FOREWORD

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | PROJECT MANAGER

6 years of hardwork, satisfaction and togetherness

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It is with deep emotion that I am writing my last foreword as the Manager of the Limbe Wildlife Centre. After 6 and half years of dedication and hard work, I am proud of where we are today: LWC has grown as a secure, well-functioning and result-oriented project, bridging the gap between animal welfare and conservation. The centre has gained an excellent and growing reputation nationally and internationally, which leaves me safe in the knowledge that our cause will continue to strengthen. It was therefore the perfect time to pass the leadership to another who, by bringing new energy and set of skills will not only ensure continuity but contribute further to wildlife conservation in Cameroon.

Congratulations to Jerry Aylmer for his new position. I wish you the best of luck in leading the LWC to achieve more key conservation goals, to keep improving our standards and to strive for new targets. I will keep supporting Jerry onsite until mid-February during a 2 and half month transition period and will then remain, amongst all of you, a staunch and everlasting supporter of the LWC.

But back to work! December was a very exciting month, and what better way to end both a year and the experience of a lifetime?

Firstly, we are extremely happy and proud that the two groups of gorillas can now use the newly split and re-enriched enclosure together without any behavioural or security issues. This is the result of years of work recomposing groups, maintaining the enclosure and night dens, and conducting behavioural monitoring. All of this has had the goal of designing (despite limited space and resources) the best possible environment for the resident gorillas, and it’s paid off! Our next step is crucial: we intend to get government backing for a conserved piece of forest for the gorillas. This would allow a group (or two) to live semi-free in natural forest enclosures and would have a substantial impact on their overall welfare.

That would be an amazing story to tell in the newly inaugurated and World's First Not-For-Profit Streaming Platform ECOFLIX (https://ecoflix.com). We’re delighted that Limbe Wildlife Centre has teamed up with the platform to help promote animal welfare and wildlife conservation. We are honoured to be part of this promising and extremely useful project.

Our efforts to contribute to a behavioural change are rooted in the local community, and this month was the ideal moment to organize a beach cleaning, which brought 400 kids from town to Downbeach Limbe. The event, organized on a Saturday, served to not only engage the children but also unite tourists and local business owners in a collective effort to improve Limbe’s attractiveness by reducing pollution. In order to raise awareness in town, we, in partnership with the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization, designed a series of posters to be displayed at several hotspots in Limbe.

The cost of unsustainable and illegal human activities is unfortunately relentlessly having a toll on the environment and animals. This month alone we rescued 15 African grey parrots, in very poor condition, which were immediately integrated into our rehabilitation programme. We also rescued one white-bellied Pangolin, whom we transferred as soon as possible to the Tikki Hywood Foundation in Mefou, Central Region for specialized care and rehabilitation.

In December we also conducted several projects to simultaneously provide our animals with much-needed privacy and to make the LWC more appealing to visitors. We’re delighted with the results.

After another month’s hard work, it was about time for us all as a family to celebrate Christmas. We had a fantastic day with the whole LWC team and their families. Benitting myoverall experience of the LWC, the day was full of fun, but also full of community spirit. Throughout my

time here, I’ve found that people not only care for one another, but never stop learning from each other. Hopefully, this collective sense of care and responsibility for our cause has shined through on these monthly reports and the immense amount that we have achieved over the last six years. I have every faith that the LWC will continue to grow and thrive as it enters a new era! Thank you all, as ever, for your unfailing support.

We wish for you all to stay healthy, warm, and safe.

Peggy Motsch

Project Manager