We initiated PrimatesPeru in 2008 to conduct research on primate genetics and behavior with a focus on wildlife and rainforest conservation. Stemming from Mini’s anthropology dissertation at Washington University in St. Louis, PrimatesPeru has grown into a collaborative endeavor of anthropologists and wildlife biologists from 5 countries. Our work will be undertaken at CICRA, a biological field station in the Peruvian Los Amigos Conservation Concession, part of the world’s largest tract of primary rainforest. The habitat surrounding the field station is routinely threatened by timber and mining operations, which in turn attract migrant workers who support themselves on the surrounding wildlife. As such, the research fees supplied by PrimatesPeru to CICRA play an important role in safeguarding over 360,000 acres of tropical rainforest. We hope you will help us raise the funds required to facilitate this effort.
Beginning later this year, the PrimatesPeru team aims to spend 9 months in the rainforest. While our stay centers on scientific fieldwork in primatology, it also plays an important role in providing CICRA with the financial ability to protect the Concession. CICRA fights habitat loss with two powerful tools – manpower and science. The Concession’s fees fund park rangers that prevent poachers and miners from hunting the animals for meat, hides, and traditional medicine. In addition, a portion of the fees provides young scientists with scholarships to conduct research within the Concession. Therefore the fees are not only essential to rainforest conservation but to ongoing research.
Over the past year, we have received contributions from organizations such as the International Primatological Society, the Lambda Alpha National Honors Society in Anthropology, the Animal Behaviour Society, the American Society of Mammalogists, IdeaWILD and our academic sponsor, Washington University in Saint Louis. Nevertheless, we must raise more funds to pay the Concession fees for 9 months. This is where we seek your support! Please explore the website to read about the project and make an online donation. Sign up for our e-newsletter and we will stay in touch! This cannot happen without you.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The PrimatesPeru team
