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CERCOPAN

IKO ESAI COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER January to June 2005

FRESH WATER COMES TO IKO ESAI

Concern Universal, an international non Governmental Organisation working towards development of rural communities in Nigeria, made a big impact on Iko Esai when they arrived in the community with a mission to sanitise the water supply.

Fixing the borehole pump

Concern Universal were delighted to see so many of the people from Iko Esai turn up to help them and expressed their gratitude to the community for showing such commitment and pride in their community.

The valve was fixed in the pump of the old borehole at Nsidung Four Corner and people were trained in the maintenance and repair of the borehole to make sure that the pump will be productive for as long time to come. At the natural spring on the stream called Apart, in Eye Eyeyeng Street, a cement tank was built around the spring with the use of a wooden frame. The spring naturally comes up from the ground at this point and as long as the supply is kept clean and free of contamination, it can supply the village with pure water.

Nick Goff and community members of Iko Esai During the construction stage, Concern Universal sent their representatives to monitor the progress and check the quality of the work. Several people attended workshops on sanitation and cleanliness and a committee was formed to ensure that standards were met. CERCOPAN wish to thank all the people from Iko Esai who helped out and of course Concern Universal for their great skills and kindness.

Construction of wooden frame

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EDUCATION\

VISITORS TO RHOKO By Michael Ekpe Education Assistant, CERCOPAN

CERCOPAN has always considered education a priority, and has welcomed visitors since the inception of Rhoko site. We were glad to see that between January and June 2005, over 140 visitors have visited Rhoko including: conservation clubs students from the Community Secondary School of Iko Esai, botany students from the University of Calabar and Uyo, CERCOPAN conservation club in Calabar, WAEC external candidates from Iko Esai (non indigenes), Chiefs’ Council Iko Esai and Iko Ekperem, Woman and Youth groups from Iko Esai and some overseas visitors such as Mr. Allen Turner and family, Mr. Glenn Brown and Mr. Bobby Baxter. It is CERCOPAN’s hope that more and more visitors will visit Rhoko in the future to see the beauty of the rainforest and the wonderful primates and other animals and plants that reside there.

EDUCATION PROGRAMME UPDATE

By Michael Ekpe, Education Assistant, CERCOPAN Over the past 6 months I have been visiting the secondary schools of Iko Esai, Iko Ekperem, Owai and Agoi Ibami raising awareness about CERCOPAN’s aims and objectives and providing support to the conservation clubs. One of the major activities was to help the clubs to realise their priorities in conservation and help them work out ways of addressing these priorities. The first workshop was held in Iko Esai Secondary School attended by Nicky Pulman, Deputy Director of CERCOPAN and Angela Higginson, Training and Research Coordinator for CERCOPAN. The workshop was very successful, and replicated in the three other clubs. I visited the Presbyterian Primary School of Iko Esai, accompanied by Zena Tooze, Director of CERCOPAN and the mother of Bobby Baxter, Madam Shirley. The programme comprised a small talk followed by art work focussing on monkeys. I spent three days in Owai, raising awareness about protecting our environment with the Chiefs’ Council, Women’s Group, Youth Group, Forest Management Committee (FMC) and Farmers’ Group. According to the Village Head of Owai, Aittah Oyi Akama, he was highly impressed for the act of educating his people and will help to change the attitudes of his people towards sustainable use of the rainforest and other natural resources. The Youth Leader, Mr. Ewot Bassey (Adiba), in appreciation, opted for cooperation with CERCOPAN to

assist the community to manage their forest by checking the irregularities of the power chainsaw operators and timber dealers on illegal logging. The FMC reported that a confiscation had taken place of a power chainsaw and deposited in the Forestry Charge Office in Iko Esai.

Finally, I distributed the poster, “Why Monkeys are not Good Pets” to many schools and students, and posted on the notice boards, police stations, churches and health centres. I must commend the hospitality of Mr. Denis Arekong during my three days stay in Owai. My thanks also go out to the Chiefs’ Council, Woman, Youth and Farmers Groups of Owai community for the cooperation granted me during my short visit to them. I look forward to visiting you again and other villages in the future.

CERCOPAN CONSERVATION RALLY

On 6th June 2005, Cercopan held their fifth education rally for World. Environment Day. The theme for the day was “Bushmeat can be Dangerous Meat” and all the activities including the banner contest and the dance competition, focussed on the theme. The Clan Head of Iko Esai, Chief Etan, and the Village Head, Chief Owai, both attended the event and were presented with a small gift from CERCOPAN, for their dedication and foresight to conservation by Nicky Pulman, Deputy Director.

Chief Owai, Nicky Pulman, Chief Etan from left to right

The event was captured on local and national TV and was a resounding success.

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BOOK-KEEPING WORKSHOP IN IKO ESAI By Etan Benard Egoborim, Administration Asst.

On 25th February 2005 a workshop on book-keeping which was coordinated by Angela Higginson and facilitated by Etan Benard Egoborim, was held in Iko Esai with members of Iko Esai Community Conservation & Development Committee (CCDC). The workshop was aimed at training the CCDC on proper book-keeping procedures and basic accounting.

The workshop was attended by Elder Clement A. O. Obo, Mr. Owai Aidam Owai, Elder Mrs. Grace Owai, Mrs Justina Osam Oyira, Elder Mrs Maria M. O. Etan and Mrs Roseline O. Obo. Thank you to all who attended and well done.

