The mission of the Lukuru Wildlife Research Project (Lukuru Project) has encompassed scientific research, conservation, and educational activities about the bonobo (Pan paniscus) within the project area. The acronym “Lukuru” is derived from the names of the two major navigable water routes within the Zone, the

Lukenie
River
(which divides the project area in half) and

Sankuru
River

(which defines the southern territorial limit of the project area). Working since 1992, we have 16 years of experience and well-established contacts, regional networks, and relationships with local people in our project area.

Covering an area of nearly 20 percent of the global range of the bonobo, the Lukuru Project area delineates the most southern limit of bonobo occupation within the species geographic distribution and encompasses an important portion of the

Salonga
National Park

for bonobo conservation.

The Lukuru Project area focuses on two of the nine bonobo priority populations identified by the GRASP Scientific Commission and international experts in 2006. These two forest blocks are ranked #1 (Salonga forest block 36,448 km²) and #2 (Dekese forest block 3,360 km²) habitat blocks for bonobo conservation activities.

The Lukuru Project encompasses twenty percent of the

Salonga
National Park

, the only federally recognized national park where bonobos occur, and the Réserve Naturelle de la Bososandja (falling within the Dekese forest block identified above), a locally recognized protected area and the home of a biologically viable population of bonobos distinct from the core of the global range.

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