Proyecto Mono Tocón

Local Initiatives for Conservation

December 2012 Content he San Martin titi monkey is one of the treasures of . The past few months we have seen several encouraging develop- The San Martin titi monkey: T in need of protection ments for the conservation of the . New reserves where titi monkeys live have been created, and local communities have in- New protected areas for the San Martin titi monkey formed us about their wish to protect the forest around their villages. The educational activities of Proyecto Mono Tocón clearly result in Support for community more attention for nature conservation. But there are also concerns. Many of conservation the titi monkeys live in degraded and isolated fragments of forest. The protec- Environmental education in the native communities tion of titi monkeys in fragments is much more difficult than the protection of a few large conservation areas. At this moment we lack the resources to stop World Wide titi monkeys the destruction of these important fragments, and we are running out of time. WAZA Conservation Project I hope that, now that the San Martin titi monkey internationally has been

Titbits of titi news recognized as one of the most endangered primates species of the world, more Ongoing projects organisations and zoos will join us in 2013 to save this species from extinction.

Volunteers requested Dear readers, this is the last newsletter of Jan Vermeer the year, with again much news about our Project director projects for the San Martin titi monkey. In 2013 we will continue with our existing projects and execute new ones. We hope that we can count on the support of all of you, to protect the natural patrimony of Peru. Victoria Pérez Tello President The San Martin titi monkey: in need of protection

hen Proyecto Mono Tocón initiated in 2007 the W project for the San Martin titi monkey, almost nothing was known about this species. Our knowledge was restricted to a few observations in the Alto Mayo Valley and six museum specimens. The extensive surveys in the first years revealed that the species has a relatively small distribution range in the San Martin Department and that it is threatened by high rates of habitat loss. Titi monkeys prefer living in forests below 1000m altitude, which is also the preferred land for agriculture. The result is that their habitat is converted in very fast in rice and corn fields. At the same moment, most conservation efforts of the regional government and other conservation associations concentrate on the highlands. This is partly because the focus is especially on the protection of water sources, but probably also because there are less people living in the mountains and therefore less risk for conflicts. What has been neglected is that the area between the eastern feet of the and the Amazonian lowland forest represents a unique zone with several endemic animal and plant species. And one of this species is the critically endangered San Martin titi monkey. With our work, we have been able to put the fate of this primate species on the agenda of other conservation organisations and the regional government. The species has recently been added to The World’s 25 most endangered Primates list. We hope that this will generate more support for the conservation activities of Proyecto Mono Tocón and other organisations.

New protected areas for the San Martin titi monkey

ery good news reached us last month. On the 21st of December, the two proposed Conservation V Concessions “Shitariyacu” and “Tres Quebradas” have officially been recognized as protected areas by the Peruvian authorities. This is great news for the San Martin titi monkeys living in the area, and for all other endangered animal species that share their habitat. The initiative for the conservation concessions came from the local associations of Ricardo Palma and Bagazán. Since 2011, both associations received technical support from the team of Proyecto Mono Tocón and the NGO Neotropical Primate Conservation for the compilation of the application. We now have started an extensive educational programme to increase support for the area and will support the local communities with the design of the management plan. Both areas are connected, and cover almost 6.000 hectares. In November we visited with members of the associations neighbouring communities, to inform them about the importance of nature conservation and to incite conservation initiatives. We hope to be able to enlarge the area with another 5.000 hectares, by adding conservation concessions that are connected to the existing protected area. We are very happy that we can do this together with the people from Bagazán and Ricardo Palma, who show how much they are concerned with nature conservation. The first results are promising; one community already requested the support of Proyecto Mono Tocón for the creation of their conservation concession. We are confident that others will follow in 2013. The creation of the conservation concessions is just a first step. Proyecto Mono Tocón works with the regional tourism board and other organisations on a project for a birding route in San Martin. It is planned that the birders will also come to both conservation concessions. This will provide additional income for the communities and therefore increased support for nature conservation. We are investigating additional ways to stimulate a sustainable economic development of the villages.

