Deforestation, Encroachment Threaten West Africa ’s One Health Plans

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary – a conservation center dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and protecting Sierra Leone’s national chimpanzee. Credit: Stella Paul/IPSBy Stella PaulFREETOWN, Nov 3 2023 (IPS) Thirty-three years ago, Bala Amerasekaran – a Sri Lankan by birth – visited Freetown, Sierra Leone. Since then, the West African nation has been his home, where Amerasekaran has dedicated his life to conserving the chimpanzee – Sierra Leone’s national animal. In 1995, with support from the national government, he founded Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary – the country’s first conservation center that rescues, rehabilitates, and protects chimpanzees, often hunted, traded, and killed for their meat. Currently home to 100 chimpanzees, the conservation works of the sanctuary also help prevent the spread of any possible diseases transmitted from primates to humans. However, 20 years later, Amerasekaran’s enthusiasm is declining as he has witnessed massive encroachment within the sanctuary, destroying its forest cover and threatening the sustainability of the conservation program itself. “I am beginning to feel that I have wasted my life for 28 years because there is no safety for this place,” says a visibly upset Amerasekaran. Wildlife Connection to Africa’s Zoonotic Disease Trail “At least 75 percent of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases of humans—including Ebola, Marburg, Henipavirus, and zoonotic avian flu—have an animal origin, accordin...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Biodiversity Conservation COVID-19 Environment Featured Headlines Health Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau IPS UN Bureau Report Sierra Leone Source Type: news