CERCOPAN

CERCOPAN was founded in 1995 by Canadian Zena Tooze and is now one of the leading environmental non-profit, non-government organizations working for conservation in Cross River State, Nigeria. CERCOPAN's work encompasses a huge variety of activities, which all contribute to achieving our mission.

CERCOPAN works with local forest communities in the rainforests of Cross River State, to jointly manage their tropical rainforest. These rainforests are some of the richest forests on the entire African Continent and are of global importance as one of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots. Nigeria has lost over 90% of its rainforests, and over half of that which remains is found in Cross River State. Over 60% of the country’s endangered plant and animal species occur here and are not found anywhere else in Nigeria. This includes 132 tree species listed by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre as globally threatened. Furthermore, the state is home to 78% of Nigeria’s primate species, including a critically endangered sub-species of gorilla and an endangered chimpanzee sub species.

Joint management of community rainforests is possible as a direct result of our Community Conservation programme, which is one of the most successful in the country. We help local people earn a living from forest friendly activities and help to ensure that they are able to develop, without destroying their natural resource base. Indeed, in recent years, we have facilitated the construction of ventilated pit latrines, water boreholes, bridges, drainage culverts, and have undertaken renovations to the village’s schools. Vaccination programs, cataract surgeries, free veterinary clinics for livestock, and HIV and gender-issue workshops have all been carried out. Other programmes have included apprenticeships in baking, driving schools, snail farming, bush mango, afang and cocoa production techniques, and beekeeping.

Our organisation also rescues and rehabilitates orphaned primates so that they can live once more in the wild. We currently provide a home to over 150 forest monkeys of 6 species in various stages of rehabilitation between our Calabar and Rhoko sites. On the 1st November 2007 we made history when we carried out the first ever primate reintroduction in West Africa. The exciting information gained from this reintroduction will be used to advise other release projects worldwide and we are already planning a second reintroduction in the near future.

We also prioritise education, reaching out to schools to encourage young people to interact positively with nature. CERCOPAN currently reaches out to over 70 primary and secondary schools and 2 universities in rural and urban areas. Free entry to our rehabilitation and education centre ensures access for all, and CERCOPAN receives over 30,000 visitors per annum. All are personally escorted, and all take away a few simple messages about conservation and primates.

In 2009 we will begin the development of a “Rainforest Research Institute” at the University of Calabar to train young Nigerians, representatives from NGO’s and CBO’s and Ministry of Environment and Forestry Commission employees the practical and theoretical skills they need to safeguard their environment. The rainforest research institute will build on our already successful research programme, which attracts researchers from all over the world and provides vital information on ecology, behaviour and animal welfare.

As an entirely non-profit making NGO we are utterly reliant upon the generosity and vision of companies and individuals to conduct our vital work in Nigeria. There are many ways that you can support our work, including volunteering, undertaking sponsored events on behalf of CERCOPAN, making a donation, or buying a CERCOPAN gift (entitled 'A-peeling Monkeys') for friends or family on the good gifts website (www.goodgifts.org). For further information or to make an online donation please visit www.cercopan.org