Denis Agaba transforms lives wherever he goes.  Charismatic, intelligent, and passionate, Denis manages to enthral and enthuse the people who come to learn about great apes, the many issues they face, and how to protect them for future generations.  Denis is the implementer of the Great Apes Film Initiative (GAFI) Pedal Powered Cinema Project in Uganda, screening a range of conservation films to many different groups of people.  Over the past two years, Denis has reached tens of thousands of schoolchildren, parents, organic farmers, park rangers, army officers, local politicians, and other decision makers through his enthusiasm and deep knowledge of great ape behaviour.

The Pedal Powered Cinema uses a simple dynamo to convert the energy created when pedaling into power that runs a projector and sound system.  This field version permits up to a thousand people to view and hear the film being screened.

Many people can impart information, but Denis goes beyond that to inspire his audiences to take action in their own locality to create sustainable solutions that will leave a lasting legacy. 
 Denis brings together a number of important NGOs in his region.  In addition to his role as educator and implementer for GAFI, he is a key ambassador for the Wildlife Clubs of Uganda and a valuable partner for the Gorilla Organisation.  This gifted educator is responsible for taking schoolchildren (including disabled children) to the forest for the first time, creating a network of Young Ambassadors for Great Apes, encouraging senior army officers to have conservation screenings in barracks, and introducing environmental education to many schools for the first time.

In 2011, Denis’ work was recognised by Hon. Mary Ndete, who represented the Commissioner for the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports as a guest of honour during the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance Education Workshop.  The Ministry requested more screenings by him and the Pedal Powered Cinema to be implemented throughout the country.  It is a call to action that Denis is working on.

Denis says, “There are many people that live near primate habitats, but they have not seen them with their own eyes.  I have found that the people who live farther away from primate habitats are less informed about the importance of primates and do not generally promote their conservation.  Primate Education Network is helping primate educators who are working with communities around the world to connect, learn from each other’s experiences, and share tested and proven solutions to various local problems.”

The post May Educator of the Month: Denis Agaba appeared first on Primate Education Network.

Lou Ann Dietz has over 40 years of pioneering conservation field experience in Brazil and other countries in Latin America.  In 1983, she started a community-based environmental education program in Brazil – the first of its kind in the country!  This program was an essential component of her conservation activities.

Lou Ann coordinated a survey to identify people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding the golden lion tamarin in the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro State where this tiny and endangered primate is endemic.  She discovered that only a few people could identify the golden lion tamarin in a picture and that they didn’t know that this primate’s declining status was connected with deforestation in the region.  Those who could identify the tamarin valued it for its beauty and said that it made them happy when they saw it.  These results indicated that the golden lion tamarin could be promoted as a flagship species for Atlantic Forest conservation.

Lou Ann worked in partnership with Brazilian primatologists to understand the biology and ecology of the golden lion tamarin.  The information provided during educational activities was always based on scientific data gathered from the field.  Many activities were planned, tested, and implemented with different types of stakeholders to address the threats identified by golden lion tamarin researchers.  After only two years of education efforts in the community, Lou Ann’s team documented significant increases in knowledge about the tamarin and the forest, as well as positive changes in attitudes and behaviors.  Her education model inspired many conservation programs in Brazil.

Lou Ann spent three years – from 1983 to 1985 – in Brazil dedicated to establishing the golden lion tamarin education program.  She continues her involvement with the program as an advisor and mentor.  She has trained and empowered over 100 Brazilian educators, including myself, to lead the program.  I am honored that I had the chance to work with and learn from Lou Ann.  She taught me about how educational activities need to be carefully planned and connected with primate research, conservation, public policies, and an organization’s mission.

I recently spoke with Suzana Padua, a Brazilian environmental educator and the President of Institute for Ecological Research (Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas).  She is another person who was inspired by Lou Ann.  She said, “Lou Ann has left a remarkable footprint on Brazil.  She influenced many professionals like myself, as she offered a number of courses on environmental education over the years.  This was perhaps one of her most significant legacies: the training of a group of environmental educators who learned how to adapt her approach to the contexts where they were working in several Brazilian ecosystems.”

