group of hunters to develop an abattoir. This facility will enable the local processing and storage of meat, which is currently impossible due to the lack of refrigeration facilities. The former hunters will all be trained in humane techniques, butchery and basic accounting. In combination with a range of other planned projects it is hoped that these initiatives will greatly improve the diet of community members whilst protecting wildlife and providing a steady income for those employed. Check back next month to hear all about the poultry projects simultaneously being run with vulnerable women led households .

CERCOPAN has been working closely with the people of Iko Esai and Agoi Ibami, to reduce their dependence on the natural resource base and encourage alternative sustainable livelihoods. A number of livelihood projects, funded by IUCN, CIDA/NEST and Toronto Zoo are now in the implementation phase following a multitude of discussions and workshops to identify the needs of community members. A collection of hunters from Iko Esai identified a piggery as their preferred alternative livelihood strategy and after a month of intensive work the sty is now ready and complete with pigs! The sty has both a wallow and a covered area to protect the animals from the elements. The pigs were purchased from a nearby village and hadn’t had a wallow in their previous accommodation and seem very happy with their new found access to cooling mud! One of the sows is already pregnant and we are hoping to welcome a litter of healthy piglets into the family in the coming months. Ten people are involved in the collective (Ubhena Farms) and they have developed a binding

group constitution outlining the roles of individuals, the expectations of the members and how any income will be managed by the group. It is expected that the sale of pork in the village will reduce the group’s dependence on low income and increasingly unreliable slash and burn farming, whilst also increasing the amount of protein in the diet of villagers (which currently falls far below recommended daily levels) Protein is usually sourced from bush meat but this is generally unsustainable and can involve vulnerable species whose population numbers are dwindling. In order to further encourage and support the alternative protein initiative, CERCOPAN is also helping a separate

Three members of Ubhena farms with their pigs

Three Little Piggies Came From Market... I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Three Little Piggies Came From Market

1

From the Director

2

From Seas to Trees

2

Hands across the sea

3

Building Bridges 4

Up, Up and Away 4

Cool Schooling: Rhoko Outside Classroom

4

Find Us On Facebook

5

New Arrivals at CERCOPAN

5

Want to be a Part of It?

6

CERCO-NEWSA P R I L 2 0 1 0 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 4

Our Community Conservation Manager, Rachel, with the new pigs

P A G E 2

“This is an amazing

project, run by

some ferociously

passionate people.

This is a place

where you hit the

ground running

and I love that”

Claire Coulson CERCOPAN Director

From Seas To Trees

From the Director In my work a day doesn't go by when I'm not reminded of the value of partnerships. Our relationship with Iko Esai, is definitely one of the aspects of our work that makes me most proud. While it would be much easier for the community to accept the status quo, our work to promote environmental conservation in the village is met with an open mind and a keen willingness to work with us to the same ends. Thanks to the generous support of IUCN, Toronto Zoo and CIDA/NEST, and the energy and hard work of our new Community Conservation Manager, Rachel, this

month we took our partnership with Iko Esai to new levels. On the front page, read about the newly opened piggery and the abattoir under construction in the village. The youths embracing this initiative are seeking an alternative livelihood that maintains their income but reduces their former impact on the forest. In terms of numbers of people involved, our e-network is our largest partnership. Read on page 3 about our new and exciting alliance with the National Wildlife Humane Society. Such mutually beneficial relationships are springing

up readily as a result of our continuing efforts to leverage the latest technology to raise our profile. I've had a great deal of fun in setting up our Facebook Fan page (see page 5), and I have to admit it's not been without a few technological hurdles. Want to try a technological hurdle of your own? Try accessing http://www.facebook.com/CERCOPAN and become a fan!

and quiet streets of Calabar, each State seems to have its own feel. CERCOPAN , based in Cross River State is an amazing organisation, run by some ferociously passionate people. This is a place where you hit the ground running and I love that. The charity is looking to grow and there is definitely more than enough dedication here to make sure they achieve it. My background is very different from many of the current long-term volunteers. I am an elasmobranchii (shark) biologist from the UK. Up until a few months ago I had the honour of holding the post of curator at Brighton SEA LIFE Centre. I was drawn to CERCOPAN

I have lived among many cultures in a multitude of countries but nothing prepared me for my arrival in Nigeria! Nigeria is an incredible and fascinating place, from the hustle and bustle of

Lagos to the clean, green

due to its ‘frontline’ conservation mission and the wonderful relationship it has with Iko Esai, its host community. My partner, Grace, as you will have read from the March CERCO-NEWS, arrived ahead of me and had already started immersing herself in both CERCOPAN and the community. We both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the project and look forward to the challenge ahead. We have already fallen in love with the people of Esai, the rainforest and of course the monkeys! - Alex Gerard

