Colobus Trust

Category: Education, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, community, volunteer | Date: Nov 03 2009 | By: colobus

On Wednesday the 28^th of October we had a visit from the children of The Hope Academy in Diani.  The main aim of their visit was to educate the pupils about the different primate species found in the Diani Beach area and to highlight the conservation issues they face, particularly regarding the Colobus monkey.  The children are taught that these issues are largely due to human actions, such as cutting down their natural habit and keeping monkeys as pets.  They are also taught that other aspects of our lifestyle inadvertently have a negative impact on the primates such the electrical lines and road which run adjacent to the forest they live in, causing a large number of injuries and deaths to local primates.

Above: Some of the pupils and teachers listening to John

To ensure to continued awareness and future survival of the Colobus we show the pupils what actions the Colobus Trust are doing to tackle these issues. We also demonstrate to them that by helping in small ways such as planting native trees they can have a positive impact on the future of the Colobus monkey.

Above: Colobus staff with teachers and pupils from Hope Academy

We hope that the pupils found the visit rewarding and that they enjoyed their time at the Colobus Trust!

Kate

Eco-volounteer

Tags: Colobus Trust, community, diani, Education, Hope Academy, Kenya, primates

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Category: Education, Marketing, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, volunteer | Date: Sep 30 2009 | By: colobus

Hi, it’s Eva- a Wildlife Clubs of Kenya student on attachment in Colobus Trust. This my second week in Colobus Trust and I am really excited by the marvelous activities carried out. Some of the activities I have participated in are tree trimming and also last Wednesday we rescued a monkey. I am also assisting in marketing department whereby we advertise in hotels within Diani, then we bring tourists for an eco-tour.

I am really enjoying my stay in Colobus Trust. All can come participate in this primate conservation centre for a better tomorrow.

Eva

Marketing Volunteer

Tags: Colobus Trust, Eco-tourism, Marketing, volunteering, Wildlife Clubs of Kenya

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Category: Education, Primate Rescue/Rehabilitation, Progress report, volunteer | Date: Sep 24 2009 | By: colobus

Erica, our orphaned monkey here at the Colobus Trust, has been spending the vast majority of her two months here in the company of humans. Now that she is getting bigger and more independent it is important that she spends less time with humans and more time with monkeys.

As part of the process or her being released into the wild, Erica has been spending more time in the rehabilitation cages with our older rescued Sykes monkey, SF1. They get on very well and so far have been happy to spend a few hours or more in each other’s presence. They play, jumping around on the ropes and branches that are there as part of their enrichment, as well as learning how to groom.

Above: Erica and SF1 eating in the cage

Our eco-volunteer Becky has been working on Erica’s tree-climbing skills and ensuring that the orphan has confidence in her abilities so that she climbs higher and more independently. Becky is also finding ways of introducing Erica to the food that she would eat in the wild, such as neem fruits.

We will build up the time that Erica spends in the cage and in the trees over the next month or so, in order that she relies less on human contact. The whole process of her release is likely to take up to a year, after which she will hopefully be fully wild.

Keep checking the blog for more updates on Erica and SF1!

The Colobus Team

Tags: animal rescue, Colobus Trust, learning, Monkey Rehabilitation, progress, sykes, volunteer

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, deforestation, volunteer | Date: Sep 19 2009 | By: colobus

Our peaceful Saturday morning was interrupted by a call on our hotline. Diani Sea Resort was calling to report a dead juvenile Colobus monkey. We knew this wouldn’t be an easy call out, but nothing could quite prepare us for what was waiting at the scene. The juvenile was in fact a very young infant, its death a result of fighting between two troops on the premises. Our animal welfare officer John estimated the infant was around one week old, as its fur was still completely white and the remains of its umbilical cord were still present. The Colobus only carry a single offspring at a time (although a set of twins can occur on very rare occasions) and take four to six years to reach sexual maturity. Therefore to lose an infant after a six month gestation period is a big blow to any Colobus troop, but more so in Diani where the population is dangerously low.

We were told by staff at the resort that intense fighting had occurred the previous day, with visible injuries to some of the adults. It is unclear at what stage and how the infant was killed, but it is likely that the mother continued to carry the infant after its death.

Increasingly fragmented habitats result in increased levels of stress in the species which live in them. Territorial disputes between rival Colobus troops are a natural occurrence; however the forest loss in Diani gives rise to a greater number of conflicts between the troops over the territory that remains.

To try and counter this, the Colobus Trust is working to create forest corridors for the Colobus and other native species to have better mobility between forest fragments.

More on this in another post!

Rob and Cara

Tags: Colobus monkey, Colobus Trust, conflict, diani, forest, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Kenya, Monkey, reforestation, trees

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, community, sustainable | Date: Sep 15 2009 | By: colobus

Staff and volunteers spent a morning in Mwakambe, a small local village, helping out with a community project. The Mwakambe Youth Group consists of 20 members and has two main aims: turning two sections of wasteland that have been abandoned for 20 years into an agro-business and a forest of native trees. Both projects will provide an income for the members of the youth group and their families.

