APOPO News

Saurimo, Lunda Sul Province, Angola — October 25, 2025 – From October 20–25th, APOPO joined fellow demining operators and national authorities in Saurimo, Lunda Sul Province, Angola, for a week of collaborative training and knowledge exchange organized by the Angolan National Mine Action Agency (ANAM). The event brought together key actors in Angola’s humanitarian demining […]

At APOPO, we believe that heroes come in all sizes. Some of the most remarkable ones happen to be rats. Our HeroRATs are trained to use their exceptional sense of smell to detect landmines and tuberculosis (TB), contributing to public health and safety in places where these challenges persist. But how does a small animal

Understanding the Species Behind APOPO’s HeroRATs At APOPO, our scent detection rats are affectionately known as HeroRATs, a name that reflects both their intelligence and their lifesaving work. But beyond the nickname lies an interesting scientific story — these extraordinary animals belong to a specific species, Cricetomys ansorgei, commonly known as either the African giant

At APOPO, innovation has always been at the heart of our work. From the very beginning, training rats to safely detect landmines was itself an innovation, and more than 25 years later it remains a core focus of our mission. Today, APOPO continues to explore new ways our HeroRATs can save lives and protect the

On 8 September 2025, APOPO launched its first training sessions under the Syntropic Agroforestry Innovation Accelerator in Skun, Cambodia, a village near the Mekong River. The program welcomed 25 participants representing farmer organizations, cooperatives, and academic institutions. This marks the first time the Food Forest model is being introduced in Cambodia through APOPO’s HeroTREEs program.

Luanda, 5 September, 2025 – On September 16, 2025, the Government of Japan will once again demonstrate its commitment to humanitarian mine action in Angola through the signing of a grant agreement with APOPO. The ceremony is due to take place at the Japanese Embassy in Luanda and will mark the third time Japan has

The First Ever Development Impact Bond (DIB) linking Mine Action with Agriculture APOPO is proud to be the primary implementer in the world’s first-ever Development Impact Bond for Mine Action. Working together with our agricultural development partner, Cambodian Institute for Research and Development CIRD, and outcome funder the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

In the cult classic film The Princess Bride, the heroes brave the Fire Swamp and come face to face with a fearsome enemy: R.O.U.S. — Rodents of Unusual Size. These fictional creatures are portrayed as monstrous, oversized rats that leap from the shadows to attack without warning. Alongside them lurked other dangers such as flame

This August, APOPO joined the EU Pavilion at World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, alongside MAG (Mines Advisory Group) and other humanitarian mine action organizations. The Pavilion’s exhibition, themed “Heroes of Mine Action,” welcomed thousands of visitors each day and introduced the public to the work, technologies, and people involved in making land safe from