Limbe Wildlife Centre

Category: Cameroon, Simone de Vries | Date: Feb 27 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Last Saturday the ‘Race of Hope’ was organised, an incredible run to the top of Mount Cameroon and back. Keith Norman, Doug Gratwick and two of their Exxon Mobile colleagues from Nigeria participated in order to raise money for the Limbe Wildlife Centre. A lot of money has come in and more is still to come, so we are extremely grateful for their effort. And the race was a complete success.

At 7 am a group of well-trained runners left the stadium in Beua to start their race to the top. The first part is on a nice road but soon the landscape changes and a small rocky track is all that is left for the runners. Nobody is allowed on the mountain on this day, to avoid cheating, so the watchers can do nothing but wait for the runners to come back.

We were standing at the edge of town, with a nice view on the cloud-covered mountain. The first white man that came down turned out to be Doug. He was amazingly fresh and having a great time. He had not made it to the top, but the whole day was one big experience for him. We spoke for a while and then he continued the last kilometres to the stadium.

After this we decided to go down to the stadium, where we met Keith’s wife. It started to be late so she was a bit worried about him, but that turned out to be unnecessary. After nine and a half hours of hard climbing and careful descending, Keith returned to the stadium. He was tired, but also very happy because he had made it to the top! The Limbe Wildlife Centre congratulates Keith with this remarkable success.

We would like to thank the runners and everybody who supported this initiative financially. We really appreciate it.

Best wishes,
Simone de Vries
Assistant Project Manager

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 24 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

 The Limbe Wildlife Centre runs a volunteer program whereby we invite people to come and gain a unique experience working hands on with endangered primates, and in return they are asked to pay a donation. All of the funds raised in this program go directly to pay for animal food and medicine.

One of our volunteers at the moment is Monique Thybo Djarn from Danmark. She wrote an impression about the Miniworkshop about Climate Change last month:

“The 24th of January the LWC held a workshop about global warming. The LWC is not only a sanctuary for injured and orphaned animals, it is just as much an education centre that aims to teach people about conservation and how to live their life without being a damage towards nature.
At first there was an introduction of the various speakers, and afterwards Glenn, one of the teachers from the LWC, shortly described what global warming is, and how the workshop was going to take form.
We started seeing part of a documentary called The Inconvenient Truth made by Al Gore. The documentary describes what global warming is, what is causing it, and what consequences it may have. Every now and then the documentary was stopped and the head speaker, a Canadian woman named Jane Boles, would explain it in an easier language, answer questions and afterwards ask some questions both about the documentary, but also to test the basic knowledge that the visitors had about global warming.
Before lunch the participants had a guided tour around the centre. Many still think that the LWC is a zoo, but by taking them around the centre and explaining to them that the animals are here because of the bush meat and pet trade, we not only make them aware of the work that is done here, but hopefully we also make them think about what their behavior can cause nature and the animals in it.

After lunch Jane Boles gave a perfect introduction to the possibilities of Carbon Credits for conservation in Cameroon. The idea is that money will be donated to initiatives that avoid logging of the tropical rainforest and instead promote a sensible management of these valuable habitats. This new instrument can secure large amounts of CO2 locked in the biomass and at the same time save important ecosystems from destruction.
We saw the last bit of The Inconvenient Truth, and ended the workshop with a debate of what can be done to prevent, or stop global warming. Almost all of the visitors took part in the debate with both questions and suggestions, which we at the LWC see as a positive reaction to the workshop.”

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Category: Simone de Vries, education | Date: Feb 05 2009 | By: limbewildlifecentre

Since the beginning of this month we have a new Education Officer. Although new… Glenn Motumba has been part of the LWC family since he was very young. We are delighted that Givskud Zoo in Danmark has recently decided to fund the costs for an education officer, which will enable us to further develop our education program.

Glenn Motumba started his career at the LWC as a member of our Saturday Nature Club. He was always the most enthusiastic student and was desperate to learn anything he could about nature, wildlife and conservation. He is probably the only person who has read every book in our library and is always eager when new books arrive. It was natural that, when he was too old to be a member of the club, he became an education volunteer. He guided people around on Saturdays and Sundays and helped out with workshops, field trips and of course Nature Club. At the end of last year Glenn graduated from Beua University and he now has a Bsc in Sociology and Anthropology. For us this was the time to offer him a real job and Givskud Zoo made it possible.

The first month has been a starting up month: finding space for an office, painting, putting a desk together, finding a computer to work on, etc. But at the same time Glenn has started the work with much enthusiasm. He is teaching in our School’s Outreach Program in a secondary school in Batoke. This is a 16 weeks program that is taught on a weekly basis. Glenn also started up a football project with a primary school in the same village. This is a PASA (Pan African Sanctuary Alliance) project that combines football with education. We will keep you informed about the progress on this. And last but not least, Glenn organised a mini-workshop on the theme: Climate Change, Consequences for Cameroon. Jane Boles, a volunteer from the neighbouring Botanic Garden, did one of the presentations and we all learned a lot about the carbon trade and how this can affect conservation in Cameroon.

I am confident that Glenn will turn out to be a great education officer and many students will learn a lot from him in the future.

Best wishes,
Simone de Vries
Assistant Project Manager

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