Partners for Red Colobus
Preserving Africa's most endangered monkeys...
Where we work
Partners for Red Colobus (PR4C) was created by Carolyn Jost Robinson, Alexandra Hofner, and Joshua Linder to facilitate the conservation of red colobus and their forest habitats in support of the Red Colobus Conservation Action Plan. The main causes of red colobus declines are hunting and forest loss, degradation, and fragmentation.
We collaborate and partner with experts, educators, conservation practitioners, civil society organizations, local communities, and artists to develop and disseminate outreach and education materials and conduct scientific research to inform red colobus conservation.
What is a red colobus?
There are 17 species of red colobus distributed across 18 countries, from Senegal and the Gambia in western Africa to Kenya, Tanzania, and the island of Unguja in Zanzibar in eastern Africa. Every single species of red colobus is threatened with extinction according to the The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Hunting and forest loss, degradation, and fragmentation are the main causes of red colobus declines. That means that many populations of red colobus are small, declining, and/or geographically restricted and are in danger of disappearing. Red colobus are typically among the first large mammals to disappear from an ecosystem and, so, like a canary in a coal mine, red colobus are an early warning indicator of a forest in crisis.
Our Goal
To promote the conservation of red colobus and their habitats. We achieve this goal by...
...raising local, national, and global awareness of red colobus monkeys and their plight.
...supporting and creating conservation education and outreach programs.
...producing free conservation resources and outreach materials to share across the range of Red Colobus.
...carrying out social science research to better understand human-red colobus interactions.
...supporting and inspiring the next generation of African primate conservationists.
...carrying out research that informs conservation action.
Integrated Conservation Education Center, Limbe, Cameroon
Partners for Red Colobus partnered with the Program for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources – South West Region Cameroon (PSMNR-SWR) and the Cameroon Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife MINFOF) to create a conservation education center in Cameroon’s Limbe Botanic Garden. The center aims to raise awareness of local and regional environmental issues, especially by highlighting the importance and conservation of Preuss’s red colobus, drill, Cross River gorilla, pangolins, and forest elephant. In addition to becoming a destination for local and international tourists, PSMNR and MINFOF will bring community members, school children and forest user groups around protected areas to this center for awareness raising, educational programming and training.
Funding: This project was supported by The Programmme for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources – South West Region Cameroon (PSMNR-SWR), a development program of the Republic of Cameroon, co-financed by the Federal Republic of Germany through the German Development Bank KfW.
Limbe Wildlife Center Red Colobus Exhibit
Partnering with managers at Cameroon’s Limbe Wildlife Center, Partners for Red Colobus helped to create the first ever exhibit dedicated to red colobus monkeys. This exhibit was launched with a special Saturday Nature Club focused on Red Colobus and extended to a Christmas party with Red Colobus activities.
Funding: This project was supported by a grant from The Mohammad Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and The Primate Society of Great Britain.
Supporting Communities for Red Colobus (C4RC), The Gambia
Partners for Red Colobus has partnered with Dr. Mic Mayhew (University of Cumbria, UK) and Communities for Red Colobus in The Gambia to support the protection of one of the largest populations of the Endangered Temminck’s red colobus. We helped to develop education materials focused on Temminck’s red colobus and advised on community-led conservation activities (such as forest surveys and monitoring). The education materials are used by educators who teach about red colobus and conservation in local schools, wildlife clubs, and local villages.
Funding: This project is supported by funding obtained by C4RC.
Raising awareness of red colobus in the Niger Delta (Nigeria)
Partners for Red Colobus partnered with Rachel Ikemeh, founder of the South West / Niger Delta Forest Project that aims to protect some of the last remaining populations of the Critically Endangered Niger Delta Red Colobus in Nigeria. Together, we developed education materials for primary school instructors and materials to support ongoing conservation outreach and awareness raising in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
Funding: Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, James Madison University Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World
Raising awareness of red colobus around the Tana River (Kenya)
Partners for Red Colobus partnered with Stan Kivai, head of the Institute of Primate Research at the National Museums of Kenya. Together, we produced materials to support ongoing education and outreach activities in schools and villages in the Tana River area of southeast Kenya, in support of conservation of the Critically Endangered Tana River red colobus.
Funding: Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation , James Madison University Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World
Raising global awareness of red colobus and their plight - Re:wild and the Red Colobus Conseonservation Network
Partners for Red Colobus developed materials that will be used globally and within Africa to raise awareness of red colobus and their plight. Here are some of the outputs from this ongoing project:
Jas Aurél beautifully illustrated all 18 kinds of red colobus.
Jeff Nesmith created a short video summarizing the behavioral ecology and conservation of red colobus monkeys and Adams Cassinga (Democratic Republic of Congo) provided a voiceover in English, French, and Swahili.
In collaboration with Alana Hyman, we posters highlighting the behavioral ecology of and threats to red colobus
We created a primary school level instructor’s lesson plan with associated activities for teaching about red colobus
Funding: Re:wild
In search of red colobus in Kilimi National Park, Sierra Leone
Partners for Red Colobus partnered with the Reptile and Amphibian Program of Sierra Leone and Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary to assess the presence and relative abundance of red colobus in Sierra Leone’s Kilimi National Park, a priority area identified in the Red Colobus Conservation Action Plan. Red colobus were last seen by scientists in this forest in the 1980s and surveys since then have failed to detect them. Over the years, the forest has become increasingly degraded and fragmented due to timber exploitation and the expansion of agricultural and pasture land. Our survey aimed to not only assess if red colobus are still present in Kilimi but also to determine which kind of red colobus is there - either the Bay colobus or Temminck’s red colobus. Results are forthcoming and will be shared with Sierra Leone’s National Protected Area Authority (who permitted our research) and published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Funding: The Little Chalcraft Fund, Re:wild
Our Partners and Funders
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