About
The ARRC (Avoid, Reduce, Restore, and Conserve) Task Force is comprised of the world’s leading ape conservation experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group’s (PSG) Section on Great Apes (SGA) and Section on Small Apes (SSA). We are dedicated to avoiding, reducing, and restoring the negative impacts of large-scale development projects on apes while promoting sustainable solutions for their conservation.
A Global Crisis
Apes live in 34 countries in Africa and Asia – two regions of the world where rapid globalization, urbanization, and accelerated infrastructure development have put biodiversity at risk. For perspective:
- Western Chimpanzees have declined by 80% in 24 years.
- Grauer’s Gorillas have dropped from 17,000 to fewer than 4,000 in two decades.
Apes are an integral part of healthy ecosystems, they are critical seed dispersers, and are intelligent beings with similar emotions to humans. They are our closest living relatives. As a global community, we have the moral responsibility to protect each individual. As each large-scale development project chips away at a little more forest, the cumulative impact of development on apes will be catastrophic. Avoidance of ape habitat is key.
Our mandate
In 2019, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group updated Performance Standard (PS) 6, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources, which focuses on addressing sustainable management and the mitigation of project impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services throughout it lifecycle. The IFC also updated the guidance note associated with PS6 to include a requirement for projects potentially impacting great apes and their habitat to consult with the IUCN SSC PSG SGA as early as possible (see GN73 below). The ARRC Task Force became the body within the SGA to operationalize this requirement.
Special consideration should be given to great apes (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos) due to their anthropological significance.
Where great apes may potentially occur, GN17 the IUCN/Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group (PSG) Section on Great Apes (SGA) must be consulted as early as possible to assist in the determination of the occurrence of great apes in the project’s area of influence.
Any area where there are great apes is likely to be treated as critical habitat. Projects in such areas will be acceptable only in exceptional circumstances, and individuals from the IUCN/SSC PSG SGA must be involved in the development of any mitigation strategy. – PS 6 – GN73
Our Process
Overview
As soon as a project becomes aware that it is working (will work) in an area that has the potential to have apes, the project should contact the ARRC Task Force. This can be done through our form in the footer of our website, or by emailing the Task Force Lead, Genevieve Campbell (gcampbell@rewild.org). Once contacted, the Task Force begins it due diligence process, consults with its Steering Committee, and decides whether to engage or not with a project. If we engage with a project, we require an MOU to be signed between the project and the ARRC Task Force.
Steering Committee
The ARRC Task Force is guided by a 20-member Steering Committee. Members advise the Task Force on its policies and activities. Members are from countries across ape range, as well as from Europe and North America. To protect the identity of committee members, we do not disclose their names. The ARRC Steering Committee are voting members responsible for reviewing project requests to determine if they fit within our criteria of projects and companies with whom we can engage. This committee also approves ARRC Statements about projects prior to them being published to our website and sent to projects.
Advising Projects
For each project that engages with the ARRC Task Force, we form a panel of about 3-5 members. Panelists are selected by the Task Force team and have the option to remain anonymous. The ARRC Task Force team then summarizes the panel’s feedback and is the main point of contact between companies, banks, consultancy firms, and the panel.
Our Policies
We follow guidelines set out by IUCN. We do not work with large-scale development projects operating in or negatively impacting World Heritage Sites. We believe that some areas should be “No-Go Zones.” Read UNESCO’s position on extractive industries and World Heritage Sites here. We follow IUCN policy on biodiversity offsets, but we do not believe that apes are “offsetable.” In order to maintain a transparent process, we do not sign non-disclosure agreements and have developed our own Memorandum of Understandings (MOU). All of our project comments are publicly available on our website (see Project Database). We also require projects to submit their ape survey data to the A.P.E.S. Database.
We maintain an unbiased, independent approach in our work. We do not accept money from companies or projects that we engage with. All IUCN members engaged in company consultations are required to sign a Conflict of Interest (COI) Statement, which is available by request, and adhere to the IUCN SSC Code of Conduct.