CERCOPAN

Category: Cercopan, Communities, Conservation, Monkeys, Nigeria, Uncategorized | Date: Dec 25 2007 | By: admin

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from all of the staff and Volunteers at CERCOPAN!

A couple of days ago I was handed a letter from the Conservation club of Agoi Ibami. I found it very touching and would like to share it with you.

“Community secondary school, Agoi Ibami gives Kudos to CERCOPAN
The good work of CERCOPAN in conservation of nature and primates deserves commendation, especially her introduction of conservation club in secondary schools within and outside of the catchment area of the Rhoko camp. The introduction of conservation club by the coordinator in 2003 came up due to the relocation of a refuse dump in the school. It gained popularity in 2004 when it was inaugurated by the educational unit of CERCOPAN under the leadership of Mr Jerry Akparawa and uncle Tony.

The good works of CERCOPAN must not be wasted. To this end the youths, the stakeholders, farmers and all of the forest users should hear and understand the language of conservation and the ban on killing of monkeys”

Igban Dance group performing “Allow monkey to live”

The reason that this letter struck a particular chord with me was that it proved others had been similarly affected by the release occasion. As conservationists, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and disillusioned by the magnitude of the task we set ourselves. It is sometimes difficult to see how we will ever make a difference when despite monumental effort by people around the world, forests and animals continue to disappear and attitudes often remain unchanged. The release occasion was special to me because for the first time ever, I no longer felt the aim of my job was to stall for time in the hope that circumstances would change before nothing was left. I felt as though we had changed circumstances, we were winning and that all of our hard work was truly worthwhile.

Man from Iko Esai wearing monkey skull necklace when CERCOPAN first arrived in the village

When CERCOPAN first began working with the village of Iko Esai in 2000, monkeys were hunted, the forest was being logged and conservation was a word that people simply didn’t use. Seven years on, the 300ha core area is fully protected from all forms of exploitation, the village have imposed a ban on hunting monkeys and conservation is becoming a part of daily life. On the 9th November we organised an occasion in the village to mark the release of three mona monkeys into the core area. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of the release project within Iko Esai and in the neighbouring communities of Owai, Agoi Ibami, Ekperem and Ifumpka. Although we set an agenda, we gave the villages’ free reign to present whatever deemed appropriate.

Conservation club drama presentation

It is difficult to select one particular part of the release occasion that affected me most, to be quite frank there were just so many memorable moments. It could have been when the Igban dancers presented “Allow monkey to live”, or when the children cautioned through drama and song that they would be left with nothing if destructive activities were allowed to continue. I certainly had tears in my eyes when person after person, from village after village, stood up and proclaimed the desperate need to protect their natural heritage. In the end however, I believe the greatest impact for me was hearing a crowd of over a thousand people from many different communities all chanting “Allow monkey to live” in unison. When you spend each day working to protect and conserve primates, what could ever mean more than that?

Please click on the small video clip below to view an impassioned speech on the release occasion.

allowmonkeytolive.wmv