The Chimpanzee Conservation Center (CCC) has been operating in Guinea for over two decades to protect the High Niger National Park (HNNP) and its wild chimpanzees population. Sadly, the anthropic pressure keeps increasing with the passing of the years, threatening the survival of the parks ecosystems and biodiversity.
The CCC started as a sanctuary with the purpose of giving a second chance to orphan chimpanzees coming from the bush meat and pet trade. With time, the goal of the project widened and the CCC started implementing measures to ensure the survival of the wild populations. In order to do so, the sanctuary started supporting the park authorities by improving their patrol system and the training of their rangers. In 2008 the CCC released a group of chimpanzees into the wild (still being monitored).
Since 2018 the CCC has implemented a camera trap project that started to study biodiversity inside the park. The footage showed a significant number of chimpanzees affected by what it looks to be Yaws disease, a strain of syphilis that causes a series of malformations that, in some occasions, may be fatal for the chimpanzees survival. The current goal of the camera project is to map the wild population of chimpanzees inside the protected area and to better understand how the disease can affect the species.
The CCC is looking for the motivated volunteers to follow up this program during the next season (January-July 2026). The volunteers will be based at our released site but must be able to move according to the program, sometimes sleeping in villages or even camp.
WORKING ARRANGEMENT
VOLUNTEER RESPONSIBILITIES
Camera trap:
- Organization of the camera missions
- The management of the camera trap materials (cameras, batteries, python locks) and data storage
- The installation of the 50+ cameras inside the protected area of the HNNP and follow their maintenance until the end of the season (monthly replacement of batteries and SD cards)
- Integrate the local Rangers in the camera trap project
- Participate in the formation of local rangers regarding camera trap activities, GPS usage and computer analysis
- Help with the analysis of the data (video revision and species identification)
- Report about the progress and difficulties of the project to the Director of Conservation Programs regularly
Release site and sanctuary:
- If necessary, support the tracker local team to monitor our released group of chimps
- Participate in any camp daily activities as cooking, fetching water and cleaning
- Maintain good communication with the responsible of the sanctuary to organize logistics whenever there are missions close to the sanctuary site
QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCES
- Motivated and able to find solutions on difficult situations
- Good organization skills
- Physically fit and able to endure harsh weather conditions (extreme heat and abundant rains)
- Able to work within a multicultural and multidisciplinary team and to live in a very isolated environment with little commodities
- Able to use GPS
- Knowledge on usage of GIS software is desirable
- Experience in camera trap related projects is desirable
- Experience working with local people in West Africa desirable
- Experience with primates (especially chimpanzees) desirable
- Spoken French is mandatory
LIVING ARRANGEMENT
Salary/funding: This position is voluntary, and no financial compensation will be provided.
A deposit of $100 will be required to ensure the proper use of the equipment made available during the mission.
Support provided: Room and board is provided by the CCC.
The volunteer is responsible for airfare and travel costs (e.g. health and travel insurance, transport from Conakry to Faranah, Visa).
Term of Appointment: From End-December 2025 to July 2026.
Application Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
To apply: Send your resume and a motivation letter to the Director of Conservation Programs at 🔒[Complete verification to view email] and copy 🔒[Complete verification to view email]