The Community Baboon Sanctuary

• Bermudian Landing, Belize

• A community-based conservation effort to preserve the Black Howler Monkey

The problem: Habitat Fragmentation

• Habitat fragmentation is exactly what the words imply-the breaking apart of large areas of habitat into smaller areas. Smaller areas cannot support the numbers of species or the number of individuals that larger areas can.

Habitat fragmentation

• Sometimes habitat fragmentation occurs due to natural causes such as forest fires.

• However, human-caused habitat fragmentation is becoming more common due to the clearing of land for agriculture and other uses.

The Community Baboon Sanctuary-some history

• In the mid 1980’s, seven villages in the Belizean rainforest pledged to conserve their lands for the region’s endangered Black Howler Monkey population.

• The farmers in the area all pledged to leave a strip of land undeveloped in order to provide an area of unfragmented habitat for the howlers.

The Community Baboon Sanctuary not only provides habitat for the Howlers, but generates income for the local people from ecotourism.

Community Baboon Sanctuary

Now at the CBS…

• In the years since, the Community Baboon Sanctuary has become partners with and received funding from several non-governmental organizations(NGO’s) such as the World Wildlife Fund

Now at the CBS…

• The funding has enabled the CBS to create a small museum and visitors center.

• Visitors can learn about the Black Howler Monkey as well as the local plants and culture of the kriol speaking locals.

Since the creation of the CBS…

• The Black Howler Monkey population has increased from an estimated 1130 in 1985 to about 5000 in 2004.

• The local communities gain financially due to ecotourism.

• Cruise ship arrivals in Belize have greatly increased the numbers of tourists.

The End