ECOTOURISM AT RHOKO

GETTING YOUR NAME ON THE MAP By Darryl Birch, Rhoko Manager

Despite being in its infancy, the Rhoko Research Centre (RRC) has attracted a lot of interest from around Nigeria and even from outside of the country.

Of course the main reason for visiting is to see in the raw, the legendary African rainforest bursting with life; the massive trees, the unique wildlife, the extreme weather and the rushing rivers; and to breathe the fresh air and experience the peace and quiet that is to be found there. We are only too grateful for the people of Iko-Esai who have had the forethought and insight, to preserve their valuable land for this global intrinsic enjoyment. CERCOPAN welcomes these visitors of all races and creeds with open arms, and is endeavouring to up-grade and improve their visitors’ facilities at Rhoko as demand increases.

Recently the sleeping and catering facilities have been improved and made more secure. A VIP latrine is being constructed and the shower unit is almost finished. An Aluminium tree-platform has been made for the Rhoko Research Centre by the Greenheart Conservation Company, and despite delays, is currently awaiting shipment from Canada. This platform will arrive near the end of the year. An appropriate location has already been found for the platform.

A nature trail was recently constructed by Botany Students from the University of Calabar (UNICAL), allowing visitors with a more adventurous nature to experience being inside a rainforest.

The trail which traverses the perimeter of the primate enclosure for 1 kilometre will be developed to allow ease of access to people of all ages and abilities.

An observation platform, overlooking the primate enclosure, is planned for the near future, to be constructed on the south eastern corner of the enclosure (at the beginning of the nature trail). This will allow visitors to have a clear view of the

enclosure primates, without having their view obstructed by the electric fence.

The Rhoko Manager recently visited the Special Advisor on Tourism for the Governor (Mr. Gabriel Onah), and was delighted to see that Iko-Esai and Rhoko has been placed on the most recent copy of the Cross-River State Tourism Map, along with other attractions such as the National Park, the Obudu Cattle Ranch and the Drill Ranch. This will dramatically raise the profile of the region, now all we have to do is find the visitors!

“The World is as delicate and as complicated as a spider’s web. Touch one thread and you send shudders running through all the other threads.

We are not just touching this web….we are tearing great holes in it”

Gerald Durrell; Naturalist (1972)

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A RHOKO PRIMATE CARE STAFF

By Akposi Esira Abakum

Here in the Forest enclosure at Rhoko, I work as a Keeper caring for the animals notably the monkeys. These monkeys belong to different groups; Mangabeys and Monas. In caring for the primates, there are some distinctive rules we have to follow:

Botany Students at Rhoko with Daniel Otu (CRSFC)

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• You have to take care when you are going into the enclosure through the gate, you have to open the first door and then close it before you open the second one (so that the monkeys cannot escape).

• When walking through, you have to take care not to ‘supplant’ the monkeys, which you encounter. This means that if a monkey is in the way, you have to wait until that monkey moves away, to avoid your presence changing that animals’ behaviour.

Important activities as a Primate Keeper

1. Check the monkeys by 7.00am, and to check with the Night Security for any problems

2. Feeding the monkeys and checking the water bowls are clean and full

3. 7.30am is the first observation period. This is so that we can know what the animals are doing (health, injuries etc)

4. We check the electric fence for the correct charge, and for any damage to prevent the monkeys from escaping

5. Clearance of the vegetation from around the fence (inside) and the visitors’ path around the perimeter.

6. 11.00 am is the second observation period. This is the period where we have to follow a particular animal to see what it is doing (ie grooming, feeding, resting, playing, foraging, chasing, climbing, mating or copulating, vocalising etc).

7. If a female becomes pregnant after copulation, she will carry for 6 months until she puts to birth

8. We feed the animals here three times a day (in Calabar it is four times). This is because there are other natural food items available for them to eat in the forest, like leaves, fruit, insects etc.

9. 4.30 pm is the period for the final feed, checking of the fence and completing the daily health checklist. With the health check you will then know the monkeys that are sick or not feeling fine. If this is so, at the end of the day you report to the management with the name of that monkey.

RESEARCH UPDATE AT RHOKO

By Akopsi Esira Abakum

The research work being conducted in the enclosure is basically to find out how much the monkeys eat, both of natural food and the food that is being provided by the keepers. We want to find out if we

can feed them less. It would be ideal if we could stop feeding them altogether, then they would be feeding only on their natural food. This would be a very good thing because it would mean that they are behaving naturally, and not relying on humans to feed them.

So far our observations have proved inconclusive as to the reliance the monkeys in the enclosure have on us for their food. But what has been highlighted is their highly opportunistic behaviour as omnivores to eat anything from vegetation, to insects to birds. The availability of these things is also reliant on the changing seasons.

We don’t know yet whether the food resource in the enclosure can sustain the population of monkeys in there, but by comparing the life-cycles of the trees present inside the enclosure, with trees of the same species outside the enclosure, we will over time start to see whether the monkeys are having an adverse affect on the trees found there.

Angela and Akposi undertaking research

Therefore, so far we have attempted to identify all the trees in the enclosure (scientific names), and will continue to monitor the lifecycles of these trees over the course of the next few years. We are also making observations as to what the monkeys are eating outside the formal feeding times, and the amount of time both species spend foraging on the ground and in the trees.

This work will give us a greater understanding of the food requirements of these species, which will help when releasing other monkeys into the enclosure in the future.