The population of chimpanzees in West Africa has declined by over 80 percent in the last 20 years and in September 2016 they were classified as a critically endangered sub-species by the International Union of Nature Conservation (IUCN). As a result of this dramatic decline, the Government of Guinea has decided to implement its objective of protecting 15 percent of its land by 2020. On 28th September 2017, the Minister of Environment, Water and Forests signed a ministerial order for the creation of the national park of Moyen-Bafing which hosts about 4,000 chimpanzees in an area of 6,426 square kilometres, the largest protected area for West African chimpanzees in Guinea.