In 2007 the Fund helped underwrite the most comprehensive survey to date of the cao vit gibbon – the world’s rarest ape. The result of an unprecedented cross-border collaboration between Vietnam and China, the survey estimated that approximately 110 gibbons (more than double the number previously thought to exist) now inhabit the border between the two countries. Fauna & Flora International led survey teams of biologists, government rangers and local villagers into the gibbons’ forest home to document this critically endangered species, witness their extraordinary forest acrobatics and record their evocative songs.

Made possible by the successful training and participation of local people and the support of local government partners, the Fund-supported survey demonstrates the success so far of efforts to protect the gibbon. Community groups now patrol and protect the gibbon’s forest habitat and are changing how they manage livestock and practice agriculture to prevent further habitat loss. Simple and cost-effective measures such as providing villagers with simple fuel-efficient stoves are helping to relieve pressure on the gibbon’s habitat.

Saving the Seychelles – An Ocean Paradise

Spanning 1.2 million square kilometers of the Indian Ocean, more than 150 granite, coral and sand islands make up the Republic of Seychelles. Seychelles marine habitats – encompassing six national marine parks - protect more than 1,000 species of fish and are home to several endemic species of birds and plants. This internationally recognized conservation site faces increasingly common threats – habitat loss and fragmentation due to both private and tourism-based development.

In 2007 the Fund helped support a “Pride” campaign aimed at increasing conservation awareness across this extraordinary island region. The Seychelles black paradise flycatcher – a critically endangered endemic bird – was chosen as the campaign’s species of focus. Once found across the region, less than 300 now inhabit a small part of one island – La Digue. With support from the Fund, several groups including Rare, Nature Seychelles and The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology initiated and gained approval for the translocation of flycatchers to other suitable islands within the birds’ former range.

This straightforward goal of helping a tiny beautiful bird survive and thrive is helping mobilize and inspire homeowners, land owners and hotel operators to change their behaviors. Since the campaign began, more native trees are planted – which the flycatchers need. And the once common and accepted practice of burning fallen leaves – which harms the flycatcher by smoking them out of their nests – has been significantly reduced. People are now composting those leaves. Simple but significant.

With support from a Fund grant, scientists and veterinarians successfully rescued 72 endangered black rhinos across Zimbabwe last year, to help treat at-risk individuals and aid the species’ overall population recovery. The South Africa Black Rhino program, a collaboration between International Rhino Foundation, World Wildlife Fund and various government and community groups, has the straightforward goal of increasing rhino numbers. The program rescues rhinos at risk, provides basic veterinary care, ear-notching and telemetry implantation, then translocates rhinos into historic ranges.

The Fund also helped these groups monitor and strengthen anti-poaching measures. In the Lowveld region of Zimbabwe, an upsurge of rhino poaching has been documented in recent years. In 2007 Fund support helped underwrite a series of dehorning operations to reduce the incentive for poaching. While dehorning remains a controversial strategy, experience in the Lowveld region strongly suggests that dehorning has been effective in reducing the poaching pressure on rhinos, along with conventional anti-poaching measures like informer reward systems.

Due in large part to these Fund-supported interventions, the black rhino population in Zimbabwe is increasing, despite continued poaching pressures.