The
24th January 2018 was like many other days for me. It was the height
of summer so I was completely melting in my heavy field clothes (including
heavy leather snake guards) as I crept around the Atlantic Forest straining my
ears for any sound of the capuchins over the metallic screeching of the
cicadas. For most of the day we had had no luck whatsoever and while walking in
silence around the forest, my mind tends to wander. That day, my mind would not
stop wandering back to a grant application I had submitted the previous
October. The most ambitious grant I had ever applied for. A National Geographic
Society Standard Grant.
When
we moved from Laguna Blanca to Pilar and PRO COSARA we still had two cars.
However the ageing Hilux was reaching the end of its life and seriously
struggled on the asphalt roads and the wingle was needed to facilitate the
projects in Pilar. This meant that the trips to the Atlantic Forest to continue
the capuchin project were done by bus. Or busES should I say. The trips weren’t
pleasant. We went from Pilar and to Encarnacion where we changed to what we
lovingly refer to as a “chicken bus” for the journey to Ynambu, the closest
village to the reserve where we were picked up by the forest guards for the
last half hour in the back of their truck down a dirt road. With all the
supplies that 6 people needed for 15 days in the field. The way back was even worse and involved sitting for 5
hours in San Ignacio on the side of the road waiting for a bus to pass for
Pilar (that never had any seats left) that got us home at 1am.
It
wasn’t sustainable and a better solution was needed. So I took the plunge and
applied without, if I'm being honest, much hope. Fast forward to January 24th. I knew that
that I would be told the outcome by the 26th but for some reason I
could not stop fantasising about what it would be like to open my email and see
that I had been awarded the grant. I kept pushing the thought away, confident
that it would just make it more disappointing when I didn’t get it. We got back
to the house about 7:30pm, two of the forest guards were drinking beer outside
the airplane hanger that the live in and offered me one. I plonked myself down
on the concrete beside them, accepted a beer and pulled out my phone as it
buzzed in my pocket. An email had come through from National Geographic. I felt sick. I must have turned grey because the guards were staring at
me.
“Dear
Miss Smith: The National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and
Exploration has AWARDED you a grant….”
I
started to scream and burst into tears, just about causing the two poor guards
to just about have a heart attack.
But
what actually is the project. The project is titled “Paradise Lost: Saving the
Hooded Capuchin and Paraguayan Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest through Scientific
Research and Community Engagement” and is split into three parts:
Objective 1: Determining the socioecological
needs of the hooded capuchin in the Atlantic Forest.
This is the continuation of the PLT capuchin research project. As little research has been done in Paraguay important conservation decisions are often taken with little understanding of the threats facing ecosystems and result in little effective conservation action. This section of the project aims to study the ecology and behaviour of the hooded capuchin in San Rafael National Park, combine the results with PLT’s long-term dataset from Laguna Blanca and determine the ecological requirements of this species in forest fragments of different sizes and levels of degradation. Using this information I aim to create the country’s first evidence-based conservation action plan for the hooded capuchin in the Atlantic Forest.
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| The hooded capuchin (Sapajus cay) in Nueva Gambach, San Rafael National Park, Paraguay |
This is coming soon! We will run a course for
Paraguayan forest guards from all over Paraguay, teaching them primatological
field techniques including VHF telemetry, camera trapping and census and survey
techniques for counting primate groups in the reserves where they work. They
will also receive training in environmental education techniques from the Para
La Tierra Voces de la Naturaleza education team.
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| Teaching how to use the Biotrack Sika receiver - an invaluable tool when tracking an animal like the capuchin! |
Objective 3: Inspiring a New Generation of
Conservation Heroes.
Research is great. I absolutely love scientific
research. But I am completely aware that successful conservation project are
multidisciplinary and, as there is no silver bullet, issues need to be tackled
from several different angles. The National Geographic grant allowed us to
extend the primate project into the local communities and begin teaching in
local primary schools. We are in the process of carrying out the three primate
conservation lessons developed for the eco-clubs with the support of the
International Primatological Society Lawrence Jacobsen Education Development
Award (2016) in three communities that border San Rafael.
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| Teaching about water contamination in a school in Alto Vera. |
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| My first lesson in Mberu Indigenous school and my first attempt at teaching in Guaraní! |
This award has changed everything. We now have a new car that get us to and from the field site in 4 hours and allows us access to the communities for teaching (one of them is 120km away down rather awful dirt roads) and a new Biotrack receiver and antenna so we can collar two groups of capuchins and follow them simultaneously!!
I am so grateful to the National Geographic Society for taking a
chance on this project and me! Obviously its now November and the primate team
has all been working hard all year on this project (the biggest reason why I
have been very lax a updating this blog!) but stay tuned for updates on all the the
progress we have made so far, whats coming next and all the exciting doors this incredible opportunity
has opened!
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| The day the car finally came back! Thank you so much National Geographic!! There are honestly no words that are able to express my gratitude!! |
