We returned to Peru in mid-october to start the main phase of the Yellow Tailed woolly monkey conservation project in La Esperanza. Together with the biologist Fanny Cornejo from the Museum of Natural History of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, our partners for this project, and Raul Bello form the Brigada de Fauna Silvestre.
We visited all five communities involved in the project and arranged meetings with the heads and members of each community and explained the project in detail. The people were interested and showed enthusiasm in cooperating with the project. The idea of reforestation with native tree species seemed to draw the most enthusiasm and many of the families have decided to join our efforts through tree nursery work as they all understand the urgent need for reforestation in the area because wood extraction is the main income in these communities. The community of La Esperanza has donated office space for the duration of the project.

Unfortunately, there are now two mining companies currently working on the lands of these communities. Due to the lack of legal advice available to the communities, agreements were signed with both companies, Corianta and Cerro de la Mina. These contracts are very exploitative for both the communities and the environment, so we are now looking for environmental agencies within Peru who could help the communities with legal advice to ensure better conditions and stricter adherence to laws and guidelines.

During the time in the communities we were able to see the Andean night monkey (Autos miconax), this species is also very rare and little studied. It is another endemic monkey to the same area as the yellow tailed woolly monkey and goes to prove the importance of
preserving this area as a refuge for rare and endngered animal and plant speceis. Finding this species near the communities is a very good sign and we are hoping to start investigations on this species as well.