Educating remote communities about apes
Sir David Attenborough and Brian May will be co-hosting Hope 4 Apes 2013, to help educate people in remote African and Asian communities about the challenges faced by apes in the wild.
Organised by the Ape Alliance charity and the Great Apes Film Initiative, the event will involve a gala evening at the Savoy Hotel in London, in which all proceeds will go to Hope 4 Apes.
The funds will allow pedal power film units to be used in the most remote communities of Africa and South-East Asia, to raise awareness of the threats apes face there.
The gala evening will include a champagne reception, a meal, live music and dancing in the Lancaster Ballroom, as well as a celebrity auction.
There will also be a screening of snippets from the upcoming 3D cinema release, The Last of the Great Apes.
"The key for the apes' safety and continued existence is educating people living in remote villages about the importance of apes and their plight," said Denis Agaba, chief project coordinator for the Great Apes Film Initiative in Uganda.
"That's why we are promoting Pedal Power Cinema units to play educational videos from Sir David Attenborough."
Throughout the month of September, Sir Attenborough and Dr May are also running the Pedal Power School Tour, to pair those schools in the UK with schools in the 23 nations that have great apes.