There is a distinct moment when the tranquillity of the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary envelops our car as we drive higher up the mountain.
The buzz of Freetown gives way to the hushed calm of this pocket of pristine rainforest reserved for critically endangered western chimpanzees rescued from across Sierra Leone.
The quiet is necessary. These bright primates – closest related to humans in the animal kingdom – are easily disturbed and the ones living in Tacugama are particularly sensitive.
The more than 120 chimpanzees brought here are traumatised survivors of mistreatment, hunting and violent separation from their families in the wild.
They are now facing another existential threat. Illegal encroachment is eating away at the edges of the conservation area. Despite wildlife laws, forest has been cleared to make way for houses being constructed closer and closer to chimp enclosures.
Image: Forest has been cleared to make way for houses being constructed closer and closer to chimp enclosures
“We’ve been issuing several warnings over the last year,” says Tacugama founder Bala Amarasekaran. “Four months ago – again – we gave a warning. Then we had presidential intervention say that some of this encroachment will be stopped. It started very well for the first month then everything stopped again and we are back at square one. So, we are very tired and very stressed.”
Thirty years ago, Mr Amarasekaran appealed to the government to donate land and partner with him to create a sanctuary for the protection of the abused orphaned chimps he was finding across Freetown. Today, land in the Western Area Forest Reserve is being grabbed right under the government’s nose.
“The government has been very good in terms of helping us in every way – however we expect the leadership to be more firm,” says Mr Amarasekaran.
“When we talk to them, they are all with us. They all want to help. But when it comes to action it looks like some of the departments that have the mandate to institute certain laws and take the necessary law enforcement action are not acting.”
Image: Tacugama founder Bala Amarasekaran
Sanctuary closes its doors to focus on conservation, rehabilitation and research
Tacugama has grown to become Sierra Leone’s most popular tourist attraction over the last three decades. But in a stand against the fast-approaching illegal encroachment, the sanctuary has closed its doors to visitors to focus on conservation, rehabilitation and research.
“It is not a tourist attraction – we made it become a tourist attraction. It is supposed to be an orphanage for rescued chimpanzees,” Mr Amarasekaran says.
“They are used to us and some visitors but they will start to see strangers come and that is where the problems start. They are not comfortable with strangers – don’t forget it is the stranger who killed their mother. It is the stranger that wiped out their group.”
‘A complex problem’
We asked Sierra Leone’s government spokesperson and minister of information and civic education, Chernor Bah, about the illegal encroachment.
“It is a complex problem. You have a city that is growing. People need places to stay and we have not done the best job in terms of enforcing all these limitations,” he replied. “Some of our agents seem to have been complicit in allocating and giving people land in places they are not supposed to stay. So, I don’t think I can sit here and say we have done enough – there is much more we can do.
“[Tacugama] is probably our most cherished and significant wildlife asset in the country.”
A national symbol for tourism
In 2019, the government designated the western chimpanzee as the national animal and national symbol for tourism. The image of a chimp is now etched in Sierra Leonean passports, a result of Tacugama’s advocacy Mr Amarasekaran and his team hope will entrench a love and respect for chimps that will curb the need for intervention.
“We wanted something more – that is how the national animal bill came through,” says Mr Amarasekaran.
“We thought if the agencies that are mandated to do all the law enforcement are not active and effective, then maybe we need to create a synergy between the people and the animals.”
Chimpanzees hunted for bushmeat
But chimpanzees are still being hunted as bushmeat for food across Sierra Leone and baby chimps are being torn from their families to be kept as illegal pets. Tacugama’s latest rescue is only eight months old.
Baby Asana is frail with thinning hair and is being nursed back to health by his chimp mum, Mama P, when we meet him. He was rescued after an informant sent a video of Asana wearing human clothes and being mistreated as an illegal pet in Bo, Sierra Leone’s second largest city.
“For me as the founder of the sanctuary, I feel defeated,” says Mr Amarasekaran with Asana being cared for behind him.
“These chimps shouldn’t be arriving here if we have done enough work outside – there shouldn’t be any killings, there shouldn’t be any rescues. That is the time when I can say that I achieved something.”
