CERCOPAN

CERCOPAN (Centre for Education, Research, and Conservation Of Primates And Nature) is a U.K. registered environmental conservation charity operating in South-eastern Nigeria, the location of the oldest and most biodiverse rainforest block in Africa.  There are less than a handful of viable organisations actively working in-country to protect this globally critical conservation priority, with CERCOPAN in the vanguard. Founded in 1995, the organisation exists to protect Nigeria’s rainforests and in particular its primate inhabitants, through community partnerships, education and research.

We have established a lasting agreement with the community of Iko Esai that ensures protection of 20,000 Ha of forest, incorporating a ban on logging and the hunting of primates. We provide sanctuary for rescued monkeys of 6 species with over 170 individuals in captive care due to our successful rehabilitation programmes. We house the only captive breeding group of Sclater’s guenons in the world. In 2007 we conducted the first ever controlled release of primates back into the protected wild in West Africa.

We receive more than 20,000 visitors a year who come (for free) to see our work and hear our environmental conservation message. Our educational outreach programme covers 50 secondary schools, 20 primary schools, and 20 conservation clubs that we have founded, culminating each year in the World Environment Day festival.