A lifeline for the Colobus monkey

Eco-camp

He said the Trust, working with Camp Kenya, an eco-camp, and Kenya Power & Lighting Company, has managed to insulate a one-kilometre stretch of the main power line.

According to the Trust’s website, www.colobustrust.org, it costs about $1 (Sh77) to insulate a metre of power line. Some 170 km need to be insulated to protect the monkeys.

Kenya Wildlife Service assistant directorSimon Gitau said the conservation body works closely with the Trust to protect the endangered colobus monkeys.

But he said KWS was finding it hard to prevent encroaching development in Diani Forest since most of the land is privately owned. The forest is not gazetted, he said, and KWS only has a mandate to protect gazetted forests.

Kwale County Council chairman Mshenga Ruga said the council would take action against developers who build houses on the seafront without approval. But he conceded that there might be some developers in Diani who were clearing the forest without approval from the local planning authority.

Kenya Power & Lighting Company regional manager Joseph Mkomba said the firm has been insulating power lines in Diani after learning that the monkeys were being electrocuted.

Colobus species are also found in the Congo River Basin and the Ruwenzori Mountain area of southwestern Uganda. They, too, are endangered.