Last month Flamingo Land’s Director of Conservation Dr Andy Marshall, Zoo Manager Ross Snipp and Tropical Conservation Research Assistant Jennifer Archer (myself) visited Tanzania to work on the Zoo’s conservation project, The Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP).

Flamingo Land has been supporting the project in its conservation, research and educational work in rural Tanzania for the past four years and is aiming to break new ground for zoo-funded conservation.

For Ross and me it was a fascinating first visit, full of new experiences. We participated in all things UFP, including environmental education classes with schoolchildren, forest restoration work and monkey surveys. The highlight of the trip was the project’s annual UFP Day in one of the local villages, packed full of fun and educational environmental activities, presentations and school performances. The event was attended by people from villages surrounding Magombera forest, the focus area of UFP’s conservation efforts. Schools had been given the task of writing and performing a song (pictured) about Magombera forest and its importance for both people and wildlife. All the schools did a fantastic job, leaving the crowd thoroughly entertained and were awarded donations for school supplies.

In between the entertainment, UFP staff presented important messages about the project, what it does, why it is important and how people could get involved. It was very encouraging to see how enthusiastic the villagers relying on the forest’s natural resources were about conserving the forest and finding out more about the alternative fuels available to them. This enthusiasm from the villagers is in part due to the time UFP has put into building successful relationships with the villagers and is essential if the forest is to be conserved in the long-term.

Flamingo Land has lots of big plans for the Udzungwa Forest Project and continues to work hard to protect Magombera forest with the support of its visitors.

To donate to UFP’s projects please visit https://justgiving.com/teams/ufp, or find out more about the Udzungwa Forest Project’s work here.