Bushmeat Campaign

The EAZA bushmeat campaign is now very active at the political level. Almost 2 million further signatures have been presented after the great handing over ceremony in Brussels, in November 2001, to the petition committee of the EU. A reaction is expected in July. the greatest success was achieved in Great Britain, where the government itself put funds at the disposal of the battle against the bushmeat crisis.
Intensified checks at a London airport showed that bushmeat in considerable quantities is often smuggled in from Ghana. Last winter a confiscated smoked brush-tailed porcupine from Zurich was handed over for identification to the Stuttgart Zoo.
The zoo association wants to continue its close cooperation with other bushmeat initiatives like GRASP (Ian Redmond is a contact person there) and the American Bushmeat Crisis Task Force. Much lobby work is being done by the partner IFAW that also sent representatives to certain environmental congresses like the "Biodiversity Congress" in The Hague in April.
There have been only unofficial talks with African decision-makers at the moment; but official action is planned in August for the World Summit for Sustainable Development (Rio+10). This forum is being prepared for at the time of writing. With regard to the bushmeat campaign there are many important aspects, such as health and sustainability, that have to be discussed at the European and - if possible - also the American level.
The political representatives of the European nations and the embassies of the African countries are to be informed more thoroughly about the bushmeat problem. The fund-raising, though it only made up a small part of the campaign, produced a total of approximately 70,000 Euro, of which 40,000 were earmarked for particular projects. The rest of the money will help cover the costs of Jef Dupain's project in Cameroon, and what remains will probably be divided between PASA and the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe.
On 3 May we received a message that the Basel Zoo is going to give the proceeds of its entire fund-raising campaign, approximately 9,000 Euro, to Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe. This sum, in addition to another 4,500 Euro from the EAZA Campaign donated by the Zoos of Cologne, Nordhorn, Nuremberg and Karlsruhe, as well as a fund-raising on the occasion of Mr. Krieglsteiner's death (a total of 2,800 Euro), is being provided for urgently needed material for the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. One transport of clothing and equipment has already arrived, another one will be sent later this year.

Iris Weiche

Iris Weiche started her work with primates, in the wild and in zoos, in 1990. At the moment she works on female gorillas in zoos. Since 1994 she has been active for the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe, and from 1997 to 2002 she was a member of the Board of Directors.

Bushmeat overview

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