Bring your old cellphone for recyclation
BY RECYCLING OLD CELLPHONES WE HELP TO PROTECT THE NATURE!
Why old cell phones?
One of the subspecies of gorillas, the eastern gorilla, is threatened by illegal mining of coltan - an ore from which the metals niobium and tantalum are obtained. These are used, among other things, for the production of mobile phones. Therefore, this project is primarily associated with the protection of gorillas. However, by protecting gorillas and their environment, many other rare species of animals can be saved. However, we would also like to draw attention to the need for recycling in general.
Bring an Old Mobile Phone - Support the Forest Guard project is a joint project of the Prague Zoo and REMA Systém, which has been running since 2010. Another 14 Czech zoos and some regional offices of the AOPK CR and KRNAP have joined.
We will hand over every mobile phone that you hand over in our zoo to a special container located at the exposition of Hussar vertebrates to REMA Systém. It will not only ensure its recycling, but will also pay 10 CZK for it. The funds thus obtained will be used to purchase equipment for the guardians of the Dja Biosphere Reserve in Cameroon.
With reckless mining in tropical rainforests, the homes of gorillas, jungle elephants, bongo antelopes and countless other animals are also disappearing. In addition, poachers come to the remaining forests to hunt animals for meat. The only ones facing them are the forest rangers. Without proper shoes, tents or communication technology, they wage everyday war with them.
During the eight years of the project, thousands of people took part in it and over 55,000 old mobile phones were collected! For them, REMA Systém paid over half a million crowns, for which various equipment was purchased for the guardians of the Bja Biosphere Reserve - from wetboots to satellite phones.
Dja Biosphere Reserve
It is located on an area of 526,000 ha in the southeast of Cameroon. In 1984, it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. Although timber is being harvested on the edge of the reserve, Dja still has 90% of the area intact. At the same time, however, Dja, unfortunately, is an ideal place for commercial hunting, from which the meat of wild animals, including gorillas, is supplied to the capital Yaoundé. It is the fight against illegal hunting that is the main task of the forest rangers. Today, there are four units of about sixty men in the vicinity of the reservation.
A total of sixty men are in charge of a tropical rainforest with an area of more than half a million hectares! In broken shoes, without tents and communication equipment, they face raids by armed poachers.
We know about the guardians of the Dja Biosphere Reserve that they really protect gorillas and other animals with the commitment of their own lives. Therefore, we decided to buy for them from the funds that we now obtain by collecting mobile phones, tents, shoes, binoculars and other equipment.
