Intergovernmental Meeting on Great Apes and First GRASP Council Meeting

5-9 September 2005

Grand Hotel, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are pleased to announce the date of the Intergovernmental Meeting on Great Apes and First GRASP Council Meeting to be held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo from 5 to 9 September 2005.

This meeting presents a unique opportunity for all those concerned with great ape conservation to discuss and adopt a global strategy for the conservation of the great apes and reinforce the partnerships that will be vital if we hope to halt the decline in great ape populations.

Additionally the meeting will see participating governments adopt the ‘Declaration on Great Apes’ which will commit the participants to providing more resources, both financial and political, to ensure the survival of great apes and their tropical forest ecosystem.

Participants at the meeting will include government representatives from all countries with wild populations of great apes, representatives from all the major donor governments, the European Community, World Bank, NGOs with significant conservation programmes within the great ape range States, representatives from CITES, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, academic institutions, the commercial sector and individuals who are actively involved in the conservation of great apes.

For further information concerning this event, please visit the www.unep.org/grasp or e-mail GRASP at grasp@unep.org