The WCS chimpanzee conservation team visited the Chimpanzee Conservation Center (CCC) in Guinea

On February 24, 2022, as part of corporate social responsibility initiatives, Dr. Sylvia Wang, Director of the Winning Simandou Consortium (WCS) Chimpanzee Conservation Office, and the Simandou Railway HSE team visited the Conservation for Chimpanzees (CCC) in Faranah in Guinea and met Mrs. Christelle, head of the CCC and her team. Accompanied by Ms. Christelle, the WCS team toured the CCC facilities, including cages, labs and feeding rooms, and gained a comprehensive understanding of current operations and the challenges facing the center. The two parties had an in-depth exchange of views on how to work together.

In addition, Christelle also presented the training programs currently being carried out in the region to the Conservation Office team. It is understood that the decline in chimpanzee numbers in recent years is linked to the destruction of their habitat, including through burning, logging, agricultural development, poaching and the pet trade. A win-win collaboration with the communities is one of the key factors to improve the situation.

During this meeting, Sylvia expressed her sincere desire to work together to contribute to the education of children and young people in the region, which would empower the local community and ultimately raise awareness of the whole population to environmental issues. Helping villagers to increase their income steadily in an environmentally-friendly way will also have a positive impact on chimpanzee habitat conservation. Dr. Sylvia Wang pointed out that there are more than 100 villages along the Morebaya-Simandou railway and that many employees come from these villages. WCS hopes to introduce CCC training programs to improve chimpanzee conservation along the railway.