United Nations funds Paignton Zoo owner's charity

Indonesian monkeys are set to benefit

The charity that runs Paignton Zoo is getting a funding boost of more than a quarter of a million US dollars from the United Nations to help save the Sulawesi crested black macaque, known in Indonesia as yaki.

The UN is supporting a project called Enhancing the Protected Area System in Sulawesi for Biodiversity Conservation (E-PASS). The five-year project is designed to strengthen the effectiveness and financial sustainability of Sulawesi’s protected area system to respond to existing threats to globally significant biodiversity. The team will be developing an alternative livelihood strategy for communities around Tangkoko and Bogani Nani Wartabone National Parks, where the macaques are found. They will also be assessing the level of community knowledge on the importance of biodiversity conservation.

Dr Andrew Bowkett, Programmes Manager for the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (Paignton Zoo's owner) says: “Conservation is about people as much as wildlife - the UN money will fund work on finding different ways for local people to make a living, so they do not have to hunt threatened species.

It will also help us encourage behavioural change, promote biodiversity and conservation research, develop a conservation curriculum, build capacity both with local people and regional universities, look at guidelines on responsible ecotourism and carry out education and training.

Yaki can be seen at Paignton Zoo. In addition, the Trust manages the European Endangered species programme for Yaki.

Sulawesi is the world’s 11^th largest island and is the 4^th largest and 3^rd most populated island in Indonesia, with approximately 17 million people.