At the request of the Guinean Government, Janis Carter, an American citizen living in the Gambia and working to protect chimpanzees in West Africa, submitted a project proposal to the European Union. She was then given approval in 1995 to work to ensure that representative populations of these animals continue to survive in their natural habitats, and in numbers that will maintain their genetic diversity. This sheet is used by hunters to record the time and location in which they spot chimps in the forest. An integral part of Carter s current study in the Nialama and Pita forests is to use local hunters as data collectors. These individuals are perhaps the most important source of information concerning the forest, in addition to being crucial players in the future protection of the forest and its resources.
Many traditional hunters are illiterate, which accounts for the use of pictorial data sheets.
An awareness program focusing on chimpanzee conservation, which consists of a slide show and the distribution of posters, complements Carter s collection of ecological data. Photo by Harry Birnholz.