In that wonderful Time article I told you about on Friday, the author discusses the Sankuru Nature Reserve - here is the scoop on this incredible accomplishment for the DRC, bonobos and the world:

Our friends at the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) have partnered with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to create a new nature reserve to protect the bonobos and the environment. The Sankuru Nature Reserve, covers a huge rainforest area within the DRC where the endangered bonobos live. The reserve site is larger than the state of Massachusetts, and covers 11,803 square miles of tropical rainforest that are extremely rich in biodiversity.

In a time when the DRC’s rainforests and bonobos are facing extinction – two events that would be devastating to the Earth – this partnership and conservation action is excellent, but not the happy end to the story. Now that the Sankuru Reserve is in place, the protection for the forests and the animals must be enforced. Imagine trying to protect the borders of Massachusetts so that no one could get in without permission! It is a huge job and it has never been more important to help, contribute, donate, write letters, buy I’m Lucy books…whatever you can do!!!

More than bonobos! In addition to the bonobo, the Sankuru Reserve contains the okapi (Okapia johnstoni), an exotic short necked forest giraffe who also live in the DRC, but were not previously found outside of their known range far to the northeast. Survey teams from the Congo’s Center for Research in Ecology and Forestry (CREF) sponsored by BCI made this exciting discovery. Sankuru also contains elephants, which have been hunted out in many other areas of the Congo forest, plus at least 10 other species of primates, including the rare owl faced monkey and blue monkey.

What is a nature reserve? A nature reserve, sometimes called a nature preserve, is a protected area for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. This means that in the Sankuru Nature Reserve, hunting and deforestation is not allowed. For wildlife, sometimes a sanctuary, like the Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary, protects, researches and gives medical attention to wildlife that is not able to participate in their natural environment due to harm done to the animals or to their habitats by people.

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