Ramsar and UNEP-GRASP co-producing documentary film in Gabon
Great Apes at Petit Loango Ramsar site
The United Nation's Environment Programme - Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) have signed an MOU with the Ramsar Secretariat to produce a documentary film which will highlight the correlations that exist between the sustainable management of wetlands and the great apes.
Ramsar and UNEP are each contributing equally to the project. The funds will be used to produce a short and bilingual joint documentary film focusing on Petit Loango (Ramsar site no. 352), a Wetland of International Importance hosting great apes in the Republic of Gabon. Ramsar will be responsible for all the main tasks associated with this activity. The documentary will focus on stories/experiences from people living around the site. The film will be available in both English and French and copies and arrangements will be made available for distribution in the great apes range states.
The main objectives of the documentary are a) raising awareness among local people and national authorities, b) raising awareness in the international arena, and c) raising awareness about great apes among Ramsar's constituency. The film will show the example of a country which has been able to reconcile conservation and development concerns through participative management of a park which is both a great ape site and a Ramsar site.
The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance contains a number of sites in great ape range states - 14 of these in Africa and one in Indonesia. Ramsar is a partner of GRASP.
-- Mr Abou Bamba,
Senior Advisor for Africa
