The Biden Administration has signed an agreement with the Gambian government to build a U.S. embassy in a park that is home to endangered red colobus monkeys, a move that environmental organizations have protested.
The ten-hectare property, according to the Gambian government, was chosen after a lengthy selection process and is an extension currently occupied by the West African Livestock Innovation Center (WALIC), formerly the International Trypanotloerance Center (ITC).
«The government wants to ensure that, during the course of this exercise, the Bijilo Forest Park will not be affected. A team of U.S. technical experts, including environmental experts, will work with Gambian experts over the next several years to ensure that all environmental and other concerns are adequately addressed,» he said, as reported Friday by The Point news portal.
The land is within the Bijilo Forest Park and Nature Trail, also known as Monkey Park because it is home to several species of primates, according to the Gambia Environmental Alliance and Sustainability Alliance-Gambia, which condemned the decision.
«This move to divide any part of the land in the monkey park is a direct affront to our effort to protect our remaining natural resources and put the lives of our endangered species (and) under serious threat,» GEA, one of the environmental groups, has said, as reported by Bloomberg.
