Guhonda, Silverback of the Sabyinyo Group, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda ©Julie Stein

New GRASP Partner Offers Sustainable Development and Conservation Skills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nairobi, Kenya – 31-Oct-14 – The Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) fortified its capacity in key areas such as eco-tourism, and increased global impact with the addition of the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network following a vote by the GRASP Executive Committee, bringing the partnership to 98.

“As GRASP continues to grow, our focus is to add strategic partners that bring skills and expertise to help us address key issues,” said GRASP programme coordinator Doug Cress. “Adding the expertise of the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network as our latest partner gives GRASP the ability to be more effective going forward.”

GRASP is a unique alliance of national governments, research institutions, conservation organizations, United Nations agencies, and private companies committed to ensuring the long-term survival of great apes and their habitat in Africa and Asia. Each GRASP partner receives a vote in the GRASP Council, and is represented through delegates to the GRASP Executive Committee.

The Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN) is an international consortium dedicated to the development and marketing of products and services that conserve threatened wildlife while contributing to the economic vitality of rural communities. WFEN includes conservationists, businesses, artisans, producers and harvesters, and recently launched the Gorilla Friendly™ Pledge eco-tourism campaign to promote best practices for gorilla tourism and to minimize the risk of disease transmission from humans to gorillas in East Africa. For more, visit www.wildlifefriendly.org.

“We are very excited to help advance the mission of GRASP in partnership with the GRASP membership in the months and years ahead — there is much work to do,” said Julie Stein, Executive Director and co-founder of WFEN.

For more information, please visit www.un-grasp.org or contact grasp@unep.org.