National Public Radio features Beloved Brazilian Monkey

Photo from NPR/Melissa BlockIn a series of reports from Brazil, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered host Melissa Block captured the spirit of Brazil, its people, language, economic growth, and the issues it faces as it takes its place on the world stage as the host of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.  As a part of this series, Melissa and an NPR team visited a group of Golden Lion Tamarins in the forests of Silva Jardim, Rio de Janeiro, with Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado (Golden Lion Tamarin Association) staff. The result was an 8-minute report Beloved Brazilian Monkey Clings To A Shrinking Forest that aired on Sept. 19. You can hear and download the audio program and download a transcript as well as find photos and more info on NPR’s website. 

Hear Andreia Martins (coordinator of the GLT monitoring team) explain how she knows the Afetiva Group will soon be having twins. Hear Carlos Alvarenga (coordinator of forest restoration) talk about his determination to connect forest fragments, and Luis Paulo Ferraz (executive secretary of AMLD) talk about the challenges of building a tamarin bridge over a 4-lane highway and  the meaning of the Brazilian phrase of the day “show de bola”. You can also find more photos and info of the visit on Melissa Block’s September 19 posts on her blog “Considering Brazil”.

“Parabens” to Melissa, Andrea, and their NPR colleagues on accurate and interesting reporting on Brazil’s golden lion tamarin conservation efforts.  We especially appreciate how they captured the culture and commitment of the Brazilians involved. This is one of the world’s few conservation stories where success is a real possibility and we are pleased that NPR covered it so well. In addition to golden lion tamarins, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest holds record numbers of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth—many of them endangered. Saving this lowland Atlantic Forest habitat for tamarins saves countless other unique species as well. Planting forest corridors to reconnect and protect the remaining fragments of golden lion tamarin habitat also helps people. This same forest protects a watershed that ensures drinking water for coastal communities of 750,000 people, swelling to over 2 million during the high tourist season. Finally, the Golden Lion Tamarin Association’s plan to save these tiny golden primates and their Atlantic Forest habitat from extinction is doable and based on state-of-the-art conservation science. If financially secure, the Brazilian Association can and will rescue golden lion tamarins from immediate extinction and continue to watch over them for as long as it takes. 

We invite concerned citizens of the planet to share in this success story by contributing to the Devra Kleiman Fund to Save the Golden Lion Tamarin (/devra-kleiman-fund/). With a capital of US$8 million in the endowment Fund we can assure that the Brazilian Golden Lion Tamarin Association will have the permanent financial stability necessary to save this primate from extinction in perpetuity.

Lou Ann and James Dietz, Directors

Save the Golden Lion Tamarin, a US public charity dedicated to supporting the work of Brazil’s Golden Lion Tamarin Association

http://www.savetheliontamarin.org/