In her capacity as the President and Founding Director of Save the Golden Lion Tamarin and as a member of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association’s (Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado) Board of Directors, Lou Ann continues to train and empower primate educators in Brazil.  She also serves as an elected member of the International Committee for Conservation and Management of Lion Tamarins, an official advisory group to the Brazilian government.

Lou Ann says, “By improving understanding of non-human primates, as well as influencing human behavior, we can impact conservation of some of the most biologically diverse systems on earth.  These systems are important in themselves, but they also provide ecosystem services important for the well being of humans.  Part of our job as primate educators is to help people understand these connections.”

This year, Lou Ann is celebrating her 30-year anniversary since implementing her first education action to protect golden lion tamarins in Brazil!  Her efforts have been instrumental in contributing to the golden lion tamarin becoming a national symbol for conservation in Brazil.

This blog post was written by Patricia Mie Matsuo, Board Director for Golden Lion Tamarin Association and a collaborator in their environmental education strategy actions for two endangered and endemic primates of Brazil, the muriqui and golden-headed lion tamarin. She also serves as Primate Education Network’s Regional Coordinator for Brazil.

Submit a nomination for our Educator of the Month blog series.

The post April Educator of the Month: Lou Ann Dietz appeared first on Primate Education Network.

PEN’s Managing Editor will assist with a variety of exciting and rewarding editorial assignments. This position will involve exclusive opportunities to produce high-quality and professional work alongside a dedicated and passionate global team.

The Managing Editor will play an important role in editing Educator of the Month blogs and Voices from the Field audio transcriptions, conference abstracts, fact sheets, web content, workshop and training materials, grants, reports, and e-newsletters.

Desired skill set and interests:
- Meticulous attention to detail
- Exceptional and creative written communication skills
- Demonstrated experience in and passion for editing
- Ability to commit to working at least five hours per week
- And last but not least, an interest in primate conservation education!

How to apply:
Please send your cover letter, detailing your experience in writing and editing, CV, and two writing samples to Amy Clanin at amy@primateeducationnetwork.org.

The post Seeking Talented Managing Editor To Join Global Team appeared first on Primate Education Network.

PEN’s Regional Coordinators play an important role in facilitating workshops and trainings, sourcing and sharing primate education resources curated by PEN, developing regional materials and action plans, and highlighting educators through our network.

Thank you sincerely for your generous support of our important work, Born Free Foundation and Primate Society of Great Britain!  Learn more about our new supporters below.

Born Free Foundation
The Born Free Foundation is a dynamic international wildlife charity, devoted to compassionate conservation and animal welfare.  Born Free takes action worldwide to protect threatened species and stop individual animal suffering.

Primate Society of Great Britain
The Primate Society of Great Britain (PSGB) is a UK society affiliated with the International Primatological Society and the European Federation for Primatology.  PSGB was founded in 1967 to promote research on all aspects of primate biology, conservation, and management.

The post Celebrating New Support For Regional Coordinators! appeared first on Primate Education Network.

Please join us in congratulating and warmly welcoming Xyomara Carretero-Pinzon, Francisca Vidal-García, Rasyid Assaf Dongoran, and Edy Hendras Wahyono!

Xyomara Carretero-Pinzon, Regional Coordinator for Colombia
Xyomara is a founding member of the Colombian Primatological Association.  She received her master’s degree in Biological Science and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Queensland.  Xyomara has 18 years of experience studying primates and working closely with communities in Colombia.

Francisca Vidal-García, Regional Representative for Mexico
Francisca is a biologist and Ph.D. student at the Instituto de Ecología, A.C. in Mexico.  Her research is focused on studying the current distribution, sympatric space use with humans, and threats to primates in southeastern Mexico.  Francisca is actively involved in delivering primate education workshops in Mexico.

