WAPCA’s mission is to safeguard the future of endangered primates and their habitat in West Africa through a sustainable One Plan Approach to species conservation, considering all populations of a species, whether inside or outside their natural range. WAPCA focuses their efforts on the white-naped mangabey, Roloway monkey, Miss Waldron’s red colobus, and the white-thighed black and white colobus, all of which are found in the upper Guinean rainforests of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Each of these species are threatened with extinction, or possible already extinct in the case of Miss Waldron’s red colobus.

In the wild, WAPCA is working to reduce illegal activities in the rainforest through the training and implementation of community patrols, and improving the health of the rainforest through the reforestation of areas degraded by illegal lumbering and mining. In 2018, Dublin Zoo organised a donation of second-hand uniforms for rangers working for WAPCA.

WAPCA is also working with local communities living beside the rainforests to protect and enhance 2,500 hectares of community-owned virgin rainforest as part of a Transborder Community-managed Rainforest Project. This project aims to create sustainable community-managed agro-forestry plantations, which can reduce harvesting of forest products and further deforestation. WAPCA also visits schools to give presentations about primate conservation, and their monthly radio programme also invites community members to talk about conservation and their relationship with the rainforest.