TL2 – Bonobo in Congo and Road to Prosperity

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Most of our beneficiaries work to make the world a better place, and this often means taking bad situations and making them better. Recently, our current Animal Protection beneficiary, TL2 – Bonobo in Congo, has gone above and beyond that.

In September of last year, John and Terese Hart were fighting to prevent a road from being built that would bring little advantage to the communities it was supposed to benefit, but would have provided a clear road for poachers to use. They managed to prevent that road from being built, and have now taken over the project to not only make it useful to the residents of the area, but to also include the creation of a new national park.

As the Harts well know, development is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean it has to come at the cost of conservation. The new plan for the road ensures that the road itself is not extended, and it is being repaired to support bicycle and motorcycle traffic, not four-wheel traffic (thus giving little advantage to poachers, who would have undoubtedly benefitted from a road that allowed their trucks deeper into the forest than before). And while all of this road construction occurs, protected areas destined to be part of the new national park will be marked out.

The ceremony to begin work on this construction project took place in March. Our congratulations to the Harts for their success in helping to turn a bad situation, which was threatening to get worse, into a better one. We’re proud to support such hardworking and dedicated individuals.