IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. DATABASE
An information service for great ape conservation and research.
OUR GOALS
The Ape Populations, Environments and Surveys (A.P.E.S.) database is an initiative of the Section on Great Apes (SGA) of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and is supported by a large number of funding organizations, non-governmental and governmental organizations and research institutions.
The overall, long-term goals of the A.P.E.S. initiative are:
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to archive all existing ape population survey data in a secure repository,
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to make them available to the ape conservation and research community and
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to provide up-to-date information on the status of apes
On this website you will find descriptions on the structure of A.P.E.S., policy documents regulating data deposition, access and release, information on how to request or contribute data, and information on the status of apes, their habitats and effectiveness of conservation efforts. We use Wikimedia to organize the information.
Please click on one of the icons below to get more information.
DATABASE REPORT
A large network of ape conservationists, donors, scientists and experts in this field have helped collecting and compiling the information you find on this platform. The following numbers give you a brief overview of this effort. A more detailed summary report on the information available through A.P.E.S. you find here. It is updated four times per year. The current numbers are from 2023 March 13.
56 different data providers and 109 participating organizations
time period covered 1989 - 2021
13 ape taxa
456 sites in 24 countries
732 surveys with a total transect length of 6,388,420 km
1,613,819 records
Total number of ape signs: 413,680
420 other species observed with more than 300,000 records
Number of created spatial layers: 14
With A.P.E.S. data published scientific articles: 21
A.P.E.S. wiki includes 206 sites with detailed information
NEWS
Upcoming workshops:
Workshop on the R-Software
Session one: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 14 - 22 November 2022
Session two: Musangue, Rwanda, 24 - 28 April 2023
In this R-Software workshop we are going to train young academics in processing, analyzing and interpreting wildlife survey data with R.
Workshop on camera trapping methods
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, October 2023
In this workshop, we will train participants on how to use camera traps for conservation purposes, from setting the cameras in the forest to analyzing the data to create a scientific study.
CONTRIBUTION
The success of the A.P.E.S. database is dependent upon the participation and support of the ape conservation and research community. Efforts are ongoing to catalogue existing ape surveys and researchers are invited to visit the A.P.E.S. website to verify that their own survey data are listed and cited correctly. We welcome feedback and input from projects and experts conducting field surveys that include great apes. Status reports will be produced with the support of the A.P.E.S. database Working Group.
How can you contribute to A.P.E.S?
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Providing data: The A.P.E.S project relies on the contribution of data on apes from across their range. Thus data sharing by those who collect them is vital for the project and allows others to use it under the strict A.P.E.S. data use policy.
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Requesting and using data: One of the aims of the A.P.E.S project is to enable information sharing between conservationists, field practitioners, scientists, and other stakeholders. Re-using data stored in A.P.E.S. will help advancing ape research and conservation.
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Citing A.P.E.S: If you use the A.P.E.S database, please always cite correctly and acknowledge the data source. You can also support A.P.E.S by creating links to this site through your own websites.
Suggested citation:
Heinicke, S., Mundry, R., Boesch, C., Amarasekaran, B., Barrie, A., Brncic, T., ... & Kühl, H. S. (2019). Advancing conservation planning for western chimpanzees using IUCN SSC APES - the case of a taxon-specific database. Environmental Research Letters, 14(6), 064001. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23213
OUR TEAM
Working Group Chairs: Hjalmar Kuehl and Dirck Byler
Datamanager database: Tenekwetche Sop
Datamanager Wiki: Isabel Ordaz-Nemeth
Website and database development: Lars Kulik
Working Group Members: Genevieve Campbell, Susan Cheyne, Imong Inaoyom, Paul Kouame N'Goran, Rebecca Kormos, Hjalmar Kuehl, Annette Lanjouw, Fiona 'Boo" Maisels, Isabel Ordaz Nemeth, Lilian Pintea, Andrew Plumptre, Johannes Refisch, G. Tenekwetche Sop, Ciara Stafford, Jacqueline Sunderland-Groves, Serge Wich, Liz Williamson