The Ape Fund
Collaborating to fund ape conservation
Synchronicity Earth is collaborating with Arcus Foundation to increase funding for the long-term conservation of Ape species. This initiative combines the experience of both organisations to develop conservation programmes to address the challenging threats to apes in the wild, with the long-term aim of making thriving wild populations a reality.
The Arcus Foundation has been funding ape conservation for many years. Its Great Ape Programme aims to achieve both the conservation of great apes and small apes (Gibbons) and to promote respect for these amazing species. Our collaboration draws on their expertise and our shared approach to conservation.
Ape populations have been falling dramatically, as a result of deforestation and forest degradation, hunting and illegal trade in both live and dead animals for many years. Four out of the six great ape species, the Eastern Gorilla, Western Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan and Sumatran Orangutan, are now listed as Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species), whilst the Chimpanzee and Bonobo are both listed as Endangered.
For the Gibbon, the only small ape, the picture is no better, of the 20 recognised species of gibbon, four are listed as Critically Endangered, fourteen as Endangered and one as Vulnerable.
Ape species fascinate us. They are our closest relative in terms of common DNA and we recognise their intelligence and the complexity of their different social systems. Yet the impact of our consumption of natural resources is driving them ever closer to extinction.
If we are to conserve this wonderful group of species we need to significantly increase the amount of funding directed to ape conservation. We also need to provide the flexible and patient funding that allows organisations undertaking important conservation to plan for the long term, whilst reducing the administrative overhead that many of them face when fundraising.
Our Ape fund provides committed and patient funding, that can be transformational, but is rarely available.
What The Ape Fund does:
- grows donations over time and put them to work long-term;
- provides a stable source of annuity funding to key, pre-selected organisations and groups working on ape conservation;
- brings donors together to provide coordinated and strategic funding for ape conservation.
The fund is an expendable endowment, governed by the laws of England and Wales, that allows both capital and income to be spent on ape conservation.
For a donor, this model means that a single donation to The Ape Fund will work towards ape conservation action for the crucial period of the next 10 to 20 years.
This fund aims to halt the decline of these magnificent animals and ensure future generations of viable, growing populations in the wild.