Grace and

Alex back in the UK

Hands across the Ocean

P A G E 3

Just within the past few weeks we have established a promising new alliance with a like-minded conservation organisation in the United States. The National Wildlife Humane Society (NWHS) is dedicated to reducing suffering among captive and non-captive wildlife. Patrick Webb, President, founded the Top of the Rock Wildlife Sanctuary in 1990, in Arkansas, U.S.A. Species such as tigers, mountain lions, jaguars, and the snow leopard have been rescued within the US, and brought to the sanctuary to receive specialised long-term care. But in addition to providing sanctuary for non-US-native threatened and endangered species, the organisation also promotes wildlife conservation groups that share its vision of a more humane world for wildlife. That's where we come in.

NWHS invited CERCOPAN as one of two organisations based in Africa to feature on their website as an alliance partner. In addition to the

publicity NWHS can provide for us on the other side of the Atlantic, the website also provides the means for donors to provide federal tax-deductible donations to CERCOPAN, both mailed and on-line. It's a great bonus to us to have an active advocate for our cause on another continent, and this step forward fits right in with our strategy to continue to rapidly expand our publicity using the latest on-line media. We were also

delighted when our Director, Claire, was invited to serve on the NWHS Wildlife Advisory Council to provide both primatological support and field-based environmental conservation experience to NWHS. Read more about NWHS's work in wildlife care at www.humanewildlife.org and visit CERCOPAN’s page at http://www.humanewildlife.org/cercopan.html

V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 4

“NWHS

invited

CERCOPAN

as one of two

organisations

based in

Africa to

feature on

their website

as an alliance

partner”

Visit www.humanewildlife.

org/cercopan.html

Patrick Webb President of National Wildlife Humane Soceity

A Mountain Lion rescued by NWHS

P A G E 4

“In the recent

past we've had

authors, tax

inspectors,

doctors and

now a tree-

climber

volunteering

their skills. Who

next? YOU? “

The original bridge before its recent collapse

Up, Up, and Away months at a time and help us out with the skills they bring. Joe is our latest volunteer at Rhoko, and he's a professional tree climber. Being able to work at height, safely, has immediately allowed us to have much-needed maintenance work performed. While this is the priority, we hope in the 8 weeks he spends with us that he will also be able to gather data for our biodiversity survey work, as information on canopy ecology is a gap in our work to date. Joe has regularly helped projects around the world

with his special expertise and we are very happy that he chose to share it with us too. Now that we've seen him at work we've come to realise how much we can benefit from these skills, and he is working to pass on his techniques, and indeed is donating his specialised equipment to our staff at camp. In the recent past we've had authors, tax inspectors, doctors and now a tree-climber volunteering their skills. Who next? YOU?

Up at camp we have often envied the monkeys and their ability to climb, swinging from tree to tree and experiencing life in the rich canopy Many of us wish to get up there and have a look around ourselves, seeing the world from their eyes. Although we have a specially designed static tree platform at one location, it doesn't permit you the freedom to go where you like. But Joe Brophy from Oregon, USA does it all the time! We enjoy a steady stream of volunteers who come for a few weeks or

Rhoko Education Centre

C E R C O - N E W S

Cool Schooling: Rhoko outside classroom can be conserved through sustainable practices, gets high impact when set immediately within Natures order. Thanks to a grant from the International Primatological Society (Lawrence Jacobson Educational Development Award), we have the opportunity to liven up the layout and the materials within the centre, to create a vivid event for our visitors. Time and weather have taken their toll on the original materials. A technology uplift in the meantime means that we can recreate the message

Our education centre at Rhoko has a distinct and key role within our Environmental Education programme: it complements facts-based teaching by providing an experiential encounter with conservation in action. A day visit at the site combines a Nature Trail walk and a visit to the observation platform of the large open-topped

managabey enclosure, all within a few steps and centred on the education centre. The key messages of forests disappearing, the natural and livelihoods loss that goes with it, but how they

with bright, bold, weatherproof information boards and activity displays. Many of us devoted to the conservation cause can point to the time, and sometimes even the event, when we were won over. A revamped education centre employing modern, colourful media, will provide the best opportunity in the area for members of the surrounding communities to gain just such a gift. Once the renovation is complete, and provided further funding allows, we are planning to transport rural schoolchildren in for regular Day Out events at the site.

