The BBPP

One of the more interesting and worthwhile undertakings on the island here is a non-governmental organization that goes by the name of "Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program" (BBPP). It's just a small group of people with the majority of them being college students doing an internship over here. I can only imagine how the conversation must go between the parents and the kids who come over here for several months. "Sure, mom, no need to worry -- I'll be in Africa with no way for you to contact me for long stretches. Oh, and we'll be camping out some of the time. In the jungle. With the snakes and spiders and things."

But the ones who do come over here are doing some pretty amazing things. The BBPP's primary objective is to work for the preservation of the seven species of monkeys that inhabit the island. They're also working with the leatherneck turtles that live on the southern beaches. Preservation in this case isn't just about protecting them from the traditional threats of nature. Here, unfortunately, the monkeys are hunted. (Note to self: Add monkey meat to the list of things I'm not gonna eat.) So the BBPP is also working to get the government here to acknowledge the problem and to make and enforce laws against killing the monkeys. Call it Equatorial Guinea's jungle version of Save the Whales.

The program recently attracted the attention of The National Geographic, with the result being an excellent couple of articles in their August 2008 magazine. Some of the pictures that the team took are simply amazing. And their story is pretty fascinating stuff, too. I'd recommend it to anyone. You can see it online at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/bioko-primates/morell-text . The picture above is one of their shots, of a red-eared monkey.