The Colobus Trust
works to develop and implement innovative conservation solutions in
five areas of human/wildlife conflict. These conflict areas are:
Road Traffic AccidentsHabitat LossPrimates as PestsPet TradeElectrocutionsPoaching
See the links for solutions that the Trust has developed to create a win-win situation
for the primates and for the community.
When the Trust was founded, one of the main threats to Diani's colobus monkeys was death caused by road traffic accidents. The home ranges of these arboreal primates have been bisected by a major road, Diani Beach Highway, and they are subsequently very prone to road injuries and death whilst crossing through their ranges.
Solutions:
The Colobus Trust designed a cable, rubber and PVC bridge that straddles the Diani Beach highway. Currently, there are 29 Colobridges crossing the highway. A preliminary study has shown that per year, there are approximately 150,000 primate crossings - crossings that most likely would have happened on the road had it not been for the bridges.
In addition to the initial bridge-building activities, we also go out to inspect and repair any damaged Colobridges weekly.
We have created speed-limit signs along Diani Beach Highway reminding drivers to go no faster than 50KMH.
Speed bumps have been put in place to also help lower the speed of traffic.
Colobus Trust volunteers have been involved in painting these bumps to help increase their visibility.
In the event that a primate is injured but not killed, the Colobus Trust has a working veterinary clinic to treat these injured monkeys.
You can sponsor a Colobridge in Diani Beach that will have your name on it! Click here for more information!
Habitat Loss
Protecting the last fragments of primary forest in Diani
The coastal forests of Kenya form part of the Coastal Forests of East Africa global 'biodiversity hotspot' as identified by Conservation International. Hotspots are identified by the high number of endemic species that they contain, and the high level of threat to biodiversity that exists in the area. Within the Coastal Forests of East Africa hotspot, there are found at least 64 globally threatened species (6 mammals, 3 birds, 2 amphibians, 53 plants).
One primate species that is endemic to these forests and is under extreme pressure from human development is Colobus angolensis palliatus, the Angolan black and white colobus monkey. This monkey is rare with estimates at their population being around 3,000 individuals globally. In and around the resort town of Diani, there are c. 270 individuals. This constitutes the second largest population in Kenya with the Diani Forest as the stronghold for the species as it is the last primary forest patch in the area. This makes Diani an important area for conservation and securing the Diani Forest critical.
The Diani Forest is one of three patches of coral rag forest remaining. The forest is only 89 hectares in size. Continuous expansion of development for tourism over the past 40 years has had a staggering increase of over 1700% growth. While this is a tremendous success for businesses, it has contributed massively to deforestation to the point that the success of tourism will affect its own ability to do business in the future.
How so? The forest and wildlife are undervalued assets in spite of 'ecotourism' and 'ecotourists' having become an increasingly important branch of foreign travel. Promotion of "natural areas" for tourists who have an interest in and awareness of environmental issues cannot be underestimated, especially in future trends planning. In fact, the Colobus Trust carried out a tourist survey and found that 85% of the tourists surveyed in Diani felt that the local natural environment was important in their choice of holiday destination.
In essence, land use planning has not kept pace with the needs of the natural environment. This is surprising considering that tourism is recognized as a major industry of the country and indeed one of the largest sources of foreign exchange earnings in Kenya. Through conservation of the forest, Diani's appeal as a destination would not only be linked to a beach holiday, but also linked to forest and primate ecotourism giving greater long term sustainability to the area.
Solutions:
Maintenance of an indigenous tree nursery at the Colobus Trust to use for planting trees in and around Diani.
The Trust is looking to purchase 3.9 hectares of Diani Forest. You can help save the Diani Forest by donating to the fund to try to purchase this piece of critical land. Any donation of any size is gratefully accepted.
Many hotels and local area homes on Diani Beach experience issues with monkeys as pests on their premises. Efficient running of the hotels is impeded by theft of food and damage to property; risk of injury to guests can, and has, led to potentially damaging law-suits. Monkeys also steal food from homes and spread rubbish around while searching for food. The root cause of monkey pest issues (as with other types of pest issues such as rats and cockroaches) is easy access to food sources.
Solutions:
We offer training to hotel staff to teach them ways to minimise monkey pest issues. This includes use of water pistols, catapults with non-harmful ammunition such as twigs, protection of rubbish and informing guests to not feed the monkeys or leave food lying around.
Teaching local people to protect their rubbish bins and to guard crops or food for sale to prevent monkeys from stealing food.
Teaching tourists and locals to not feed monkeys voluntarily.
Children from local schools come to learn about primates and how to live harmoniously with them.
Uninsulated power lines are numerous in Diani. As tree branches often come into contact with the power lines, primates, and particularly the Angolan colobus who are almost exclusively arboreal, use the power lines as an easy way of crossing from one area to another.
Almost all of the main lines in Diani of 22,000 volts are uninsulated. As a result, many primates are killed instantly when crossing between lines. The domestic lines of 240 volts often injure an animal through serious burns or loss of limb, leading to a high number of secondary fatalities caused by infection.
Solutions:
A collaboration between the Colobus Trust and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has been formed to carry out weekly tree-trimming around power lines. Tree trimming involves cutting back vegetation from power lines and transformers so that the monkeys have reduced contact with them. We perform tree trimming on a weekly basis.
We urge local hotels and businesses to insulate their power lines. Not only is it better for Diani primates, every time a monkey is electrocuted it knocks out power to most or all of Diani for sometimes days at a time.
Occasionally a primate will be electrocuted but not killed - our veterinary clinic rescues these monkeys and treats them. Most often the limb that has been electrocuted will have to be amputated.
Vervet and Sykes monkeys are often captured illegally from the wild and kept as pets. As these monkeys grow to adulthood, they often become unruly and difficult to take care of. Sometimes these monkeys are then surrendered to the KSPCA, or are caged until they are confiscated by KSPCA. Sometimes monkeys are also used by locals using them as "beach" monkeys for tourists to get their pictures taken with.
Solutions:
We currently have a rehabilitation program to help re-teach these primates to live in the wild. The program involves teaching them to have a natural fear of humans, how to forage and find natural food sources, and how to live in a troop setting.
This program typically takes 12-18 months for each primate. Once we have enough primates to form a working troop and they appear to be able to take care of themselves without human interference, we release them into the wild and monitor their progress.
Snares set to catch Suni antelope and other small mammals in the forests around Diani pose a threat to primates and other local wildlife. Monkey species such as Vervets, Sykes, and Baboons all forage for food on the ground and all too often become the victims of these home made devices. The snares are usually constructed from rope or wire which catch the animal by its limbs or sometimes around its neck. The animal then struggles to escape, tightening the snare and often causing terrible injuries. If its wounds do not kill it quickly it will often survive in agony for several days before succumbing to dehydration and starvation. If the animal manages to struggle free with the snare still wrapped around it, it often slowly constricts and may become embedded in the flesh of the animal, causing suffering for months.
Solutions:
We weekly patrol local forest patches searching for and destroying snares.
Students come to the Trust to learn about our work and why poaching wild bush meat is a problem for primates and other animals in Diani.
If someone sees a primate with a snare embedded in its flesh, they will call the Colobus Trust to come out and capture it. We then treat it in our veterinary clinic for infection, dehydration, starvation, and other problems that arise from the snares.
