Conservation Blog

Hello. My name is Daniel Taylor. I am a professional high realist wildlife artist.

Along with my lovely wife Ginette and through the generous support of the Artists For Conservation Foundation, Planet Organic, Mr. Arend de Haas of the African Conservation Foundation consisting of professional field workers, biologists and conservationists, we will be undertaking an unprecedented flag expedition deep into the remote highland rainforests of south west Cameroon to participate in field surveys and visit primate sanctuaries for a first time ever detailed field study, sketching and photographing of the most endangered primate, the Cross River Gorilla which is in dramatic high risk of becoming extinct within our very near future - with only 250-300 alive in the wild!

Please follow along with us on an exciting documented adventure as we conduct educational workshops creating mural paintings together with school children in three local villages helping to improve environmental awareness and attitudes of local communities toward these amazing great apes.

On the Artists For Conservation website you will be able to closely follow the expedition on what would hope to be daily video, photos and journal reports. You will also be able to follow the adventure closely using the schedule and maps supplied.

We know you will enjoy this adventure, so please.....we welcome you all along :>)

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”The AFC Flag Expeditions Program is a unique program established and operated by the Artists For Conservation Foundation™ (AFC), making possible the artistic field study and rendering of species or habitats deserving of greater public attention. There is a strong emphasis on the study of unique, threatened habitats, and rare or endangered species in remote parts of the world."

Coquitlam artist Daniel Taylor is travelling to Africa with his wife Ginette Taylor to paint the endangered Cross River gorilla. As Daniel and Ginette Taylor pack their bags for a month-long trek through western Cameroon, they're doing their best to prepare for the unpredictable.

The Coquitlam couple will leave B.C.'s cold, wet fall behind for the stifling heat and humidity of the tropical jungle as they search for the Cross River gorilla. With fewer than 300 living in the wild, it's the most endangered of all the gorillas, hemmed in by farmland and hunted by poachers. Daniel plans to get as close as he can, hopefully just a few feet away. He has to if he's going to get the kind of detailed sketches and photographs he needs to create the kind of high-realist art he's known for.

"Apparently its safe enough," he said, brushing off concerns about possible encounters with less than friendly poachers. "The only thing that would really threaten us would be the animals and the bugs."

Ginette doesn't care for hot weather or bugs, though she expects to experience the extremes of both in Africa.

The trip is partly sponsored and organized through a partnership of Artists for Conservation and the African Conservation Foundation. Daniel and Ginette will be joined by field workers, conservationists and biologists who are studying the Cross River gorilla and its habitat.

The Cross River gorilla lives in the remote and densely forested mountains along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. Recent studies show most of them live in 11 separate locations, each at least 10 km apart.

Part of the trip will be a tour of nearby primary schools, where the group will teach kids about their environment, the Cross River gorilla and its preservation. Daniel is packing art supplies for the children to use in his workshops and some of their gorilla drawings will be made into posters and distributed to 30 schools dotted along the forest borders.

The aim of the trip - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as Daniel describes it - is to use art to help save a critically endangered animal in a place where residents are understandably more concerned with immediate survival than the environment's long-term sustainability. And when he returns, Daniel's artwork will be turned into a display scheduled to tour throughout North America, Europe and Africa to raise further awareness and much-needed funds for conservation efforts.

For more information or to donate, visit

http://www.natureartists.com

or http://www.africanconservation.org

by Craig Hodge/the tri-city newS