Ape Endowment
In partnership with the Arcus Foundation
Forty or so years ago, chimpanzees were in the millions, gorillas, and bonobos in the hundreds of thousands. There are now estimated to be only 700,000 great apes in Africa, half of which are gorillas.
Orangutans once ranged throughout the forests of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Vietnam, and southern China. That is no longer the case. Orangutans have declined by about 97% in the 20th Century. As for the 20 species of gibbons, there are about 730,000 individuals total, and three species have already gone extinct.
We are overdue on action for our closest living relatives. They need long-term, committed action, now.
How it supports ape conservation
Traditional endowments lock up capital in perpetuity. Our view is that we need to solve key ape conservation problems in a shorter timeframe, putting both capital and income to work. In other words, the value of donations grows over time, thereby increasing the amount of funding that goes towards the most vital ape conservation work.
The Ape Endowment aims to:
Grow donations over time
Provide core funding
Unite donors
Projects supported by the Ape Endowment
For organisations supported by the endowment, it means better planning for annual funding cycles and increased access to core operational support, ultimately making them more effective.
The endowment delivers core funding annually that allows for freedom to work strategically towards conservation goals.
Achievements by our partners supported by the endowment:
Hutan: Orangutan Conservation in Malaysian Borneo
- Publication of research articles about orangutan populations.
- A vital passage of rainforest called the Genting Wildlife Corridor has been completed successfully replanted in cleared areas with native tree species in the first blocks already reaching six metres.
- A camera trapping project to monitor wildlife in reforested areas has shown wildlife entering the new corridor, including orangutans, otters, and sambar deer.
Images © Hutan (left), Shutterstock (right).
The Great Ape and Small Ape Sections of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group
- Launch of an international campaign against gibbon trade in Indonesia.
- Progress on Conservation Action Plans for all 20 gibbon species with completed plans in Indonesia and Malaysia with progress in Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- Knowledge-sharing and capacity-building around gibbon care and welfare, including working with the Veterinary Initiative for Endangered Wildlife and all rescue centres in range countries that care for gibbons.
The partnership
Synchronicity Earth and Arcus are combining forces to bring together Arcus’s expertise in ape conservation with Synchronicity Earth’s expertise in working with local organisations and developing creative funding mechanisms for conservation.
This partnership is based on shared values and approaches: Synchronicity Earth and Arcus have worked hard to develop suitable methods for capturing successes amid these complicated conservation challenges. Both organisations undertake detailed due diligence prior to providing support, as well as careful monitoring and evaluation of progress. Both have a strong focus on respecting the rights of local people and ensuring that conservation efforts work with, not against, them.
Image: Martin Fisch CC BY 2.0 DEED
Make a donation to the Ape Endowment
If you are interested in making a donation which will strengthen the global efforts to prevent amphibian extinctions in this critical period of history by contributing to the Ape Endowment, please contact our Philanthropy team.