Rasyid Assaf Dongoran, Regional Coordinator for Sumatra
Rasyid is a biologist and has been involved in conservation for over 12 year in Sumatra.  He holds a B.Sc. in Biology and an M.Sc. in Environmental & Natural Resources Management from the University of Sumatera Utara.  In 2006, he founded the Sumatra Rainforest Institute, an organization dedicated to conserving rainforests and endangered species in Sumatra.

Edy Hendras Wahyono, Advisor for Indonesia
Edy has been involved in primate conservation since the early 1980s and has experience working with various organizations in Java, Sumatra, and Borneo.  He is currently the Director of Nature Conservation Education Foundation and serves as a Trainer for the Orangutan Foundation International.

The post PEN Expands in Latin America and Indonesia appeared first on Primate Education Network.

Scroll to the top of the page and use the Google Translate tool to read the transcription in a different language.

Can you please tell our listeners your name, title, and affiliation?
My name is Juan Carlos Serio Silva and I am a Professor and Researcher at the Institute of Ecology.  I am also PEN’s Regional Coordinator for Mexico.

What inspired you to become a primate educator?
For many years, almost all of the primate researchers that I encountered did not devote any time to teach others about the value of wild primates.  This was only natural during those previous years because many of my friends (including me) were trained only to gather and analyze all scientific information obtained from the field.  We assumed that with our high impact papers published in the best journals that we were providing all the tools necessary to save wild monkeys and their natural habitats. The truth was the absolute opposite.  For example, in a missed database named “Primate Lit,” there were less than 500 contributions about education, between papers and abstracts, published from 1940 to 2010 in comparison to thousands of papers related with many other topics on primates.

So, with this poor impact and interest from our contributions in primatology, I increased my focus to include training local people and teaching anyone who could play a role in caring for wild monkeys and their habitats.  I taught about how this relationship is linked with a healthy environment, resulting in helping local people to live better.  Of course, as a professor I am always writing scientific papers, but I have incorporated education as part of my primate conservation efforts and I encourage my students to work with people in rural and urban environments to teach them about the value of primates and their tropical rainforest habitats for them and for the world.

Can you describe one challenge you encountered and overcame as a primate educator?
My personal opinion is that the new times imposed on us new goals to cover in scientific research, including obtaining detailed analysis of factors that influence primate conservation and how we need new tools to tackle all these issues.  However, the best thing that I learned in the last 25 years working with wild primates is that only when we are linking the social problems of local people, their needs, and our actions involving trying to give them some solutions and information, can we plan a real conservation plan of action to protect animals, including monkeys and their habitats.  We always think that children are the future, but it is wrong to think that they will have all the solutions for all the problems that we are giving them.  The best thing we can do is to work with everyone; train and educate all the local people regardless of their age, sex, religion, and political status.  If we do not work together, scientific research will not be useful.  Funds for research in any area must always include local involvement and support.

Can you share a personal story to support how education influences or results in primate conservation?
During the last few years, we have been working in the Tabasco state in a very fragmented area in southern Mexico.  In this area, we are studying the behavioral flexibility of monkeys at our study sites and we evaluate how they are adapting to these unfortunate new conditions. During our daily actions, we work with local people and with many children that many times make the best field guides.  They help us to find the monkeys and study them more easily.  We spend many hours talking about the importance of these and other animals and in the last years we were very surprised to see our efforts pay off, as their attitudes and behavior changed.  Now they protect and preserve many of their forest fragments.  Currently, we are establishing several corridors with trees planted by local people that will connect these fragmented forests.  Besides this, we visit local schools and deliver games and activities for children where they can learn about primates and the importance of preserving nature.  I am sure that like me, my students find these activities as one of the most wonderful rewards during their primate studies.  In some sense, we are giving a voice to monkeys about their needs and the local people are lending their ears to listen to this voice.

Thank you for listening!  We welcome and encourage you to leave a comment, share this post, and help us spread the word.  

The post Voices from the Field: Dr. Juan Carlos Serio Silva appeared first on Primate Education Network.

