Our plan for the day was to spend time at the community Baboon sanctuary, the reason for visiting Bermudian landing. We were one of two couples staying at the Howler Monkey lodge, which also served us Breakfast and Dinner along with our accommodations.
Our hosts, Ed, Mel and their two sons Josef and Jusef (we were dying to ask why they had ALMOST the same names, but didn’t), were extremely friendly, telling us about the resort, and when and where we might see Howler Monkeys on the property. With so few people in the dining hall we wished that they would’ve sat down with us and shared the meal but proprietary of the hospitality business they talked for a while after serving us, and then left for the kitchen.
After breakfast we walked just a few hundred meters down the road to the Community Baboon sanctuary (CBS) (It is important to note that “baboon” is the Kriol word for monkey, and not the African Baboon).
In the office we met Robert, our guide for a short walk to the nearest part of the reserve. He welcomed us, and told us that he knew just about all the plants and animals of the forests having grown up around them, and even studied them through various courses. He walked slowly and deliberately, looking and listening for any sign of movement. He didn’t speak much, pointing out the flora and fauna around us. We walked into the entrance to the reserve across the street.
The trees weren’t tall by any means, it was secondary growth, or mid successional forest. He said that the amount of Howler Monkeys (about 5000) found in the reserve baffled scientists, they couldn’t understand how so many monkeys lived in the relatively small area of jungle the reserve provided. The answer to that riddle, Robert told us, was the diversity found in the mid successional forest. Because much of the land reserve is owned by local farmers, the forest is subject to frequent disturbance, selective logging, fruit tree planting, and other agricultural endeavors.
It turns out that the mid successional forest has a much higher species diversity than a mature forest. This high species diversity paired with the relative abundance of sunlight produces the highest concentrations of food for the howler monkeys. And so this is why the CBS is able to sustain the large population that it does.
“Look!” He said, “over there.” He pointed into the bushes. I could see nothing at first. I needed specific directions on where to look.
“Twenty yards off. The second tree behind that big one. Look up at the first branch.”
And there! Not a Howler Monkey, but a bright shiny green bird that looked like a mix between a Giant Hummingbird and a kingfisher. It flew almost like a hummingbird too as it noticed our presence. It was gorgeous!
“It’s a Jamacar,” Robert told us.
Black howler monkeys are highly communal creatures. They live in families of about five to twenty members. Once you get to know a family, Robert told us, you could predict where they would be at what time of day. He hoped to find a family just a few yards away.
True to his prediction, just around the corner he pointed to the top of the tree. There a black shape could just be made out.
“That’s Sam” he said, “and there’s Jane. This family lost a little one to the hurricane last year.” The monkeys like to nest up in the top of cohune palm trees. Cohune trees are top heavy and blow over in extreme storms to the detriment of the monkeys.
As we got closer to the tree, we started to pick out the rest of the family. It was a small family with monkeys of varying maturity. They didn’t seem to mind us, so we were able to get up close to the tree.
“They’ve learned to trust us and know that we’re they’re friends,” said Robert.
We had the great privilege of meeting with Conway Young, the current director of CBS after our walk with Robert. Founded in 1985, the CBS grew to encompass seven Belize River Valley communities covering almost 12,800 acres of land. Preservation of the Black Howler Monkey grew out of Kriol culture that identified the monkeys as special creatures to be protected rather than killed (as most other cultures in Belize did, thinking they were a sort of demon). In many ways the establishment of CBS was a formalization of this special relationship with the endangered monkeys in their backyard. In turn, CBS became a world class example of community-based conservation.
CBS has four main goals, conservation, education, research and tourism, making it the perfect fit for my project. In many ways Bermudian landing, the epicenter of CBS, is a very poor region, and needs all the help they can get. Even so, with what they have they are doing incredible work through community cooperation and love (of their home).
Tourism, however, is a truly complicated beast in Belize. Tourism is the leading source of income for the county. People rely on it to survive. Yet tragically small scale tourism is almost non-existent in Belize. This is due to the government and political system that caters towards large scale resorts. Small scale businesses are forced to comply with the resort rules, such as having white painted bedrooms, with certain amenities in certain places. If accommodations, or tourism operators fail to comply, they will be shut down and fined heavily. As a result, CBS has to rely on large tour groups such as Cruise ships which bring much needed income and financial support to the project and the area. Conway hopes that the rules will eventually change allowing locals to have control and benefit more from the visitors frequenting their communities. Ultimately, his hope is that CBS might serve as a model of what is possible, attracting environmentally and culturally conscious people to the area, and providing a living income to the residents. Such a future would provide an alternative to locals selling their land (which currently is home to the monkeys) to mammoth agricultural farms that care nothing for the community or monkeys.
Despite the restrictive rules, the CBS is a shining example of what is possible in a community that works together to care for each other and the creatures they live with. Through this they carry out their mission well educating locals and visitors alike on the importance of and specialness of biodiversity and sustainability.
Maybe back in Kentucky we don’t have endangered monkeys frequenting our forests, but we can definitely take a leaf from this passionate community, ensuring that wilderness always has a place in our lives, even when the finances are tight. Community cooperation and love of place is a powerful force. No need to raise millions of dollars to buy thousands of acres, instead we can decide together to protect the wilderness in our backyard that is worth fighting for.
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