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Conservation of the black-lion tamarins in the Municipality of Guareí, SP:

an environmental education project

   This educational Project took place in one of our study site of the Black Lion-Tamarin Project where the threatened species occurred in narrow fragments of gallery forests. Our aim is to help the Secretaria do Meio Ambiente of the Municipality of Guareí to protect this flagship species that has recently been elected as the symbol of the conservation of the fauna of the Sao Paulo State. More specifically, the project aims at:

 

  • training undergraduate and graduate students to different aspects of the study of primates and conservation biology;

  • producing scientific knowledge about areas of occurrence of the black lion-tamarins in the region;

  • informing the population of Guareí about the presence of an endemic and threatened primate species in their region and the need to protect it and

  • helping the population of Guareí to adopt the appropriate behavior when being in contact with the species.

 

   Our project involves different steps such as the organization of workshops to learn about the species and prepare the special events, the special events per se organized in Guareí, and the evaluation of the project.

Event 1: Info-Mico

21st March 2015, Guareí

 

   This first event aimed at meeting the population of Guareí at the local market to evaluate their knowledge about the species and inform about it. More specifically we:

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  • Interviewed around 50 people in order to evaluate what they already knew about the species and its presence in Guarei and what would be their reaction if they see it

  • Distributed flyers with information about the species

  • Presented a stand of information about the species: posters and broadcasting of black lion-tamarin vocalizatio

  • Participated to a 1-hour program about the species on a local radio with the organization of a small game, information about the ongoing project in the region…

 

   Funding: PROEX (Pró-Reitoria de Extensão Universitária)

   Collaborators:  Secretaria  do  Meio  Ambiente  de  Guareí, Itapoty, Estação Ecológica de Angatuba

Event 2: The black lion-tamarins’ walk (Caminhada dos Micos)

19th November, Guareí

 

   We organized the “Black lion-tamarins’ walk” (A Caminhada dos Micos), together with the Secretaria do Meio Ambiente of the Municipality of Guareí which involved 165 10-to-11-year-old children and their teachers.

   The aim of the event was to transmit important information about the distribution, behavior, ecology and conservation of the Black Lion Tamarins and how to protect them through different activities and an educational walk in the area where two Black Lion Tamarin groups are frequently seen crossing the road. Along the educational walk, we placed four posters about:

 

  1. How to recognize the Black Lion Tamarin?

  2. Where does the Black Lion Tamarin live?

  3. What do the Black Lion Tamarin eat?

  4. How to protect the Black Lion Tamarin?

 

   Then, the children were invited to take part in different games aiming to explain why the species is threatened and why it is important to protect it. The activities broached the following topics: primate distribution, Black Lion Tamarin diet, the role of Black Lion Tamarins as seed dispersers, the importance of the forest for the protection of the species and the effect of fragmentation on gene flow. The event had a great success and we hope that, by reaching the young generation, the word to protect the Black Lion Tamarins will be spread to all ages. In order to measure that, we planned a new survey to re-evaluate the knowledge of the population about the species in the beginning of 2016..

 

   Funding: PROEX (Pró-Reitoria de Extensão Universitária)

   Collaborators: Secretaria do Meio Ambiente

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