Barbara Fruth awarded Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Bonobo researcher receives Germany’s highest tribute given to individuals for services to the nation

Barbara Fruth has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for environmental and social commitment. The award, which was in the Cross of Merit class, honors Fruth’s work through the non-profit organization Bonobo Alive. The organization partners with local villages to sustainably protect bonobos living alongside a diverse wildlife community and to support local stakeholders within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Fruth will be presented with her award—the Cross of Merit—by Ulrich Burchardt, Mayor of the city of Konstanz, at a ceremony at the Konzil on October 24.

The most elusive and least understood of all great apes, bonobos are found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2002, scientists Barbara Fruth and Gottfried Hohmann founded the LuiKotale field site—a remote forest area in the periphery of Salonga National Park, which they dedicated to the study of wild bonobos. Over two decades, their work at the field site has grown into a unique long-term study—the LuiKotale Bonobo Project—that is one of the few initiatives worldwide to document the behavior and ecology of bonobos in the wild.

As part of the LuiKotale Bonobo Project, Fruth, Hohmann and five other fellow campaigners founded Bonobo Alive e.V. to preserve wild bonobos and their habitat. Central to the mission of Bonobo Alive is a partnership with the rural communities who live in this forest alongside bonobos.

“When conservation is driven by the community, it delivers both social and environmental gains,” says Barbara Fruth, a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. “By working hand-in-hand with local villages, we co-create solutions that support people, protect the iconic bonobo, and preserve the surrounding forest.”

Bonobo Alive collaborates with local communities on anti-poaching patrols, wildlife monitoring, and education programs that involve and support villages. The organization also promotes research and teaching to enhance biodiversity conservation.

The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is awarded by the Federal President to honor individuals who have made a positive contribution to society. Fruth will be presented with her award—the Cross of Merit—by Ulrich Burchardt, mayor of the city of Konstanz, at a ceremony at the Konzil in Konstanz on October 24, 2025.