Research from the Jane Goodall Institute identified that between five and 10 chimpanzees die for every surviving rescued chimpanzee. And with the sanctuary closed, much-needed public advocacy work will take a hard hit.
‘Until I came to the sanctuary, I didn’t see a chimpanzee’
“I’m really concerned because I only even started to experience chimpanzees when I started working here. I knew that we had chimps here. But until I came to the sanctuary, I didn’t see a chimpanzee,” says 25-year-old Tacugama communications officer, Sidikie Bayoh.
“Now, we are at a situation where we are closed indefinitely but what if this becomes something wherein we can never open the sanctuary again for people to visit? Then you will have all these young Sierra Leoneans never fully understanding what their national animal is.”
When Benjamin Netanyahu lands back in Israel, he will be hit by a wall of opinions. Some people are full of praise for the deal he has helped to construct, others hate it. Nobody is indifferent.
Among those who are spitting fury are members of his own cabinet.
Both come from the uncompromising political far right; both think that compromise is a sign of weakness; both were utterly outraged at the idea of the prime minister apologising to Qatar for the attack on Doha.
Image: Israeli forces have been carrying out an offensive in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
Ben-Gvir said that, far from being a source of shame, it had been “an important, just and supremely moral attack… Qatar is a state that supports terrorism, funds terrorism and incites terrorism”.
Smotrich, as if ever worried at being outdone, compared Netanyahu with Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis, saying his “grovelling apology” was a “disgrace”.
Can either of these men really keep serving in a cabinet with Netanyahu? And if not, how long before the government collapses?
That wouldn’t imperil the peace plan – if it survives – because it will have the support of enough opposition parties to be passed into law.
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Trump announces ‘Board of Peace’
But it would hasten a new general election, where Netanyahu would try to portray himself as the statesman who brought back the hostages (if he does) while his rivals would paint him as the man who let October 7 happen on his watch.
But in the short term, Netanyahu’s plan has plenty of fans in Israel. President Isaac Herzog applauded it and so did the forum representing the families of the hostages.
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Witkoff ‘hopeful’ on Gaza plan
Leaders from Arab countries have all said they welcome it, albeit they have, unanimously, given the credit to Donald Trump, rather than the Israeli prime minister.
But then the applause dwindles. From Hamas, the initial reaction was telling – the plan hadn’t even been sent to them before it was announced to the world. And without their buy-in, what does a deal look like? Can it even work?
They say they can’t sign up to anything that does not include Palestinian self-determination. Which this, pointedly, doesn’t.
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And remember – Hamas have the hostages. For all the implicit threats made by Trump about what would happen if Hamas don’t sign up to this deal, the return of the hostages is the point that most loudly resonates with the Israeli public.
If Hamas don’t like the deal, they won’t return the hostages.
Image: Tony Blair will be an unwelcome inclusion for many on the Palestinian side
As for the governance of Gaza – there is precious little support among Palestinians for a Trump/Blair leadership team.
“Tony Blair is a war criminal who should be in The Hague, not Gaza,” said Mustafa Barghouti, the veteran politician who has been on the Palestinian Legislative Council for nearly two decades.
And that’s an opinion I’ve heard echoed more than once.
There are more negotiations to come. “I’ll believe it when it happens,” one military figure said to me, wearily. “I’m more confident than before,” said another source, “but before I wasn’t confident at all.”
Nobody is getting too excited, too early, and there are hurdles to overcome and concessions to be made. But there is a chance that things might happen, and if they do, they might happen fast.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he supports Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza – but what does it actually say, and will it work?
The document lays out what the Trump administration calls a “comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict”, consisting of 20 points.
Here are some of the key clauses and what our correspondents make of them…
Gaza ‘to be redeveloped for’ its people
The first two points say Gaza will become “a deradicalised terror-free zone” and “redeveloped for the benefit of” the enclave’s people – but the role they’ll have is unclear, says US correspondent Mark Stone.
“Beyond Hamas, there is no defined role for the Palestinians beyond vague assurances that they can take over once reform has taken place,” he explained.
Stone also highlighted that “a central part of the plan is missing – Hamas”.