Page 2 PROYECTO MONO TOCÓN Support for community conservation initiatives

ature conservation in protected areas is only effective if N supported by the human populations living around the area. Without their support it will be impossible to stop deforestation, ban (or regulate) hunting and limit other negative human impact. Ideally, the initiative for the protection of an area should come from the local communities themselves. It is fortunate that the local attitude to nature conservation in rural Peru is very positive, and that the Peruvian government gives local communities the tools to create their own protected areas. Even settlers, migrated from other regions in Peru and living on governmental territory, can unite themselves in local associations and apply for the creation of a Conservation Concession. They will never become owner of the land, but will be able to manage it and protect the area against deforestation and unsustainable use. The introduction of this system has become a big success in San Martin; a surface of almost 480.000 hectares has already been approved as conservation concession, and there are proposals for another 270.000 hectares. Most of it unfortunaltey outside the distribution range of the titi monkeys. To inform communities about the system of conservation concessions, Proyecto Mono Tocón organised in November a workshop, together with the municipality of Pachiza and NGO Neotropical Primate Conservation. During the workshop there was a wide array of presentations. Biologists talked about biodiversity, local associations shared their experiences with conservation concessions and other entities talked about the management of protected areas. Through workshops the development of conservation concessions were discussed.

The workshop was a great moment to share thoughts with so many people that are involved in this type of work. It was motivating to hear about the eagerness of local associations to protect their natural resources. Proyecto Mono Tocón will use the results of the workshop to further improve our support to the communities. This workshop was part of our Central Huallaga programme, which we began this year with the help of the European Zoos. Zoo d’Amneville (France) pledged to support this programme for at least three years with a significant financial contribution. We hope that we will be able to help many more communities with the creation and management of their concessions.

Page 3 PROYECTO MONO TOCÓN Nuevo Chimbote, a refuge for titi monkeys?

n our search for possibilities to create protected areas for the San Martin titi monkey, our research team I visited recently the community of Nuevo Chimbote. Nuevo Chimbote is situated just north of the Huayabamba River, at the southern boundary of the distribution range of the species. As often in San Martin, the community consists of settlers that have migrated from other areas in Peru. They live on governmental “free” territory that they nowadays see as their own property. Our first surveys indicated that there remains a large amount of forest around their village and we heard the vocalisations of San Martin titi monkeys. Many members of the community seem to be eager to protect the forest on the territory and they already work on a reforestation project. They are not owner of the area, but could apply for a Conservation Concession. This will not give them ownership, but they will be able to manage the area and protect it against destructive activities of others. The community lacks the knowledge and finances for the applications, and Proyecto Mono Tocón has offered to help founding a local conservation association and to support all necessary tasks that are necessary for the proposal of the Conservation Concession to the relevant authorities. If we succeed, the community of Nuevo Chimbote would make an important contribution to the conservation of the San Martin titi monkey, with a Conservation Concession of possibly even tens of thousands of hectares.

Environmental education in the native communities

o involve more people with our education- T al programme in the native communities of the Alto Mayo, we organised in August the “1st Environmental Festival of the Awajun Communities in the Alto Mayo”. Hundreds of children joined the various activities that had been organised by the team of Proyecto Mono Tocón and our volunteers. The children could win prices with drawing competitions, heard stories about nature and participated in many other educational activities. Traditional dances were performed by the children, and nature photos were presented during an exposition. It was great to see that so many adults came to the festival, to see the children busy with nature and to learn about nature conservation.

Page 4 PROYECTO MONO TOCÓN

Visitors of the festival were informed about the culture of the Awajun people and the natural treasures of their territory. The native communities own much forest, and cooperation is important for the conservation of the San Martin titi monkeys. Unfortunately we have not yet been allowed to do surveys on their territory, but we hope that this will change in the near future. The cooperation with the educational programme is a first step towards joined conservation activities.

World Wide titi monkeys Cancun, Mexico Our head of research, Julio C. Tello Alvarado, was invited to attend the XXIV International Primatological Congress in Mexico, and the pre-congress training programme (thanks to the generous support of the IPS). During the training he learned much about conservation and research methods. Another important aspect is the contact with colleagues from other countries, with which experiences can be shared.

