Crested macaque

The Tangkoko-Duasudara Nature Reserve is a forest of 8800 hectares and one of the last representative areas of the endemic biodiversity of North Sulawesi, such as the crested macaque (Macaca nigra). Listed on the IUCN Red List as "critically endangered", there are currently fewer than 5000 crested macaques, 80% of the population being declined during the past 30 years, due to poaching and habitat loss. Around 2000 individuals remain in Tangkoko, the biggest valuable habitat for this species.

Urgent action such as education is needed to improve knowledge, change the attitude and raise awareness of the local population about the importance of protecting the crested macaques, other wildlife, and their habitat. The applicant, Mathilde Chanvin, has started to implement the Tangkoko Conservation Education programme (TCE) in 2011. Together with local Indonesian coordinators, they designed and carried out conservation education workshops for villagers close to the reserve and other protected forests of the region (Mount Klabat and Tumpa). Starting in one village, the activities have now been expanded over 8 other villages, for 500 pupils. The final goal is to create a powerful and sustainable programme in all the villages surrounding the forests of North Sulawesi until threats disappear.

The main goal of TCE is to help the local communities of North Sulawesi to acknowledge the highly endangered status of the local wildlife and their ecological as well as economic importance, in order to reduce the negative impact on the local environment.

To achieve this goal, our aims for the 2015 and 2015-2016 school years are:

1) Develop conservation and environmental awareness for local children through school interventions in the villages of North Sulawesi, surrounding the Tangkoko reserve and the protected forests of Mount Klabat and Tumpa.

2) Enhance our collaboration with the local school staff, providing training for them before the school year to introduce our programme, our education material, and helping them to integrate it into their daily curriculum. Our overarching goal is to compile a suitable conservation education curriculum at the provincial level. We will collaborate on it with the education department of local governments, schools, and our partners.

3) Involve the pupils’ families into our programme by developing conservation awareness campaigns and events for local communities.