On Thursday afternoon, January 16th – 1st full moon of 2014 – nearly every person in Playa Hermosa came to the beach for Salve Monos Playa Hermosa, GTE., Costa Rica’s 3rd Annual Drumming Circle. The event is held each year to raise awareness of the howler monkey plight and to raise funds that benefit Playa Hermosa’s monkeys. Karol Allard, Treasurer of the Association de Vecinos y Empresarios de Playa Hermosa and founder of Salve Monos Playa Hermosa, which is part of the National Non-Profit Costa Rican Association, Salve Monos based in Tamarindo, is brainchild of the event. And this year’s event was the most attended and most successful ever!

You may be asking why the monkey population in Playa Hermosa needs help. Well, it’s pretty simple – and not so pretty at the same time. Wherever people and wild animals meet, there is often friction. And in the case of our howler monkey population the friction comes in the form of electrocution. In areas in and around Playa Hermosa, the trees that form the tropical dry forest canopy have been cut to make room for roads, residential and commercial development and electrical power lines thus reducing habitat and interrupting the routes that howler monkeys take as they move through the treetops in search of food. One of the ways the monkeys compensate for this is by using electrical power lines and poles where trees would normally exist to navigate from one patch of forest canopy to the next. And herein lies the problem.

Most of the electical cable and transformers around Playa Hermosa are not insulated. So when a monkey comes in contact with them and completes the circuit the result is an often fatal electrocution. It’s a truly horrible and heart wrenching thing to see a monkey get electrocuted. It can be even more emotional if the monkey survives and needs veterinary care. Some literally cook on the cables and transformers and their charred remains may remain at these locations for weeks. Survivors often need limbs amputated. The lucky ones may need rehabilitation in order to be re-released into the wild once they recover.

And that’s where Ms. Allard and “Salve Monos” come in. Since its founding in 2009, Salve Monos, in cooperation with Coopeguanacaste, the electric company,  has installed approximately 100 monkey bridges in the Playa Hermosa, Playa Panama and Playas del Coco area (monkey bridges provide and alternate medium for the howlers to use in lieu of electrical cables). It has also fought to have cables and transformers insulated so that if monkeys do encounter them they aren’t maimed, injured or killed. Also, Coopeguanacaste has installed devices that discourage the monkeys from climbing the stabilization cables on poles. In fact Ms. Allard’s organization’s dedication and hard work is paying off. Monkey populations are up and injuries and fatalities are beginning to drop. Coopeguanacaste is “…setting an example of responsibility in our community” by initiating Phase I of a program to insulate all wires and transformers in problem areas within the village.

Says, Ms. Allard, “I am so very grateful to say that Coopeguanacaste arrived with a crew of more than 20 men and they began the process of changing all of the secondary cables to insulated cables on the second beach entrance, and along both roads that run parallel to the beach. It is also my understanding that they changed most of the primary cables, as well. In the next few days they will be coming back to do work on the transformers. We are waiting for the final numbers on how many meters they changed and the monetary investment that Coopeguanacaste has made in our village.”

That’s fantastic news for everyone! You, me, your kids, the monkeys and their kids too!

Of course, Coopeguanacaste cannot foot the bill for everything. Some of the money and labor is provided by Coopeguanacaste. Some of it through volunteer support. But monkey bridges and veterinary supplies need to be privately paid for and in order to do that, Salve Monos needs to raise funds. One of the ways it does this is by raising public awareness through events just like the one that took place Thursday at the beach. Through community involvement in the drumming circle, t-shirt sales, passing the jar for donations and a silent auction of a Carlos Hiller painting, funding for projects as well as public awareness and support for our monkeys was garnered.

The highlight of the afternoon was Carlos Hiller painting a mother howler monkey and her baby on a black canvas at sunset (photo right). No one knew what he would paint as he started adding paint on a large black canvas secured to an easel in the sand behind the drumming circle platform. The entire community regardless of their age was captivated by the rhythmical performance. As an animated artist, Mr. Hiller painted with his hands and brushes, and the image of an adult howler began to emerge. Then the face of a baby began to take form. Then an arm and hand clinging to its mother. Upon its completion and to a round of resounding applause, it was auctioned off in a silent auction to raise more funds for protecting Playa Hermosa’s wonderful monkeys for its residents and visitors, and for future generations.

Go monkeys! Go Playa Hermosa! Pura vida!

If you would like to donate time or money to Salve Monos Playa Hermosa, GTE., Costa Rica, please contact Karol Allard at [email protected] and be sure to stop by their Facebook page and give them a “Like”.

Mike Poynton is Owner/Principal of Paradise Social, a digital marketing, SEO and website design company in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste. He is also active in his community and serves on the Board of Directors of the Asociación de Vecinos y Empresarios de Playa Hermosa. He periodically contributes articles to the Costa Rica Star. And he likes monkeys.