Published by WWF Belgium on a recent mission to Ntokou Pikounda National Park in the Republic of the Congo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EnUFP0miGI&ab_channel=WWF-Belgium

It has been a couple of months now that we have been mobilizing around a common course, that of improving range-wide conservation of mainland Africa’s most threatened group of primates, the red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus spp.). Our network, a coordinated conservation community of volunteer individuals and institutions working collectively to achieve its vision is today comprised of 137 members. We are organised around important operational bodies, “the Red colobus working group”, “Taskforces” and other supporting members that are keeping the RCCN alive, mobilizing persons from all dimensions and preparing a solid foundation that will support and ensure success in the implementation of the red colobus conservation action plan (ReCAP, Official publication is in progress). The Red Colobus Working Group is comprised of the Chair of the Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN SSC/PSG, Chair of the African Primatological Society, RCCN Coordinator, West Africa, East Africa, Gulf of Guinea and Central Africa representatives, Red Colobus Experts and Conservation Experts. This group is in charge of promoting, managing, monitoring and fundraising for the implementation of the Red Colobus Conservation Action Plan, monitoring the functioning of the RCCN, and identifying priority projects. To date, three meetings have been held by the members of this group wherein a monitoring and evaluation system for the RCCN and ReCAP was elaborated, it was agreed that Zoo foundations will be targeted for fundraising and that, three task forces will be created for a start. In this regard, if any RCCN member can help in any way with the zoo fundraising, we are very happy to have his/her contribution. Moreover, as we are expecting the publication of ReCAP, the first three task forces have been created to start mobilizing RCCN members to know each other, enhance cohesion and trust among members, and engaging them around activities that keep the RCCN strong and set for implementing ReCAP. The three task forces are Education and Awareness Task Force (EATF), Political Will task force (PWTF) and Red Colobus Survey Taskforce (RSTF). Here presented is a synthesis of what is done within these task forces: 1. The EATF is made up of 11 members from different countries and affiliations (Partners for Red Colobus, Federal University of Agriculture, Nigeria; Kumming Institute of Zoology, China; Bangor University, UK; University of Bamenda, Cameroon; Center for research and Conservation Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Belgium; University of Georgia…). The range-wide conservation priority action in ReCAP that is going to be achieved by the activities of the EATF is "Raise local, national, and global awareness of red colobus monkeys and their habitats, and of the benefits and value of wildlife conservation, in general". To date, the task force has held two meetings and have created a WhatsApp group to facilitate communication among the members. They are working on conceiving a task force related project for potential funding and are designing awareness materials for the red colobus. 2. The PWTF has 13 members from the Bangor University, UK; Global Wildlife Conservation, US; Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Tanzania; Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development and Ministry of Forest and Wildlife, Cameroon; Makerere University, Uganda; George Washington University; Marine Protection and Conservation, Nigeria; Korup Rainforest Conservation Society; Cameroon; and Presbyterian University college; Ghana). The priority action in ReCAP that is going to be achieved by the activities of the task force is "Strengthen protection by increasing local institutional/government investment in and the human capacity for conservation activities, engaging with local human communities and integrating them into red colobus conservation initiatives, and improving and establishing formal government-managed and community-based conservation areas". The PWTF members recently held their first introductory meeting during which a Coordinator and a secretary were designated. They will be meeting again to reflect on operational activities that will be required to facilitate the implementation of political will actions across the species range countries. 3. The RSTF has 22 members from the University of Cumbria, WCS DR Congo; Eastern Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program, Lolldaiga Hills Research Programme, Kenya, University of Dschang, Cameroon; Ministry of Forest and Wildlife, Cameroon; The Ohio State University, US; the University of West of England, UK; Georg-August University Germany; Makerere University, Uganda, etc.). The priority action in ReCAP that is going to be achieved by the activities of this task force is "Determine taxon-specific distribution, abundance, and population size and structure, resolve taxonomic uncertainties, and infer protected area connectivity to inform conservation activities". The first meeting is still to be organised. Given that at the RCCN we are striving at the diversity of membership and opinions, we are happy to invite members willing to join one or more of the task force(s) to contact directly the RCCN coordinator at florence@redcolobusnetwork.org. Use the same email if you are not yet a member and interested in joining the RCCN. For any concern, RCCN is reachable at www.redcolobusnetwork.org, and updates can be followed on Twitter: @RedColobusCN https://twitter.com/RedColobusCN, and Facebook: Red Colobus Conservation Network https://web.facebook.com/RedColobusCN/?ref=br_tf&epa=SEARCH_BOX).

Who has worked or published on awareness and educational materials? Kindly share your experiences with us (what worked and what did not?)

Dear Member, Welcome to our forum in which we will be discussing and elaborating on issues related to the red colobus. Today, the red colobus conservation network (RCCN) is made up of 111 members among which 78 have already created their official accounts and profiles on the official website. If you have not yet created yours, you can do so by clicking here. This website forum aims to engage and maintain frequent communication between members because we believe that communicating on conservation efforts and challenges will contribute to the achievement of our goals. This will also be an opportunity to link young researchers with experts and therefore achieve our coaching targets. Through this forum and the social media (Facebook and Twitter), we are going to initiate and discuss on subjects related to grants & funding, the red colobus conservation action plan (ReCAP), monitoring & evaluation, red colobus research and activities of members Updates in the RCCN: to kick-start with our activities within the network, 1. We intend to create a focus group for each red colobus taxa. The members of this group will report to the coordinator on the evolution of their activities related to the taxa. If anyone is interested, please send an email to florence@redcolobusnetwork.org and specify the choice of the taxa you want to report on. The frequency of reporting will be established subsequently. 2. For the implementation of ReCAP, several task forces will be established. At present, three (03) task forces have been created. These are: (a) Education and awareness on red colobus, (b) Political engagement of governments and stakeholders (c) Range-wide Survey of red colobus If you are interested in joining one of these task forces, kindly send an email to florence@redcolobusnetwork.org and specify your choice. If you need more information on the activities of the task forces, please send your questions to the forum and you will get feedback. But note that, our operational/guiding document is ReCAP. Nb: If anyone is presently working on a red colobus project, I will be happy to have more details. If you also wish to share your field stories or results with the members, please send me a short note and picture(s)/short video(s) if applicable. With your permission, I will post them on the website section "News and Stories" and share them on our social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). I stay keen on your feedback. Nice to have all of you on board.