Photo Courtesy of AMLD

Photo Courtesy of AMLD Agroforestry efforts with the Golden Lion Tamarin Association.

Apes never evolved in the New World, but the Neotropics have a wonderful variety of monkeys. One species, the golden lion tamarin, lives in the Atlantic Coastal Rainforest of Brazil.

Associação Mico-Leão Dourado (AMLD), also known as the Golden Lion Tamarin Association, is one of Brazil’s most prominent non-governmental conservation organizations.  Through the work of AMLD, its founders and its collaborators, the golden lion tamarin population has increased from a mere 300 in 1983 to more than 1,600 today. The species has been officially upgraded from “critically endangered” to “endangered” – the first such recognition for any primate species. This success resulted from a blend of efforts, including study of the behavioral ecology of the species, rescue and translocation of remnant populations, habitat recovery and reserve management, enhanced law enforcement, reintroduction of captive-born tamarins, and community conservation education.

Dr. Benjamin Beck, director of conservation at Great Ape Trust, continues his leadership role in the reintroduction of golden lion tamarins in Brazil.  The Trust has also provided funds to AMLD to support local sustainable agroforestry efforts, using native trees and plants to produce food and at the same time to provide tamarin habitat. This is another leading edge initiative, of the sort that has made the golden lion tamarin conservation program an internationally recognized success, and a valuable model for great ape conservation.

Web site: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/EndangeredSpecies/GLTProgram/GLTP/AMLD.cfm