Monkeys are often a subject for mockery in Morocco due to cultural and religious beliefs.  People are embarrassed to talk about monkeys, much less pretend to be one by wearing a mask.  But our simple mask activity can convert this embarrassment into education by teaching our students about the Barbary macaque.  The students become excited about the mask, forget about their embarrassment, and connect the activity with the things they learn about the species through our lessons.  Ahmed says, “When I started with the education work, I was learning a lot about the macaques along with the children.  The lessons are like playing, but we are learning as we play.  It’s important that we learn about the macaques because they are in a difficult situation and so is their forest habitat.  When the children know this, they can make a difference for the future of macaques.”

BMCRif also has a portable educational exhibition for which Ahmed is responsible.  Ahmed recognized the value of our exhibition after having seen 5,000 people pass through our first exhibition in just three days last year in July.  Ahmed is a firm believer in providing everyone with accurate, accessible information in Arabic regarding Barbary macaques.  He knows that the Moroccan public lacks an understanding of primates and their conservation.  He is zealous about ensuring our message reaches as many people as possible.  After seeing the disastrous effect pet keeping has on Barbary macaques as individuals and as populations, Ahmed is particularly keen on spreading the message.  He now firmly believes that informing people about the Barbary macaque and its plight in the wild is the only way to see a decrease in the practice of keeping the species as pets and using them as photo props in Morocco.  Ahmed also organises the annual BMCRif Football Tournament to provide a positive link between the macaques and village boys who have been their main persecutors.

Ahmed stays updated through PEN on Facebook and is particularly keen to develop some of the ideas he has seen being used by other primate educators.  He would like other groups in Morocco to work more on primate education in the region after experiencing the positive results from his own efforts.

Everyone at BMCRif is looking forward to seeing the theatrical adaptation of The Journey of the Macaque Teshta by Monkeys Acting in Schools for Education (MASC) next month in Morocco.  The play deals with the wildlife trade and features two animals, Teshta the Barbary macaque and Ahmed the spur-thighed tortoise, that are captured from the wild and are facing a very uncertain future.  The tortoise will be played by Ahmed himself.  He can’t wait to don his carapace made of basketwork!

This blog post was written by Siân Waters, Project Director with Barbary Macaque Conservation in the Rif and Regional Coordinator for North Africa, Middle East, and Spain with Primate Education Network.

Submit a nomination for our “Educator of the Month” blog series.

The post March Educator of the Month: Ahmed El Harrad appeared first on Primate Education Network.

PEN is currently seeking a creative graphic designer to work in collaboration with our Executive Director and Primate Artist.  This exciting new position will involve designing a newsletter template, brochure, web icons, regional fact sheets, and flyers for international primate education meetings, workshops, and trainings.

Desired skill set and interests:
- Experience in and passion for designing print and online marketing collateral
- Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite
- Creative flair is a must
- And last but not least, an interest in primate conservation education!

How to apply:
Please send your cover letter, portfolio, and CV to Amy Clanin at amy@primateeducationnetwork.org.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!

The post Make a Difference – Join PEN as a Volunteer Graphic Designer! appeared first on Primate Education Network.

Recently, Fanny Cornejo, PEN’s Regional Coordinator for Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, joined me in Washington, DC  to attend meetings with prospective partners, as well as participate in a behind-the-scenes tour at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Fanny and I visited the great ape building, which houses the gorillas and orangutans.  Amanda Bania, Great Ape Keeper, introduced us to the zoo’s orangutans and talked about their positive reinforcement training (the apes’ participation is voluntary).  This training involves asking the apes to present different body parts to monitor their health.  The keepers check their chest for cardiac ultrasound, mouth for teeth inspection, ears for body temperature through a thermometer, and ask them to present their shoulder for voluntary injection.

We asked Amanda if her position as a keeper involved educating the public about primate conservation.  Amanda said that the zoo’s mission is to educate and inspire.  She and her team give daily keeper talks, catered mostly towards students and families.  These talks provide a platform for introducing the apes and sharing information about their captive welfare, behavior, and threats to their survival in the wild.

