Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC) is a registered charity dedicated to the conservation of primates and their habitats in South and Central America.
We’ve had some great camera trap photos lately, this time from Pabloyacu, Moyobamba. This is the site where we are starting reforestation work with the Universidad Nacional de San MartÃn.
The camera traps are part of our effort to get baseline information on species diversity and abundance in the area, for comparisons with future monitoring to see what impact reforestation has on local wildlife.
The star of the show for us this time is the Tamandua (ant eater)! It’s also really great to see peccaries, these species show that although the area is very near to the city and heavily impacted, hunting pressure is low.
After 10 years of fighting we have finally managed to broker a peace between the local conservation association protecting the 40,000 ha Gran Simacache conservation concession and a group of land invaders who entered the are at the same time the area was being declared.
This process has been at times very difficult and even dangerous, involving threats against ourselves and the local conservationists, many fruitless attempts to force the environmental authorities and prosecutors to act against the invaders, and a halt to most protection activities in large parts of the reserve due to safety issues.
In 2017 we changed our approach, looking to work together with the invaders as allies in protection of the area in exchange for an end to all legal process against them. After many false starts and the turmoil caused by the pandemic, at 4:00 pm yesterday afternoon, Franklin Panduro, the president of the local conservation association and, Lorenzo Vela, the president of the invaders group, accompanied by about 60 villagers and association members, and witnessed by representatives of the regional environmental authorities and NPC, finally signed an agreement which puts an end to the conflict!
The agreement includes the ceding of a portion of the area for the invaders to use for their family farms, and the offer of work as park guards on patrols or participation in reforestation and other social development projects.
In exchange, there will be an immediate and permanent cessation of hunting and deforesting in the entire reserve as well as unhindered access to the area by the conservation association. We are very grateful to all those who have helped and supported us in this fight, and we are now looking forward to continuing to protect this amazing area and all the species that call it home.
This weekend we participated in joint meeting of global conservationists working together with local people to ensure conservation of many threatened species and habitats. The meeting was organized by our long time allies, the NGO “Community Conservation” with the idea of seeing how to further spread the successes of these projects and how we can all support each other in our work. We look forward to seeing this work develop in the future!
Yesterday we helped the ARA San Martin with a rescued baby Peruvian spider monkey (Ateles chamek). This animal was kept as a pet and confiscated in northern San Martin, far outside of its distribution. We were asked by the authorities to help with the transport and medical tests before being sent to a rescue centre in Loreto, in it’s natural distribution. Sadly this is this is not an isolated case and even during the pandemic we are finding animals illegally trafficked around Peru.
After a year or so in various levels of lockdown it’s been great to be able to work in the field again. Last week the NPC Peru team and local volunteers began work clearing the area for the new tree nursery we are building with the Universidad Nacional de San Martin for our joint reforestation efforts.
Yesterday we were very pleased to be able to help the wildlife authorities of San Martin with transport and medical tests for two common woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha). These victims of illegal wildlife trafficking were being transferred to a rescue centre in Loreto. Thankfully they were given a clean bill of health and we were able to send them immediately. At their new home they will have more space and be able to mix with others of their species, and maybe even return to the wild in the future.
It’s always exciting to go through camera trap photos! Here’s a selection from the latest batch, the star of the show is definitely the ocelot for sure, we confirmed the species at the site previously, but this is the first time we’ve caught it on camera trap.
Thanks to our conservation efforts for primates we are also protecting many other species with which they share their forest home.
A massive congratulations to the authors, including NPC Peru board member Patricia Mendoza, on this new paper out today in the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group journal Primate Conservation “Challenges to IUCN Guideline Implementation in the
Rehabilitation and Release of Trafficked Primates in Peru”
Thanks to very generous grants from the International Primate Protection League and one private donor we are able to help the Environmental Authorities of San Martin and Loreto, Peru, with much needed travel kennels, GPS units and a drone for their continued fight against the illegal wildlife trade and destruction of the Amazon forests.
You too can make donations to our projects or for equipment to help us in Peru and Colombia (You just need to visit our website www.neoprimate.org and click on the donate button)
