Our mission is to conserve great apes and their natural habitat within the territorial borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Our approach is to locate and document important populations of great apes, identify regional threats, work to secure the environment and communities against those threats, facilitate implementation of a locally appropriate framework for protection, build local lobbies for great ape conservation, environmental security and social progress, and participate with the local people to actively protect species and habitat. We strive to change human behaviors that are contrary to conservation while we encourage behaviors that support conservation and minimize species loss. Working through and with local groups and the authority infrastructure within target regions, each project collaborates with local communities to raise public awareness for great ape conservation, as well as other targeted wildlife species, and build relationships with those people. We encourage initiatives that build sustainable relationships between human survival and wildlife conservation in order to directly impact responsible, locally-appropriate conservation management.
Our approach is to locate and document important populations of great apes, identify regional threats, work to secure the environment and communities against those threats, facilitate implementation of a locally appropriate framework for protection, build local lobbies for great ape conservation, environmental security and social progress, and participate with the local people to actively protect species and habitat. We strive to change human behaviors that are contrary to conservation while we encourage behaviors that support conservation and minimize species loss. Working through and with local groups and the authority infrastructure within target regions, each project collaborates with local communities to raise public awareness for great ape conservation, as well as other targeted wildlife species, and build relationships with those people. We encourage initiatives that build sustainable relationships between human survival and wildlife conservation in order to directly impact responsible, locally-appropriate conservation management.
Our synergistic organization is unique and creates a total effect that is greater than the sum of the parts. We have the benefit of:
-- flexibility, immediacy, locally appropriate responses
-- structural support and continuity
-- shared expertise (for example, trained survey teams)
-- logistical hubs to relay into inaccessible locations
-- a broad spectrum of experience, knowledge, perspectives, training, and networking.
Each of our projects concentrates on a specific geographic area. We identify dynamic local leaders, build long-term relationships with the impacted communities, reinforce regional commitment, and gain in-depth understanding of local situations.
Working through a contractual relationship in collaboration with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), where warranted by the size of habitat as well as the great ape population, we work with local, provincial, and national authorities to advance formal protection for forests and their animals.
Officially recognized and endorsed by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Water and Forests; the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; and the Ministry of Planning, in accordance with Articles 29 and 31 of Law No. 004/2001, the Lukuru Foundation functions with transparency and legitimacy within the Congolese national system.