzee research programme in the Dindéfélo Community Nature Reserve (RNCD) in southern Senegal. This reserve has been declared an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.