We and our partners around the globe have had a dynamic last 12 months. Read on to see the biggest accomplishments you, our donors, have made possible.
DOING Community-based Conservation
Working with local communities to protect biodiversity in their own backyards…
1. Community camera trapping workshops for pangolin and other protected species in Nepal.
We held trainings in community-managed forests in Nepal. During these trainings, community forestry groups learned how to monitor local wildlife populations (such as tiger, elephant, and pangolin) and camera trap in their own forests. This year’s trainings focused on pangolins, and also helped raise awareness about the importance of pangolin conservation in Nepal. Read more about this project here.
2. Creating a community-managed forest corridor for chimpanzees in Somié, Cameroon.
This year Executive Director Dr. Teri Allendorf visited our project site in Cameroon, where our partner Community-Based Biosynergy Management (CBBM) is working with local and indigenous communities to support initiatives aimed at protecting local biodiversity and sustaining livelihoods. Within the forest-savanna ecoregion to the north, we are supporting the restoration of degraded chimpanzee habitat through community forestry and livelihood support projects. Read more about this project here.
3. Developing an Indigenous Community-Based Monitoring Program in Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon.
We are working to support community conservation near the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon. The reserve is home to the Baka, an indigenous group of hunter-gatherers who have maintained the balance of the tropical forest ecosystems for thousands of years but now want help to create sustainable hunting strategies. Through work with communities and government representatives, our efforts will protect key wildlife species and accelerate community-level action. Read more about this project here.
4. New community conservation area for critically endangered titi monkey in Moyobamba, Peru.
This year we expanded our community conservation network with a new community in the beautiful and biodiverse Andean foothills in Northern Peru. Within this area is the Marañon-Huallaga landscape, a region of endemism somewhat isolated by the Marañon and Huallaga Rivers. The community-run preserves in this region are managed by local farmers and work with conservation groups, like CC and our partner Neotropical Primate Conservation, to protect primate habitat. The expanded network now comprises 12 communities that cover a large geographical area to protect the Critically Endangered yellow tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), the San Martin titi monkey (Plecturocebus oenanthe), and the Endangered Peruvian night monkey (Aotus miconax). Read more about this project here.
5. Iban community workshop to identify goals and a vision for forests in Sarawak, Malaysia
This year through workshops and hands-on fieldwork, our partners in Malaysia, Rose Ragai and the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, worked to involve the local Iban communities in the long-term monitoring of wildlife in their forests. The community forests are near Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, home to one of the largest populations of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), as well as Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica), bearded pigs (Sus barbatus), and Bornean banded langurs (Presbytis chrysomelas). The community picked conservation goals that focused on providing good habitat for orangutans, selecting tree species to support and shelter hornbills, and a new interest in ecotourism driven by the next generation! Read more about this project here.
6. New community collaboration to protect wildlife in Mae Lamung, Thailand
We began a collaboration with the University of Minnesota and Seub Foundation to work with communities in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary to conserve tiger (Panthera tigris) and their prey species banteng (Bos javanicus), gaur (Bos gaurus), and sambar (Rusa unicolor). More information coming soon, click here to subscribe to our newsletter and stay in the know.
7. Return to community collaboration in Madagascar
Tsinjoriake, which translates to “panorama of land and sea” in the local Malagasy dialect, is a community co-managed protected area. Aptly named, the area is a unique land and seascape that provides critical habitat for wildlife, contains cultural and sacred areas, and provides ecosystem services that sustain the livelihoods of the people living there. CC originally helped establish the protected area in 2007, and this year returned to meet with the next generation of Malagasy leaders. This project will continue with the hope of extending community protected areas in Madagascar. More information coming soon, click here to subscribe to our newsletter and stay in the know.
SPREADING Community-based Conservation
These impacts involve sharing stories of community conservation, educating conservation professionals and increasing awareness among the general public.
- Two-day Community Conservation Training Workshop for conservation professionals in Kathmandu, Nepal
- 6-week online course for practitioners “Community Conservation in Practice”
- Hosted a World Rainforest Day panel with our partners from Cameroon and Peru focused on the contexts of their work and methods for conserving biodiversity and endangered wildlife
- Educated 7,000 people per month about community-based conservation via our website and social media
- Participated in Prosocial World’s program to scale up best practices among NGOs in Latin American to support global change
- Supported Community-Based Biosynergy Management staff, Adrian Eban-Odi, to attend participatory video trainings sponsored by Prosocial World
Thank you for your support
We are so grateful to our supporters this year for your ongoing commitment to Community Conservation. Our work with communities is going strong, thanks to you!
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