Celebrating 20 years of primate protection
Born Free and the Primate Society of Great Britain are celebrating 20-years of partnership, so we take a look back at some of the impact we’ve had over the years.
Since 2005, Born Free and the Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB) have been partnering to launch the careers of ambitious nationals from primate-range countries to play a front-line role in protecting endangered primates. After 20 years of working together, Born Free is PSGB’s longest supporting partner. We take a look back at the impact our grant has had over the years.
Thanks to initiation by Born Free’s Policy Advisor Ian Redmond, a renowned primatologist, in 2005, we began offering a modest early-career primate-focussed conservation grant through PSGB. He says: “It is wonderful that Born Free’s annual contribution to the PSGB Conservation Grants scheme has continued for so long.”
You can read about all the winners and their work since 2015 here, and below we highlight some of the impact the grant has had over the years.
Helping Launch Conservation Careers
Many awardees are early career scientists whose careers can benefit. Our 2017 awardee, western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) conservationist Paul Tehoda, explains: “The grant was a stepping stone to a strong foundation I have established in primate research and conservation in Ghana. This award […] helped me to leverage three additional funding grants later in the same year.”
Mariano Gboja Houngbedji was awarded the grant in 2015 for his work on red-bellied guenons (Cercopithecus erythrogaster), white-thighed colobus (Colobus vellerosus) and olive colobus (Procolobus verus), and continues to be dedicated to primate conservation in Benin today.
Developing National Action Plans
Our grant in 2015 supported Mohamed Elamine Benrabah to contribute population survey data to the development of a species national action plan in Algeria for the conservation of Babary macaques (Macaca sylvanus).
Ensuring Sustained Conservation Action
Raimi Chabi Ota was awarded our grant in 2019 for his work on the white-thighed colobus in northwestern Benin. This project led to the establishment of important conservation actions, such as a Women’s Environment Club being created. Sustained conservation action is vital to ensure primates remain protected in an ever-changing world.
Exciting Discoveries
Sometimes research on one species also leads to exciting discoveries about another species. Laura Suarez Ramirez’s initial study in 2018 of the Caquetá titi monkey (Callicebus caquetensis) in Colombia, was one such example.
“Thanks to the grant, I managed to get the first record of a primate of the Amazon called Miller’s saki (Pithecia milleri)” says Laura.
Complementing Born Free Conservation
Cameroon is a key country for Born Free, where our Guardians of Dja programme is working to protect great apes. Herve Ngunte invested his 2022 award in Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) conservation, and Alexandra Hofner in 2016 focussed on Preuss’s red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus preussi), both in Cameroon.
Helping During Hard Times
As the world ground to a halt in the 2020 pandemic, the grant enabled Rahayu Oktaviani to continue to conserve Javan gibbons and ensure their security, despite unprecedented challenges, and go on to win the prestigious Whitley Award in April earlier this year.
“When research activities and schools were halted, the grant […] allowed us to continue engaging people meaningfully with conservation, even during a global standstill” says Rahayi.
Habitat Restoration
Eduardo Pinel received the grant in 2021 to fund a study into Geoffrey’s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in Mexico, where his research evaluated the importance of forest regeneration for the long-term conservation of spider monkeys.
Camille Wekesa’s work in Kenya aimed to secure and restore a river riparian corridor protects black-and-white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) in 2023. Habitat destruction remains an ever-increasing threat to primates across the world.
OneHealth
Last year’s winner, Nicolas Gorostiaga, studied the effects of a yellow-fever outbreak on black-and-gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in Argentina. His research will influence primate conservation in countries such as Brazil and Colombia affected by similar outbreaks, aligning with the OneHealth for which Born Free advocates.
Addressing Key Threats
Addressing human-wildlife conflict is at the heart of our conservation work and this year’s winner is working hard to tackle human-primate conflict in Uganda. We are looking forward to sharing more Julius Kizito’s work to protect vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) later in the year.
In the last decade alone, we’ve supported the conservation of over 15 species in 10 countries across three continents.
Ian Redmond perfectly captures the essence of the grant, explaining:
“The grant is not only helping protect primates and their habitat but also empowering conservationists in primate range states to ensure that monkeys and apes, the Gardeners of the Forest, can continue dispersing seeds for the forests of tomorrow.”
Without our dedicated supporters, we would not be able to do so, so a big thanks to you too!