Bioko Island

Equatorial Guinea’s Bioko Island is among the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, home to seven critically endangered monkey species, nesting sea turtles and miles of unspoiled rainforest. As a leading energy producer in Equatorial Guinea, ExxonMobil has partnered with Dr. Gail Hearn’s Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP), an academic partnership with the National University of Equatorial Guinea and Drexel University since 2002. The program’s mandate is to conserve Bioko’s unique biodiversity in a world where places like these are not just rare, but slowly disappearing.

A thriving bush meat market in Equatorial Guinea’s capital city presents BBPP with a critical, immediate challenge: the rapid disappearance of its rare monkeys. Virtually all of the endangered species have been killed in legally protected areas on Bioko Island, highlighting the need for local awareness and capacity building to enforce protection.

BBPP has developed and implemented a range of activities that tackle these challenges on a local level, engaging citizens of Equatorial Guinea in conservation in the classroom as well as in the field. American undergraduates and faculty are brought together each year with UNGE peers at the ExxonMobil funded Moka Wildlife Center (MWC) to study the island’s biodiversity and conservation challenges. The MWC attracts additional visitors and scientists each year to its trails, exhibits and conservation outreach activities, acting as a platform for knowledge sharing and local ecotourism. Additionally, BBPP is implementing training programs that first teach and later employ local residents to monitor the bush meat market, protected forests and beaches. The data these local residents collect and report are providing crucial keys to tracking and protecting Bioko Island’s unique species.

BBPP’s findings are reported regularly to the government of Equatorial Guinea; these reports have been vital in translating research into meaningful action. In fall 2007, the government announced a ban on the hunting of Bioko Island’s endangered species. While this is an important success, BBPP’s work continues, expanding its community outreach activities in an effort to foster a culture of conservation.