A zoo in Prague has launched a mobile phone recycling campaign to raise money for a UNESCO-listed gorilla breeding reserve in Cameroon. For each mobile phone which is recycled the zoo receives money from a mobile phone recycling company and uses the proceeds to buy equipment such as shoes, tents and binoculars for guards at the gorilla reserve in Africa. The guards fight illegal exploitation of the tropical rain forest against poachers to help protect animals such as gorillas and elephants.
The campaign also aims to restrict the mining of the metallic ore coltan or columbite-tantalite, which is used in the production of mobile phones. The world’s biggest coltan deposits are in central Africa where mining also threaten the gorilla population.
Old mobile phones are often sold to third-world countries usually for reuse. However, the zoo is guaranteeing that all of the phones handed in will be recycled rather than reused.
The campaign also aims to raise awareness of the importance of mobile phone recycling to children by eliminating dangerous waste found in electronic devices, as well as making them sensitive to the need to protect gorillas.