The goal of Tamarin Trust is to support conservation efforts to protect threatened species of tamarins and marmosets, a wonderful group of primates found in South and Central America, from Panama down to southern Brazil. They include some of the most critically endangered primates on the planet.

Marmosets and tamarins are the smallest monkeys in the world and form the largest primate group in the region. They play a crucial role in many forest ecosystems. They all have a fascinating system of communal infant care, but in other ways they vary widely – marmosets, for example, eat lots of plant gums, an energy-rich food source, while tamarins depend more on insects and fruit.

As pressure has grown on the habitat of these beautiful monkeys, several have now become highly threatened and will not survive without conservation efforts to secure the remaining populations in the wild. This may include habitat protection and restoration, rescues, translocation and introductions. Constant survey work is needed to highlight populations in danger, and wherever these primates live, it is essential to work with local communities to protect them and their remaining habitat.

Conservationists in countries that are home to marmosets and tamarins, some of whom have been working for decades to save these species, will need financial support and training to ensure their efforts succeed.

All these efforts will need funding. Tamarin Trust’s main aim is therefore to work with long term partners on some of the most threatened species to enable them to keep fighting until secure populations exist in the wild. We will support:

• training initiatives to ensure highly effective management of marmosets and tamarins in their home countries, both for monkeys in the the wild, and those in “insurance populations”.
• the design and management of specialist centres in each species’ range, which will be a haven for animals that have lost their forest homes, and a source for reintroduction into protected and restored areas.
• the growth of specialist groups working in partnership with national governing bodies to work on all elements of species recovery.
• survey work and research so that we can better understand the situation and needs of each species.

We aim to achieve this both by fund-raising, and by providing our own technical expertise in the management of these tiny primates to those working with them in their own countries.