Below: Rob (front right) working with the youth group

A local NGO has agreed to donate fertilizer, seeds and saplings to cultivate plants such as bananas, mangos and vegetables. They have set a deadline for the youth group of 20^th September to clear the land, so when we arrived they were all busy working in order to achieve this. We helped by slashing the long grass (which before they started work covered the majority of the plot) and cutting down small shrubs. The land, once cleared of denser vegetation, is then tilled using jembes. All this in the boiling hot sun means it’s very hard work and resulted in many blisters!

Below: We couldn’t resist documenting our injuries!

We made a visit to the second site where many saplings have already been planted. We helped by bringing water and watering them. The forest, when mature, will provide an ideal local location for ecotourism.

Below: Becky checks the progress of an indigenous sapling

We later joined the local group for some shade under a tree while the chairman explained more about the project and how we can help them. Peter then gave a motivational speech to the group members, as projects such as these can take a long time to come to fruition and can be frustrating for those involved.

The Colobus Trust looks forward to continuing to work alongside the Mwakambe community on this project to help them achieve their goals.

Tags: community, habitat restoration, teamwork

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, deforestation, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Sep 08 2009 | By: colobus

Hi there, I am one of the new volunteers at the trust and my first week has certainly been busy. Spending only a week here has shown me just how diverse and important the work of The Colobus Trust is.

So far I have been involved in a variety of the many projects that the trust carries out to ensure that the endangered Colobus monkeys have a future. These projects have ranged from climbing trees to mend the damaged Colobridges or being called out to search for an injured colobus or walking through the ever depleting forest to search for native saplings to add to the unique Colobus Corridor – this will hopefully develop corridors of forest in between the forest patches so Colobus have areas to move safely in.

Polly watering the saplings collected

As I am a qualified teacher, I have also become interested in the environmental education work that the Colobus Trust carries out and with the help of Hamisi I hope to begin a new programme after the long school holidays. I will keep you updated on this!

In just a week I have realised the hard work that the Colobus Trust has ahead of it but I do believe with continued hard work from the staff and support from volunteers it is possible.

Polly

Volunteer

Tags: Education, reforestation, Volunteer update

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Category: Education, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, deforestation, good wood, volunteer | Date: Sep 02 2009 | By: colobus

It began as a mere suggestion to create a nature trail involving eco-friendly hotels, through which visitors could get enriched with information regarding the Colobus monkey as they enjoyed a nature walk. The Nomads hotel, which still has a very rich forest patch in their premises, joined hands with the Colobus Trust not only to talk the walk but also to walk the talk of conserving the environment. The planning and implementation of this marvelous idea took four days.

Above: Peter talks about the forest

This walk begins at the Nomads reception desk where one receives a warm welcome and gets guided professionally through the trail. During the walk one gets to see and learn about indigenous trees over a century old and most importantly come across the precious, almost extinct, Colobus monkeys. For bird lovers, this is the perfect place as well as a haven for other creatures such as millipedes (almost a foot long) and forest rodents. One gets furnished with information regarding primates, medicinal herbs and the coral forest.

Above: an example of the tree labeling on the trail

This project will enhance knowledge and also appreciation of the unique flora and fauna of the visitors together with the residents. If we keep cutting trees and building more concrete structures, where will all the greens go? Where will we have nature walks and where will be the nature itself? Let’s join hands in this noble task of ensuring that we conserve our environment. How we conserve our environment today determines our future!

Thank you for visiting the Colobus blog!!

Peter

Field Officer

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Human - Primate Conflict Resolution, deforestation, sustainable, volunteer | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: colobus

Recently the Colobus Trust has been making big moves to raise awarness in diani and all across Kenya. One big supporter of our cause has been the Daily Nation news papper. In the past few weeks two seperate articles have been written on the plight of the Angolan black and white colobus, our flagship speices, whos only remaining habbitat in kenya is here on the south coast. We would like to share these articles with our readers and thank the Daily Nation for its support. Media is one of the best ways for conservation groups to raise awarness. This is one of the largest news pappers in Kenya and is read by thousands of people a day.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/633412/-/item/0/-/18yang/-/index.html

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/630462/-/7l0l1v/-/index.html

 We would also like to thank the Great Primate Handshake. This group was with us a few weeks ago and worked on some very important videos for us here at the Trust. The first video is going to help us with our volunteer programs. We at the Colobus Trust would like to build our volunteer program to allow us to complete many of the projects which require more man power. If you know anyone who is interested in doing some volunteer work or who may have some vacation time and would like a different experience please let them know about us. I can personally guarantee a wonderful stay and an experience you can never forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYgtC5597b8&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=094AF86F0F47431C

This next video was made for the Kenya ferry service. This Ferry shuttles some 50,000-70,000 people back and forth from Likoni to Mombasa every day. At the waiting station for the ferry are two large screens, one on either end. We have arranged for the ferry service to play our video for free. This is going to raise a lot of awareness about the major issues here in Diani as well as provide information to tourist on what it is we do here at the trust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98fwLExkgEs&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=094AF86F0F47431C&index=2

 Once again I would like to thank you for joining us. As always small organizations with large responsibilities, such as the Colobus Trust, would not be able to exist without the support from doners such as yourselves. Please continue to support us and we will keep you updated on all of our projects.

