Ape Action Africa was created to provide protection and care to the primates orphaned by the bushmeat and illegal pet trade caused by illegal logging activities.   It operates its sanctuary in  the 2,600-acre Mefou Park one hour from Cameroon's capital city of Yaounde, and is currently home to more than 250 primates. At the heart of Ape Action Africa's mission is conservation education.  For over a decade, Ape Action Africa has been working closely with the local villages and schools to emphasize the need to preserve the forest and all its bounty.  The  Central African rain forests in Cameroon are rapidly being destroyed because of the Western world's demand for its tropical hard wood.  The African people living in these forests are experiencing dramatic impact to their already difficult lives, as the environment that gives them their food, shelter, products, culture and livelihood, is disappearing.  Ape Action Africa teaches classes weekly on conservation education and English in the four local primary schools bordering the sanctuary.  They are sometimes the only consistent presence in an area where classes can number 200 students and teachers simply don't show up, on a regular basis.  In addition, students of all ages from over 90 schools in the region visit the sanctuary and are visited by the Ape Action Africa education team.  The primate sanctuary's mandate can only succeed if it is in harmony with the local communities.  It has, therefore, also funded the building of an elementary school, provides clean well water and electricity to the school and some of the local villages, and organizes and sponsors sports and special events for the bordering schools to reinforce the conservation message. The growing number of people - including the indigenous population plus loggers - combined with the destruction of their environment -  is bringing the resident gorillas and chimpanzees to the brink of extinction. Helping Ape Action Africa's education program will strengthen its effectiveness to instill conservation awareness and motivate the local children and their parents to become active protectors of their forests, the primates, and all other living things within it. Ape Action Africa is a 501 (C) 3 private foundation established in 1996 in England.