Dom Wormell, founder of Tamarin Trust, has just got back from a trip to Brazil to meet up with our partners and see how the projects we support are doing. In this post, both Dom and Tamarin Trust supporter Quentin Bloxam, who went along too, talk about what they saw and their hopes for the future.

Dom writes:

I’ve just returned from Brazil after an incredible visit to all our project sites, meeting with our partners and the people working on the ground to protect some of the world’s most endangered primates.

It was hugely beneficial to be there again — to see firsthand what has been achieved since my last visit, and to see just how much has been made possible with the help of Tamarin Trust’s fantastic supporters.

What struck me most was the directness of the work we support. This is conservation that happens immediately: rescuing animals in danger, planting key tree species, building and improving enclosures, running workshops, surveying populations and searching for the last remaining groups of some of the most endangered primates in Brazil.

I came away totally inspired by the people carrying out this work. They are incredibly passionate, determined individuals who are fighting every day for the marmosets and tamarins we work with.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a series of updates from the trip, giving you a much closer look at the different projects we visited. I’ll also be sharing firsthand accounts from some of the people we met, as well as stories from supporters who joined me on the trip. There is so much to tell, but first, here is a short piece from a great supporter of Tamarin Trust – Quentin Bloxam, ex-director of zoo programmes at Jersey Zoo, and a great conservationist, working mainly on reptile and amphibian projects in Madagascar and the Caribbean.

Quentin Bloxam’s personal reflections on the trip:

I have recently returned from a two-week tour of the rainforests of Brazil. The tour was organised by the Tamarin Trust and was focused on visiting the conservation projects for the severely endangered lion tamarins and marmosets of these unique forests. I visited four projects where the issues facing these animals are broadly speaking the same: forest fragmentation, conflict with landowners, isolated populations restricted to urban areas and in some cases confiscated individuals.

The approach taken to saving these species is a combination of replanting forests and linking fragmented forest with tree corridors, using seedlings from the establishment of tree nurseries; overhead walkways to enable animals to avoid traffic; setting up captive safety net populations; and rescue centres to house and rehabilitate wild animals in serious difficulty. All this is underpinned by science-based field studies.

In all my many years of being involved in conservation work, this trip was one of the most uplifting experiences that I have ever had. All these projects are carried out by dedicated students, field scientists and local communities. Many landowners are now seeing the benefit of this conservation work as the restored forests and tree corridors are improving the water table on their land, which improves their farming practices.

This complete, multi-disciplinary approach is having great success. Although focusing on marmosets and tamarins, this conservation work benefits many other species as well. Tree anteaters, tapirs and even pumas and jaguars have been filmed using the walkways and forest corridors.

Of course, there is still a long way to go for some species and there is a great need for support, in particular funding. For this success to continue the Tamarin Trust urgently needs more funding to support their partners in Brazil. Please help, either by becoming a Friend of Tamarin Trust, or by making a donation.