During the congress, Julio presented two posters on our research projects. The first was on the distribution of San Martin titi monkeys and their phenotypic variation. With the second he presented our discovery of the red uakaris (Cacajao calvus ssp.) in the mountains of San Martin. Both posters obtained much interest from other researchers. The congress has been a great experience for Julio, who has learned much and has been able to communicate Proyecto Mono Tocón to our colleagues. See also http://vimeo.com/47915514

Page 5 PROYECTO MONO TOCÓN Innsbruck, Austria At the EAZA annual conference in Innsbruck, Proyecto Mono Tocón has presented the work of the association with three posters. We had the same posters as in Cancun, but also produced a more general poster on the work of Proyecto Mono Tocón and the support we receive from the European zoos. The interest for titi monkey conservation, and consequently the initia- tion of Proyecto Mono Tocón, was a direct effect of the good breeding results with Callicebus cupreus in La Vallée des Singes Primate Park (France), still the principal driving force behind the project. Since the beginning of the project, it has been adopted by the European breeding programme (EEP) of Callicebus cupreus as its official conservation pro- ject and most European zoos keeping red titi monkeys support Proyecto Mono Tocón. The project is a perfect example how captive animals can become ambassadors of their wild counterparts (or related species), something that is happening more and more. With the presentations we hope that we have motivated the zoos that keep red titi monkeys, but not yet support Proyecto Mono Tocón, to join us. Or that we have stimulated other persons to initiate conservation projects for the species that they care for in their zoo. Piura, Peru The head of our education department, Alexander Amasifuén Pérez, has represented Proyecto Mono Tocón at the Congress of the Peruvian Society in Piura. He gave an oral presentation on our educational programme with the native communities in the Alto Mayo. The presentation, which gives a good view on all our educational activities, can be found at: http://sdrv.ms/ZnR2yW.

WAZA Conservation Project

n 2012, Proyecto Mono Tocón was branded as a WAZA I (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Conservation Pro- ject. We are very happy with this recognition of our work for the San Martin titi monkey.

It is great to see how modern zoos make a huge contribution to in-situ conservation all over the world. Many of the conservation organisations in Peru would not exist without the support of zoos. With more cooperation between conservation organisations and zoos, more work can be done to protect the endangered wildlife of Peru.

Page 6 PROYECTO MONO TOCÓN Titbits of Titi news  If we can stimulate sustainable economic development in and around protected areas, local communities will be motivated to protect the habitat of Callicebus oenanthe. Therefore Proyecto Mono Tocón is involved in a tourism project of the German Development Agency (GIZ), the development of sustainable tourism around the Morro de Calzada, the elaboration of a tour along conservation projects for a Spanish travel agency and the development of the “San Martin Birding Route”.

 The restyling of our website is well underway, the next months we will add more images and news.

 Our team, volunteers and members of the nature clubs partici- pated in the “Week of the Forest”, the environmental festival in Pucucaca a reforestation event in Moyobamba and other events.

Ongoing projects Volunteers requested Evaluation of the conservation status of primates in the Bosque  We are looking for an English speaking de Protección Alto Mayo. With the support of Conservation person to help us with translations for International Peru. the website, newsletters, publications, etc. If you can help us, or know Study on the distribution of the San Martin titi monkey somebody who can, please contact: (Callicebus oenanthe) on the north of Huayabamba river. With Jan Vermeer the support of Thoiry-Peaugres-Conservation. [email protected]  We are looking for a person with good Initiatives for the conservation of the San Martin titi monkey drawing skills for the production of a (Callicebus oenanthe) in Eastern San Martin. With the support of new educational comic book (black and Zoo d’Amnéville, Neotropical Primate Conservation and Euro- white). If you can help us, or know pean Zoos. somebody who can, please contact: Jan Vermeer Nature club JOESUCNA, a partner for conservation in Calzada. [email protected] With the support of European Zoos.  If you want to participate in the activities of the Proyecto Mono Tocón Environmental Education Program on the Awajun schools of the you can contact: Alto Mayo. With the support of European Zoos. Antonio Bóveda Penalba Study on the distribution of Cacajao calvus ssp. in San Martin. [email protected] With the support of CEPA, ZGAP, Zoo de la Boissière du Doré, the  If you are interested in participating as Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and other Euro- a sponsor of Proyecto Mono Tocón pean Zoos. contact: Victoria Pérez Tello Evaluation of the habitat and forest fragment connectivity of the [email protected] San Martin Titi Monkey.With the support of Cleveland Metro- parks Zoo/Cleveland Zoological Society. Jan Vermeer [email protected]

Page 7 PROYECTO MONO TOCÓN The work of Proyecto Mono Tocón is only possible thanks to the generous financial support of:

We thank our partners for their collaboration:

And many more!

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For more information, please contact: Jan Vermeer [email protected]

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Proyecto Mono Tocón Jr. Reyes Guerra, 430 - Moyobamba, Perú