Friends of Shimoni Forest (FSF)
The last Friday we had the opportunity to go to the forest with Hassan, one of the guides of the FSF, a partner of GVI in Shimoni. Hassan is one of their trained forest guides, and he brought us through the depths of the forest, passing through coral rag surfaces and in between the bushes, in order to learn more about the forest, the local culture and the tour the tourists do when they come an visit the forest.
 |
| Hassan during one of his extremely detailed explanations. |
The visit was absolutely successful: several species of hornbills, sykes monkeys, a lot of colobus monkeys, tons of explanations about the biology of the plants of the forest and their traditional use, and a tour to the kaya and some parts of the forests that were absolutely new for us. It's not strange that the tourists that take this trip always bring good sensations and histories back with them.
 |
| The tree of oblivion, a parasitic vine that killed an enormous baobab long long ago. |
For all those who don't know it yet, the FSF is a CBO (Community Based Organization) based in Shimoni. It was founded as an initiative of the community, with the help of GVI. Their objective is guaranteeing the conservation of this endangered forest, trying to develop sustainable uses of this forest which is so necessary for their livelihoods. One of their most successful projects was the creation of a forest tour, and the money they get from tourism is put back onto the community, in the form of different projects of grants to students.
0 comments:
Post a Comment