"We need a partnership of action. This conference has to be the occasion for looking at the future another way," Dojombo said.
The vast central African nation of 58 million people is home to gorillas, chimpanzees and pygmy chimpanzees called bonobos. Conservationists say the bonobo population alone has collapsed from about 100,000 to 10,000 in the past 15 years.
A decade of civil war saw the apes' forest habitat decimated by illegal mining and logging, and taken over by refugees fleeing conflict in the volatile Great Lakes region.
Despite the armed forces taking control of the forests, poaching of the animals continues unchecked, say wildlife experts.
And while the Democratic Republic of Congo has seen relative peace since 2003, rebels in the Virunga National Park — which covers more than 8,000 square kilometers (3,100 square miles) — are continuing to drive out the gorilla population there.
Dojombo's appeal was echoed by Cameroon Forestry and Wildlife Minister Egbe Hillman Achuo, whose country will take a leading role in the next two years in the United Nations' Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP), a scheme launched in Paris in 2003 to boost dwindling populations by 2010.
The 150 conference delegates, including wildlife experts and representatives from the 23 African and Asian great ape range states, are expected to recommend national rescue plans for gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans, as well as increased wildlife protection cooperation between countries at the close of the conference on Friday.
The United Nations Environment Program says 90 percent of the great ape habitat in Africa and Southeast Asia will be destroyed within 30 years unless urgent action is undertaken.
However, the average daily income of people living in 15 of the 23 countries with great ape populations is less than $3 (2.4 euros) a day, according to a GRASP report.
The U.N. program favors promoting ecotourism businesses so that local communities can reap direct economic benefits from protecting the environment and the great apes.
Name: Chimpanzee (
Pan troglodytes)
Primary Classification: Hominidae (Great Apes and Humans)
Location: Equatorial Africa
Habitat: Savanna, woodlands, swamps and rainforest.
Diet: Fruits, leaves, seeds, bark, honey, ants, termites and occasionally meat.
Size: Averages 3 to 5 ft in height and 100 to 175 lbs in weight.
Description: Black or brown hair; hairless face that turns dark with age; bulging eyebrows; protrusive lips; very long arms; opposable thumbs and big toes; males have large canines; no ail.
Cool Facts: It is one of the only animals that uses tools, such as a twig that it pokes into termite nests and removes when covered in insects. It is our closest relative, sharing about 98 percent of our genes.
Conservation Status: Endangered
Major Threat(s): Habitat loss and poaching
What Can I Do?: Visit
The Jane Goodall Institute for information on how you can help.
