Powell, OH -- The Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) will mark a decade of primate conservation and rehabilitation success when it stages the PASA 2009 Management Workshop from May 19 – 21, 2009 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
The workshop will be the first ever held by PASA in the United States. Events include a public seminar at the OSU Fawcett Center on May 21, followed by an evening fundraiser that will feature noted Harvard primatologist Dr. Richard Wrangham as the keynote speaker, a silent auction of African art, and the U.S. premiere of the award-winning documentary “Bama’s Journey.” Fundraiser attendees will have a chance to meet sanctuary managers from all 18 facilities that span the continent of Africa.
“PASA is extremely proud of its accomplishments over the past ten years, and this meeting will give us an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come,” said Doug Cress, who has served as PASA’s executive director since 2002.
PASA was founded in 2000 at a workshop for African chimpanzee sanctuaries held in Uganda. Today, 18 sanctuaries provide care for more than 800 chimpanzees, 80 gorillas, 70 bonobos, 400 drills, and thousands of other endangered primates at their facilities across Africa.
The Columbus Zoo is a long-time supporter of PASA and also provides grants to the individual sanctuaries through its Conservation Fund. Over the past five years, the Zoo’s Conservation Fund has provided $3.8 million of privately raised revenue in support for field projects and conservation organizations in more than 40 countries.
Previous PASA Management Workshops were held in Cameroon (2001), Kenya (2002 and 2005), Uganda (2003 and 2006), South Africa (2004), Rwanda (2007) and Sierra Leone (2008).