“Like it or not, this plan cannot proceed without their buy-in,” he said. “And, as has always been the case, their agreement to this plan would amount to suicide for their movement.
“The bet by the Trump administration and by the Israeli government is that Hamas is now so diminished and exhausted as an organisation that they will be forced to accept it. But I remain unconvinced.”
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he supports the plan while Hamas said on Monday night it was yet to receive and study it in full. A broad spectrum of middle eastern countries have welcomed the initiative.
Tony Blair to be on the ‘Board of Peace’
The plan states that a temporary governing board will be put in charge of Gaza and just one person has so far been confirmed to join Donald Trump on what he’s calling the ‘Board of Peace’: Sir Tony Blair.
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“Sir Tony Blair has been one of the key architects of this peace plan,” he said. “It’s a Blair blueprint to a large extent, he went to the White House to discuss it August.”
Sir Tony “gets on well” with Mr Netanyahu, he added. The former British PM’s experience in the Middle East goes back nearly 30 years and he was previously involved in talks with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the 1990s.
“From President Trump’s point of view, and indeed Benjamin Netanyahu’s, it makes sense because [Blair] is an experienced negotiator and go-between power broker in the Middle East,” Craig said.
All hostages to be released
The plan states that within 72 hours of the agreement being accepted, “all hostages, alive and deceased will be returned”.
A total of 48 hostages are still being held captive by Hamas and Israel believes about 20 of them are still alive.
Image: Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv calling for a ceasefire last month. Pic: AP
“I think Netanyahu’s gamble is that he will be seen as a statesman,” he said, “if he can bring home the hostages and do that deal, stop the casualties being suffered by the Israeli military, [and] stop the increasing… anger over the number of people who are being killed by Israeli bombardments in Gaza.”
The draft agreement states that once the hostages have been released, Israel will release 1,950 Palestinian prisoners, including all women and children who were detained after 7 October 2023.
“For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans,” it adds.
What are the other key points?
Some of the other significant guarantees include a promise that nobody will be forced to leave the Strip, and that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.
The document also states that full aid” will “proceed without interference […] through the UN, its agencies, the Red Crescent and other international institutions”.
What happens if Hamas does not accept the plan?
Hamas has not been given a deadline to agree to the offer, says Mark Stone – adding that “there are hints already that they are not inclined to accept it in its current format”.
One Hamas leader, Mahmoud Mardawi, is already being quoted in Middle Eastern media outlets as saying: “We will not accept any proposal that does not include self-determination for the Palestinian people and protect them from massacres.”
“If that line holds then the Israelis will be unleashed,” Stone said, pointing out something Mr Trump said to Mr Netanyahu at Monday’s news conference.
“Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you would have to do,” he told him.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has signed a decree to give himself increased security powers should the US military enter the country.
The move, announced by the nation’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez on Monday, comes as tensions continue to escalate between the two countries.
Mr Maduro has publicly alleged US President Donald Trump and his administration are plotting to oust him.
The decree would allow Mr Maduro to mobilise armed forces throughout the country and give the military authority over public services and the oil industry.
It comes after the US deployed a fleet of warships through the Caribbean, which Washington says is to combat drug trafficking through the region.
The US has also, in recent weeks, struck several boats it claims were carrying illegal drugs from Venezuela, killing those on board.
The legality of this has been questioned by experts.
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‘Drug boat’ hit in strike by US military
Mr Maduro has privately attempted to reconcile with Mr Trump. He sent a letter to his counterpart earlier this month offering to engage in direct talks.
Claims that Venezuela played a big role in drug trafficking have been rejected my Mr Maduro, who says he wants the relationship with the US to be “historic and peaceful”.
However, US military officials are drawing up plans to target drug traffickers in Venezuela, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported on Friday.
Ms Rodriguez said: “What the US government, what warlord Marco Rubio is doing against Venezuela, is a threat.”
Venezuela’s military has carried out training exercises with volunteer militia members in recent days.
Soldiers have been teaching members of the public to handle weapons for what leaders call a possible US incursion.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters news agency.
The powers granted to Mr Maduro would be valid for a 90-day period, with the option to renew for a further 90 days, according to the nation’s constitution.