Chimbo looks back on a year of strong results shadowed by a threat we have anticipated since 2007. Our community rangers now patrol from 35 village committees across the Boé, all newly equipped with uniforms, boots and ID cards; our scholarship programme for girls grew from 19 to 31. As one of them, Penda, put it: “Without Chimbo I would already have been married and have children… so I owe my education to the chimpanzees.” And in the forests near Béli, ant specialists found more than ten species new to science, a measure of how intact this place still is.
Early in 2025 an exploration settlement appeared near CheChe, and our field survey counted 204 boreholes across the Boé, some inside protected sacred forests, one beside a tree chimpanzees use to drum. Villagers told us they were neither informed nor consulted. We carried their findings to the IUCN congress in Abu Dhabi, and combatting irresponsible mining will stay our priority. This is why your support matters now more than ever.
For more information: Chimbo annual report 2025