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The tale of the white-wiskered spider monkey

The white-wiskered spider monkey, Ateles marginatus, is endemic to the Brazilian Amazon, but its already reduced range is further bisected by major highways, improvements to which will inevitably lead to further habitat loss as a result of land conversion and deforestation.

Fauna & Flora International and the Fundação Ecológica Cristalino and its community education programme, Escola da Amazônia, are establishing this charismatic primate as a flagship species for the preservation of Cristalino State Park, where the species is still relatively abundant. This is being done by altering the environmental perceptions of the younger generation living in the surrounding communities. Changing perceptions is crucial to the success of efforts to introduce a more sustainable development model in the region, in order to preserve its forests and biodiversity.

Although academic information is delivered, it is not used to dictate what is ecologically right or wrong, but to help participants appreciate nature’s complexity, fragility and beauty, and so develop their respect and admiration. The youngsters involved have responded well to the use of the white-whiskered spider monkey as a flagship species. Its human-like features, intriguing behaviour and relative abundance in the area make it easy for them to develop an empathy with the species and to think about its ecological needs and the human impacts upon these resources.

To date, 120 students from five local schools have benefited from the project. They have produced t-shirts, theatre pieces, stories, songs, drawings and videos. All these materials are being fed back into the awareness campaign, which has been created and is being delivered by the youngsters themselves to their own schools and is now trickling down to their communities, increasing awareness about the species and the park.

The workshops have resulted in dramatic changes in attitudes. In many cases the students have asked their school boards to incorporate the Escola da Amazônia activities into their regular curriculum. Some students have also persuaded their parents to participate in the awareness activities and encouraged them to change their usual land management practices. In some cases the adults themselves, who once questioned the usefulness of these activities, are now encouraging FEC to continue them.