The Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda is home to a large chimpanzee population. The chimpanzees face a threat from local people who enter the forest to harvest wild bee honey, a traditional and valued nutritional resource. The bees nest in tree holes. The harvesters cut down trees to get at the honey or set smoky fires at the base of the tree to drive the bees away while the harvesters climb the trees to collect the honey. The fire may damage the tree or spread and damage a larger area. The bees themselves are also harmed by these harvest methods which is detrimental because bees provide essential ecosystem services by pollinating a wide variety of plants.

Partners in Conservation, based at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, and led by Charlene Jendry, has been working effectively for ape conservation in central Africa for many years. Their solution to the honey problem is to teach local people how to keep bees, and then provide the equipment and supplies to establish hives. The artificial hives are erected at the edge of the forest, providing additional bee “habitat”, and the bees can continue to do their valuable work within the forest. But the former harvesters, now beekeepers, no longer have to enter the forest or extract honey in ecologically damaging ways. They can produce enough honey to fill their own local needs and to sell to others, further benefiting their families’ well-being. Some of the honey is of sufficient quality to export to European markets.

In 2005, the Trust supported the work of three bee-keeping associations in the Nyungwe area.

Web site: http://www.colszoo.org/Conservation/pic/pic1.html