Best wishes,

Andrew Hayes

Assistant manager

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: Education, Kenya Ferry services, News paper, primate handshake, volunteer, you tube

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Marketing | Date: Jul 03 2009 | By: colobus

This is Margi again, settling in to life at the Colobus Trust and finding ways for my particular background and skills to be useful here. This week I’ve been involved in a workshop for Trust staff, looking at what the Colobus Trust offers visitors when they come on the ‘eco-tour’. The idea was to come up with some new ways of presenting the tour and engaging with visitors, based on work I’ve done with guided walk leaders in a UK National Park.

Eco-tours are an important source of income for the Trust. Back in 2007 they hosted over 1000 tours during the year. But the numbers plummeted in 2008 when tourism dried up as a result of the post-election political violence. It’s beginning very slowly to pick up again this year, but there’s still a long way to go, and there’s stiff competition from commercial tour operators offering safaris and boat trips - although what the Trust offers is an entirely different experience, of course.

Visitors come as couples, families or groups of friends, and get a very individual experience. The tour got a glowing write-up in a recent article in Kenya’s national Sunday newspaper, though some people are disappointed if they don’t actually see Colobus monkeys - Trust staff have to explain that the Colobus are wild animals and not predictable!

Anyway, in a competitive market it’s always worth making what’s good even better, and when I mentioned I’d done similar work in the UK, I was asked if I could share current ‘best practice’ ideas with the Colobus Trust team. Two members of staff, Mary and Esther, are the regular tour guides but most of the team can find themselves leading a tour if it gets busy or if visitors turn up without booking, so everyone participated in the workshop.

We looked first at what the tour was aiming to achieve - what does the Trust want visitors to learn, feel, and then actually do? Getting people to sign up as supporters and donors is obviously a key aim, but promoting responsible tourism is also important. Keeping in mind that people retain only a tiny fraction of the information they receive, but are more likely to remember the overall experience, we looked a how to identify simple key messages and some ‘tricks of the trade’ to convey them in an engaging way.

The highlight of the workshop was when participants, working in pairs, prepared a small section of the tour using some of the new ideas and then delivered this to the rest of the group (Peter, Esther and Mwitu are pictured below). Everyone gave lively and engaging presentations, with the group offering constructive comments and extra suggestions. Trees that cure 40 diseases and snails that take care of the garden are just two of the things I learned about, that have stuck in my mind and made me see the natural world differently, thanks to the Colobus Trust team. I’m sure visitors will feel the same!

Tags: Eco-tourism, responsible tourism, staff training, visitors

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Category: Education, Fundraising, Habitat Restoration/Conservation, Marketing, climate change, deforestation, good wood | Date: Jun 25 2009 | By: colobus

  The entire compound is full of tents and very busy people. Their tents are blue, green, and red, but their overland truck is yellow and always clean. They’re called Great Primate Handshake (GPH) and they’re here to help with our projects and share some knowledge - about the internet, digital media, film-making and teaching techniques. Monday morning one of the Colobus Trust directors, Luciana, was here as usual to greet her Colobus Trust ‘family’, but this morning she had more news than the daily greetings. There was a new member in our troop for adopters. On Sunday, a white infant Colobus was born! We named the new baby GPH in honour of the visiting volunteer group. I would like to inform those interested in adopting a cute new infant, to take this opportunity. Thanks to GPH group for choosing the Colobus Trust and we would like to welcome the young GPH into the family.  It’s my hope that other groups will be interested in the Colobus Trust, particularly our camping site and am looking forward for new adopters for the new member. Remember you can adopt through our website as well. So let’s say ‘long life’ to little GPH!

This week our education day was a little different with the involvement of GPH. Another Tuesday and most of the people around are busy preparing for the school workshop. But today we have more participants than usual. There are cameras at every corner of the Colobus Trust premises. The kids moved in through the cameras and immediately loved it. One of the Great Primate Handshake members showed an entertaining cartoon they had made on problems affecting Colobus and other monkeys in the area. The kids then divided in two groups, one were ‘animals’ and one were ‘humans’ and had a hot debate about how they use trees. Then it was off to the beach, where we managed to collect more than ten kilograms of sandals in less than half an hour - all this was waiting to kill our marine life at some point. This was on our waste management topic. Thanks to Magutu Primary for the dedicated beach clean up. The sandals will be used be local artists to make things - like the whale shark (shujaa) made from flip-flops which stands in Haller Park in Mombasa  Most of the kids loved the beach football, and they were all covered in sand by the end of it.  My request to you is, please wherever you are, avoid littering the beach and if possible pick up any rubbish while you are there, walking or jogging. Once again thanks for supporting our education programme through our blog.

Hamisi - Education, Marketing and Communication.

www.colobustrust.org

Tags: animal adoption, coastal forest, colobus, deforestation, environmental education, marine pollution., people and wildlife, primate birth, Primate conservation, volunteers

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