During our discussion, Amanda cited the following quote by Robert M. Pyle: “What we know, we may choose to care for.  What we fail to recognize, we certainly won’t.”  She said that this quote summed up how she felt about primate education.

When I asked Fanny about her experience, she replied, “My knowledge about great apes has been limited as a Neotropical primate researcher and educator, so I was excited to learn about gorillas and orangutans and see them up close and personal.”

The post Behind the Scenes at the National Zoo appeared first on Primate Education Network.

Waking up in the rainforest can be a magical experience.  Even before sunrise, noises from different creatures can be heard.  If you are lucky, you can even listen to a romantic duet of complementing songs that orchestrate into the promise of fidelity and eternal love.  This ritual happens every morning and the actors everywhere in Amazonian rainforests are couples of titi monkeys.  These monkeys, members of the genus Callicebus, are known to live in small family groups, consisting of the reproductive couple and their offspring.  Titi monkeys are also very cohesive and social animals.  They don’t disperse far when feeding and traveling and they rest and sleep by snuggling together and entwining their tails.  Also, the reproductive couple shares a strong bond; they are monogamous and the parental care is provided primarily by the male. Unfortunately, their morning ritual of singing in duo is also a great disadvantage for them, as humans can find and hunt them more easily.

In the lower northeastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes, a particular species of titi monkeys occurs.  The San Martin titi monkey, Callicebus oenanthe, is found only in a tiny region of the San Martin department in Peru.  Until recently, very little was known and being done for its protection.  It is currently listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List.  It was also recently included in the world’s 25 most endangered primates list at the International Primatological Society Congress in Cancun, Mexico in August 2012.

Since 2007, Proyecto Mono Tocón (PMT) has been studying and creating conservation actions for this species.  Acknowledging that conservation goes hand-in-hand with education, PMT’s Project Director Jan Vermeer developed an education program for the organization.  A young San Martin environmental engineer accepted the challenge and became the coordinator for this program.  Her name is Victoria “Vicky” Perez-Tello and she is Primate Education Network’s February Educator of the Month.

Vicky was always interested in nature and aware of the challenges of living in one of the most deforested areas of Peru.  This first-hand experience led her to choose a career in environmental engineering, searching for a path where she could contribute and make a change.  She knew that research was being carried out in protected areas, for example, but there were few people involved in educating local communities, which she believed was a crucial element to any conservation initiative.

In 2008, that path was offered to her and she quickly accepted the opportunity.  Her team implemented an education program in elementary and high schools in two localities of San Martin.  “It was a challenge at first,” she told me.  “Schoolteachers were not open to our education program.  They didn’t understand its advantage and our motivation.”  Fortunately, her team persisted and eventually gained the trust of the teachers.  They signed an agreement with the Peruvian Ministry of Education authorities in this region and proceeded to teach in the local schools.

It was also a learning experience for them.  With no formal training programs on primate conservation education already in place, Vicky’s team learned through experience over time about what worked and didn’t work.  It was also a challenge because they involved communities of both rural farmers and indigenous groups.

Today, they are operational in eight schools in seven localities and reach approximately 1,000 students.  They know the message needs to be delivered beyond the scope of their project and that is why they focus on training teachers.   In addition, based on requests by local communities, they have trained and supported 150 farmers for the creation of a protected area for the species.

“This is a species that only occurs in this tiny region of Peru, and we, as people of San Martin, should feel proud of it,” said Vicky.  In fact, one of her biggest achievements as an educator is that people touched by her program now acknowledge the importance of the San Martin titi monkey as an endemic species of their region.  They understand this monkey’s role in the ecosystem and feel pride in contributing to its conservation.

Vicky was recently appointed President of Proyecto Mono Tocón, and with her integral vision, we are confident that she will bring even more success to this crucial project for the conservation of the San Martin titi monkey.

This blog post was written by Fanny M. Cornejo, Research Coordinator with Yunkawasi and Regional Coordinator for Peru, South America with Primate Education Network.

Submit a nomination for our “Educator of the Month” blog series

The post February Educator of the Month: Victoria Perez-Tello appeared first on Primate Education Network.