Friends of Bonobos
We save bonobos and their rainforest home.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are our closest living relatives: along with chimpanzees, they share nearly 99% of their genetic material with humans and yet sadly, they are highly endangered. Endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo, bonobo populations have been decimated by decades of war, human encroachment, deforestation and the illegal bushmeat trade. Without someone to fight for them, they will someday disappear completely.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Bonobo protection
Integrated bonobo conservation program that includes:
- the rehabilitation of orphaned bonobos, rescued from the illegal bushmeat and wildlife trade, at Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary near Kinshasa;.
- reintroduction of socially-stable groups of sanctuary-rehabilitated bonobos into the wild;
- Wildlife and habitat protection at Ekolo ya Bonobo, a reserve for bonobo reintroduction that is also home to a rich diversity of rare plant and wildlife species
- conservation education activities with a diversity of Congolese children and adults at the source and destination of the wildlife and bushmeat trade; and the facilitation of research on bonobo behavior and cognition, for a better understanding of the species .
- Implementation of participatory community development projects to engage local communities in the benefits of conservation.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people reached through education programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Bonobo protection
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric is from our field partner ABC. Figures during and since the start of the pandemic have decreased on and off for reasons of health and safety of our personnel and the bonobos.
Acres of rainforest (bonobo habitat) preserved
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Bonobo protection
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric is from our partner NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amis des Bonobos du Congo. Funding for the conservation of this rainforest was provided primarily by the Rainforest Trust.
Number of donors retained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of captive animals released
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Bonobo protection
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our field partner, ABC, completed the first ever bonobo release in 2011. It was important to give that release group 8+ years to acclimate and to ensure bonobo rewilding would be successful.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of overall donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Bonobo protection
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of animals monitored post release
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Bonobo protection
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Our field partner, ABC, completed the first ever bonobo release in 2011. (See release metric.) Since then, the released bonobos hace had babies in the wild and ABC released more bonobos in 2022.
Number of bonobos rescued from the illegal wildlife trade
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Bonobo protection
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
All bonobos were and are rescued in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the only country bonobos live in the wild) by our field partner, Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC).
Number of Instagram followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal at Friends of Bonobos is to save and protect bonobos from extinction. We support bonobo conservation in the DR Congo (the only place where bonobos are found) through bonobo rescue, long-term care, sanctuary, release back to the wild and long-term protection of their habitat, the Congo Rainforest.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We work directly with Congolese nonprofit organization Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC, Friends of Bonobos in Congo). ABC has played a pioneering role in the rehabilitation and reintroduction of bonobos. ABC works with local Congolese officials and community members to rescue baby bonobos orphaned by the bushmeat trade and rehabilitate them at Lola ya Bonobo, the world's only bonobo sanctuary with the ultimate goal of releasing them into Ekolo ya Bonobo, a protected rainforest habitat. ABC is on the front line in the battle to protect bonobos in the only country they are found – The Democratic Republic of Congo.
Our approach focuses not only on bonobo conservation but also education and community development. We focus on four main areas.
Rescue and Care
We support the rescue and care of orphaned bonobos at the world's only bonobo sanctuary, Lola ya Bonobo. Here, bonobos are nursed back to health and cared for as long as needed, sometimes for the rest of their lives.
Release and Protect
We support the release of bonobos back into the wild at Ekolo ya Bonobo, the world's only bonobo release site. We support the comprehensive protection of released and wild bonobos as well as the long-term conservation of their rainforest home in the DR Congo.
Education and Awareness:
We raise awareness for bonobos and their plight in the US and internationally. We also support education and awareness programs in the DR Congo - the only country where bonobos are found in the wild - with a focus on areas where bonobos are most heavily trafficked.
Community Development:
Bonobos are primarily killed for bushmeat. The root cause of the bushmeat trade is extreme poverty. We support programs that empower communities living near bonobos to build a better future through conservation instead of the bushmeat trade.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Friends of Bonobos works directly with ABC/Lola ya Bonobo, who for 25 years has been bringing the plight of the bonobos to the forefront of the DR Congo and has become widely known throughout the DRC and internationally as a leading bonobo conservation organization.
With a sanctuary and release site in prime bonobo habitat, Lola ya Bonobo is ideally equipped to practice on the ground conservation with directly observable impacts. Over the years, the sanctuary has worked to foster a relationship with the surrounding community as well and regularly partners with local Congolese who are instrumental in the fight to protect bonobos.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
For 25 years, ABC has rescued hundreds of bonobos and cared for them at Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary. In 2009 and then again in 2018, ABC achieved the world’s only bonobo releases/reintroductions back into the wild. Our release site, Ekolo ya Bonobo, was expanded in 2019 to 120,000 acres and was declared a protected community forest reserve, saving 120,000 acres of rainforest for the long haul. Now, research is underway to determine the carrying capacity of Ekolo to better inform future release efforts. At Ekolo, we now protect released and (countless) wild bonobos.
Worldwide, the bonobo is still largely unknown, and we at Friends of Bonobos and Lola ya Bonobo are working to change that. We have already done much to raise awareness about bonobos and their endangered status and continue to reach hundreds of thousands of people annually in our outreach and awareness programs.
In the US, we plan to make the bonobo as well known as the elephant or the giraffe. Meanwhile, we will continue to support the release of bonobos back into the wild - in protected and patrolled forest reserve areas. To accomplish this, and to protect more wild bonobos, we will save more rainforest (bonobo habitat) in the DR Congo. We will grow our local awareness programs in the DRC to reach more people, especially in the areas where bonobos are found. As these programs grow in scope and impact, more bonobo orphans are being identified and brought to Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary, so we also plan to grow the sanctuary’s capacities.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Friends of Bonobos
Board of directorsas of 08/16/2023
Dominique Morel
Ashley Stone
Claudine Andre
Rebecca Rose
Brian Hare
Ashley Stone
Mary Rose
Vanessa Woods
Michael Hyder
Leah Kaiser
Aleah Bowie
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Karl Morrison
Kim Livingstone
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data