Sanctuaries have a significant conservation role in ape range countries since they allow government authorities to enforce conservation laws. An obvious option for sanctuary apes is reintroduction to the wild. The Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), acknowledged there were no available guidelines specifically for the reintroduction of great apes. IUCN asked Great Ape Trust Conservation Director, Dr. Benjamin Beck, to draft a set of guidelines for review by the international primatological community. Beck enlisted two able graduate students from the Department of Anthropology at Iowa State University, Kristina Walkup and Michelle Rodrigues, to help with the project.

After an exhaustive review of previous ape reintroduction attempts, and of nearly 400 published papers, Beck, Walkup and Rodrigues provided a draft for review by 35 experts. After more than 20 revisions, an extensive section on veterinary considerations was incorporated. The document, titled Best Practice Guidelines for the Re-introduction of Great Apes, was finally approved and published in August 2007. The Trust contributed $4,000 to the printing of the English version, and translation into a French version (French is the main non-traditional language of many African ape range countries). This is yet another example of the knowledge and experience of Great Ape Trust staff being applied directly to major international conservation programs.