Building Bridges change in the interests of all. Sustainable forest management practices are to the benefit of the majority of the village who rely on the forest's resources for their livelihood. Through long-term education and negotiation, we have facilitated a change in traditional practices, and the enactment of new by-laws such as the ban on logging. Whether the impact is small or large, this is the way we operate.

from the bridge as a vital link to its markets, and as users ourselves, and with tourist visitors in mind as well, we also needed a result soon. It didn't take long to negotiate supply of the materials needed, and with our own staff joining the labour force the rebuild was quickly underway. A relatively small matter and a straightforward way out, yes. But it reminds us that with our presence in the village we can make

A simple but effective role we often play in our Community is to facilitate collective action when it's needed. In village life where family subsistence dictates the order of the day, we can help when activities require a shared response. When the main bridge on the road in to Iko Esai failed due to the strain it was under from every day use in harsh conditions, it wasn't immediately clear who was going to repair it. The whole village benefits

Find Us On Facebook P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 4

Despite the slower internet here in Africa, our online presence is gradually increasing and now, in addition to the website, blog and twitter pages, we have both a Facebook Cause and Facebook Fan page! These pages can be used to follow our day to day activities, with regular one line status updates and frequent blogs.

Readers can flick through photos showing our camp, the monkeys and the

communities in which we work. They can interact directly with CERCOPAN staff and volunteers on the Facebook wall and discussions page or they can check out forthcoming activities under the events tab.

A direct link to the shop and feeds from our blog and the Directors twitter page mean that site visitors can catch up on everything CERCOPAN in one place. They can even make donations

quickly and easily using our Cause page in association with the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (who handle and directly pass on all donations pledged on the site). Why not become a fan today?

Oh, and don’t forget to

desperate to groom or play with him. The baby doesn’t have a name as yet, but you can help us choose by visiting our CERCOPAN Facebook fan page (see above article for details on accessing our Facebook pages) and joining the baby naming poll. There are seven names to choose from, each beginning with Q. At CERCOPAN, whenever a baby is born it is always given a name starting with the same letter as it’s mothers . This system helps us easily keep track of each animals family tree.

Let It Be, also housed at CERCOPAN HQ, arrived in 2003. Her former owner was training her to perform tricks to earn money, but thankfully CERCOPAN staff persuaded him to give her up. She is a very proud mother and sits by the edge of the enclosure most of the day showing off

her baby to all who pass.

Our final recent mother Odudu, is one of our oldest females and lives at Rhoko, our bush site, with the future mangabey release group. She is unlikely to be released due to her age, but she has had many infants over the years and recently became a great-grandmother so some of her family will definitely experience life in the wild!

The CERCOPAN primate family now has an additional three mouths to feed as Quality and Odudu, two female mangabeys, and Let It Be, a female putty-nosed guenon, have all given birth this month!

Quality who was born here at CERCOPAN Calabar HQ has grown up in our largest mangabey group and is the daughter of Queen, our dominant female. Her infant, a baby boy, is thriving and everyone in the group seems

NEW ARRIVALS AT CERCOPAN

“At CERCOPAN,

whenever a

baby is born it is

always given a

name starting

with the same

letter as it’s

mothers . This

system helps us

easily keep track

of each animals

family tree”

Our Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/CERCOPAN

Quality and her baby boy

Odudu and yet another branch to her family tree

All photos in this newsletter were taken at CERCOPAN or Iko Esai by staff, volunteers and visitors.

Photo Credits: Alex Gerard, Rachel Hemmingway, Oskar Brattström. © Copyright CERCOPAN 2010

Design & Layout by Claire Coulson; Written by Claire Coulson, Amy Baxter, Alex Gerard, Rachel Hemmingway; Edited by Claire Coulson

www.cercopan.org

http://cercopan.wildlifedirect.org

WANT TO BE A PART OF IT?

• Stay in touch with our on-going programme by bookmarking our home page http://www.cercopan.org/ and our Blog site http://cercopan.wildlifedirect.org/

• Volunteer for CERCOPAN in either Nigeria or

the UK. We offer a range of different programmes so there is something for everyone! Visit our website volunteer section for further details.

• Help CERCOPAN attain corporate funding. If

you work for a corporate sponsor who may be interested in funding CERCOPAN please contact claire.coulson@cercopan.org

• Undertaken a sponsored event to raise

funds for CERCOPAN. • Follow us on twitter ‘cercopanhq’

• Make a cash donation to CERCOPAN via our

website...every little helps! • Buy a gift for friends or family from the

Good Gifts Catalogue (www.goodgifts.org). You can buy a month's supply of fruit for growing CERCOPAN orphan monkeys - called in the catalogue 'A-peeling Monkeys' for only £20! The price of the gift is passed on to CERCOPAN. So, it is an excellent way of solving your gift problems, and support-ing our work! Alternatively visit the CERCO-PAN gift shop on our website today.

• Donate useful goods and equipment such as

building and fencing materials, veterinary medicines, old laptop computers etc. or services such as printing, blood testing and architectural design.

• Join our Fan page http://

www.facebook.com/cercopan