Conservation Blog

It’s THE long awaited morning......We make Expedition! Our gear has long been in preparation and our inclination to go is high.
As artist of this first expedition, my highly anticipated wait is now over. My dreams of descending deep into the Lebialem Highlands seeking the “Cross River Gorilla” are now being realized.

We will have to make a steep 5km descent down slippery pathways consisting of boulders and rock like trail formations. The path was rarely level and rarely would we rest until we reached our first base camp.

 

It was hot and humid even though the mountain air is considered quite cool compared to the valleys below. Our back packs, each weighing about 60 - 70lbs, are loaded with food goods, camping materials, water, cameras and so forth. I am also carrying other essential items such as art supplies and my journal. Thankfully, porters are provided to carry our other equipment and materials for this two day trip.

Down, down we descend watching the vegetation quickly change before our eyes. We realize we are now entering the habitat of the gorillas and chimps. This is an area never visited by tourists.

Our guide is a man we call “Play-Boy” due to the fact that the compound we are staying in consists of his many wives and children. When asked how many children he has he replies, ”I'm not sure 20, 30 children… lots". At one time he was a farmer and had to kill the gorillas that would raid his fields. In protection of his plantations and for the “bush meat”  his large family required, he recalls, "I was forced to shoot these amazing animals as well as the chimps but, now no longer as all the gorillas and chimps are forced away to distant areas". These are the very same distant locations we will try to penetrate in hope of finding the ever elusive Cross River Gorillas.

 

 

Along the trail we realize that there is a lack of forest sounds. There are no noises made by monkeys and other mammals and most birds.........They are all gone! They have been killed or frightened away. This reminds us that these forests in Cameroon are known as truly "Silent Forests”. A name we wished never existed.

Only a third of the way into our trip I was struck with a high fever that we would soon discover was dysentery. We believe I may have gotten it from a local meal that I had eaten just a couple of days prior. My legs were feeling weak and at times I shook uncontrollably.  I quickly became dehydrated and often had to run into the forest to take care of other symptoms. Needless to say I fell behind the team but urged them to continue on. Ginette and Arend seem to have understood this and had the team wait periodically so that I could catch up and not lose my way in this dense jungle. I feel quite proud of Ginette as she continues on her way. She does not complain, even with such a difficult task of carrying her amazingly heavy back pack. She is strong in every way!

As the predicted heavy forest rains begin to fall upon the canopy above we start to get wet. As for me, this rain is a blessing as it keeps me cool from my ever present fever.

At long last we make it to camp. It’s a small plot of earth consisting of a hut that “Play-Boy'’ had once used as a station home.  It overlooks the forest valleys far below. What an amazing view! This, we are told, is the second level area in which to survey and search for the gorillas. Now, there is a much steeper descent that we must travel down immediately if we want to reach the valley before the quickly approaching night. Ginette and I consider this but, then request to stop and we sleep over night here.

As a cool thick mist settles in, we commence setting up a cold-camp in our wet clothes. Luckily, we find some damp clothing at the bottom of one of our cases and quickly change. We then make a dinner by applying water to one of our dehydrated food packs and eating some packaged salmon. It all tastes wonderful on our empty stomachs.

As I recount this day, I note that we saw some gorilla nest sites. Gorillas make a nest every evening. Our other team members also found several trails and feedings signs but in a different section.

 

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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."

 

Hello. My name is Daniel Taylor. I am a 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