Annual Report 2013 © Proyecto Mono Tocón First published 2014 Jr. Reyes Guerra, 430 Moyobamba, Perú Text by Jan Vermeer Design and composition by Jan Vermeer and Antonio Bóveda Photography by Proyecto Mono Tocón All rights reserved. Information from this publication may be reproduced, but preferably with the prior permission of the Proyecto Mono Tocón association. he year 2013 has again been a year with much expansion of the activities of Proyecto Mono Tocón. Despite all efforts by local communities, authorities and non-governmental organisations, the T situation of the San Martin titi monkey (Callicebus oenanthe) is critical. There is an ever increasing human pressure on its habitat and little of its forest remains. We are supporting several local communities with the conservation of their forest, home of the San Martin titi monkey. But the question that keeps us occupied is if this is enough to safe the species from extinction. Without more political involvement, it will be very difficult to create safe havens for viable populations of titi monkeys. The Regional Government of San Martin will have to review their intentions for the territory and decide if it would not be better to change the designation of many thousands of hectares of production forest into in conservation areas. Our conservation work concentrates on the Central Huallaga area, as this is the region where we still can find the titi monkey’s habitat and maybe even more important, local communities that want to protect their forest. To better understand the needs of the titi monkeys, we have started in 2013 several long term research programmes, focussing on titi monkey densities in different types of forest and on behaviour. These studies will be continued in 2014 for comparisons. Although the conservation of the San Martin titi monkey remains our principal goal, we conducted additional studies on the other primates of the San Martin Region, including the critically endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), and the San Martin mountain uakaris (Cacajao calvus ssp.). We even made an expedition to central Peru, to study the taxonomy and distribution of titi monkeys and other primate species that live in that region. The results are important to understand the evolution of all primate species in Peru and will help other organisations with the conservation of primates. Local interest for forest conservation is increasing. Communities hear about the work Proyecto Mono Tocón is doing with their neighbours, and come to us to ask for support. We were pleased to see how many zoos and other organisations have joined in 2013 Proyecto Mono Tocón in our struggle to protect the wildlife of Peru. Their moral and financial help is indispensable if we want to continue to support local communities and the (regional) government with the conservation of San Martin’s nature. In this report we summarise our activities of 2013. Please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information. Thank you all for your continuing support. Jan Vermeer Project Director Most members of our local team in 2013 , including students and volunteers Administration NGO-D Since September 2010 the Proyecto Mono Tocón is registered as a NGO-D(evelopment) in the registers of the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation (APCI). In February we held the annual meeting of the board, with four of the five board members being present. All employees of Proyecto Mono Tocón that are not part of the board were also invited. During the meeting we reviewed the preceding year and approval de plans for 2013. Financial administration Our new external accountant continues to help us with the improvement of our financial administration. The full financial reports are available to organisations that financially support Proyecto Mono Tocón. Office and House Research permits Due to the large number of volunteers and students the office is during In 2012 we received a research permit for a period of five years, some days, when few are in the field, almost too small. A good therefore no time needed to be invested in making a new application, as improvement is that we now have “fast” internet (1 Mb), which saves us had to be done in the preceding years. much time. For our different projects, especially for the behavioural Administration In August we also received the new permit to study primates in the studies, we need the help of students and volunteers. They work for Bosque de Protección Alto Mayo, a project in collaboration with free, but those that do not live nearby need lodging. Therefore we rented Conservation International Peru. a spacious house with several rooms. Organizational chart for 2013 Personnel Victoria Pérez Tello is heading the Conservation department. She is also the President of the NGO. Julio C. Tello Alvarado continued coordinating Administration our Research department and is the treasurer of the NGO. Alexander Amasifuén Pérez is leading our Education department. Mercy Del Aguila Although we have organized the association in three departments, all Pinedo works with Victoria and Alex on the Education and Conservation team members collaborate in the execution of our projects, each of them departments and is responsible for tasks as public relations, sustainable often including education, research and the initiation of conservation development and volunteers. Eder Murrieta Villalobos joined Julio on the measures. Research department and is responsible for the ICAM project. As mentioned before, Proyecto Mono Tocón has a large group of students and volunteers that help our team with their activities. ginning involved in the project. To make his work for the Proyecto Mono Tocón possible, he founded the Spanish NGO Sugkamat. His work is partly remunerated, but invests much additional voluntary time in the project. Further help comes from Noelia Venegas Martín, also member of NGO Sugkamat. Audrey Gaultier, employed by Le Conservatoire pour la Protection des Primates, assists us in preparing funding applications. Jan Vermeer, Director of the Proyecto Mono Tocón and President of Le Conservatoire pour la Protection des Primates, coordinates the project on a voluntary basis and has the final responsibility. Volunteers Through the years, the numbers of requests of people who wanted to volunteer for the project has increased. This year we implemented a volunteer programme for Peruvian and foreign volunteers. Foreign volunteers that stay shorter than three months will have to pay a fee, which is used to pay the rent of the house. We always try to have a mix of paying and free volunteers to have minimal rental costs. Volunteers are not just a help to our team, but some of them have special skills and Administration experiences that increase the professional development of our team members and other volunteers. The project is coordinated by Antonio J. Bóveda Penalba, since the be- Conservation Alto Mayo hectares and includes primary and secondary humid rainforest. The management is in hands of the local authorities, and Proyecto Mono Tocón supports as a member of the working group, the management of the area. The main activities in the area were a study on the density of San Martin titi monkeys in different forest types and our first behavioural study. More on that elsewhere in this report. We also worked on a project, in collaboration with Duke University, on the possibilities to create corridors between the Morro de Calzada and surrounding forest fragments. With the help of satellite images the forest in the area is being analysed to determine the best changes for connections between isolated titi monkey populations. View of Morro de Calzada Forest is rapidly disappearing in the Alto Mayo Valley and conservation is very difficult due to the high number of people living in the area. Since 2009 the Morro de Calzada has been the focus of our conservation initiatives. Morro de Calzada Conservation Earlier surveys showed that there are many San Martin titi monkeys living in the forest on the Morro de Calzada, and its protection is very important for their survival. The site is also popular with tourists, as it offers a great viewpoint over the Alto Mayo Valley. Since Mai 2012 Morro de Calzada is officially registered as a “Zona de Protección y Different vegetation types are identi- Conservación Ecológica (ZOCRE)”. The total protected area is 1.247 fied with different colors. Bajo Mayo In the lower Mayo region we work with two communities that want to creating a conservation area of some 800 hectares, connected to Ojos protect relics of the rare dry forest that once was more common in Peru. de Agua, but needed technical and financial support from Proyecto This forest habitat is home to many uncommon animal and plant species Mono Tocón. We helped them with the compilation of the application and San Martin titi monkeys (Callicebus oenanthe).Titi monkeys are and the contact with the Regional Government. Educational activities elsewhere mostly encountered in humid forest and it is interesting that have been included to involve more people with the work of the local they can also survive in this habitat where many trees are deciduous. association. Once the Conservation Concession has been approved, we will support the local community with the management of the area. Ojos de Agua – El Bosque del Futuro It is great to see how motivated both local associations are, and it is a This Conservation Concession was created in 2010 and covers 2,400 pleasure to work with them . hectares. In 2013 our activities for Ojos de Agua included a density study and environmental education, especially the work with the youth’s nature club. This club, with the name “Jóvenes Pucacaquinos Emprendedores para Conservar el Ambiente” (JOPECA) will come together twice a month and will organise several activities connected to nature conservation.