Sanctuary turns monkey poo to compost and scoops award

29 May 2009

A monkey sanctuary in Cornwall with volunteers from the seaside town of Looe have scooped a national environment cash prize for turning 10 tonnes of monkey poo, produced every year by its animals, into compost.

The Monkey Sanctuary Trust is an award winner in this year's CSV (Community Service Volunteers) Action Earth campaign, supported by Morrisons supermarket. CSV Action Earth helps people across England and Wales become volunteers and improve the environment in which they live and work.

The Looe Monkey Sanctuary has about 22 monkeys which produce about 200 kilograms of waste each week, which if sent to landfill would cost the Trust £1000s of pounds every year

Sanctuary Sustainability Officer Matt Nott said: "As part of our commitment to the environment our composting system means we don't have to send waste to landfill, and as an added bonus we can use the compost to help grow plants which would be fed to animals."

The Monkey Sanctuary is currently home to four species of monkey: woolly monkeys, ex-pet capuchins, patas monkeys and barbary macaques. The Trust provides advice and support for primate rescue centres around the world.

Each year, the Trust educates thousands of visitors on monkey life in the wild, and in captivity, on the problems of captivity, rehabilitation and other animal welfare and conservation issues.

The sanctuary will be using their CSV Action Earth cash grant for protective footwear for the compost diggers.

Matt Nott adds "We buy the food, feed it to the monkeys and it comes out the other end. We then collect it up every day, compost it, and use it on our forest garden - we grow many plants there that we can then feed back to the monkeys. This is real sustainability in action and is a way of keeping our waste on site."

The Trusts' efforts to reduce the impact it has had on the environment was recognised last year when it was awarded the 'Green Tourism Business Schemes' highest award - Gold in 2008.  The Sanctuary Officers also won a highly commended 'best managed' medium sized business award at the 2008 Sustainability Awards.

Tom Freeland of CSV Action Earth said: "We are delighted the Monkey Sanctuary has won a grant this year. Sustainability isn't just about recycling our cans and bottles it's about living within our resources and planning for the future. We hope Looe's Monkey Sanctuary will inspire others to take action - our Action Earth campaign is all about getting communities engaged in making Britain green. It's the small changes that involve volunteers which can make a real difference and make a huge contribution to building strong communities."

In 2008 over 18,000 volunteers took part in Action Earth. Examples of projects completed by volunteers last year include: planting trees, clearing silt and rubbish from waterways, replanting hedgerows, orchard planting, recycling trees, path laying, making bird tables and nesting boxes, coppicing, and creating an outdoor learning environments.

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For further press information:

To visit the Monkey Sanctuary - see the composting in action - interview composting volunteers contact: CSV Action Earth Press Office: Victoria Silver 020 7812 0037 / 0038 or 07866 757 389.
 
Notes for Editors
 
1. CSV (Community Service Volunteers) creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their communities through volunteering, training and community action. Last year over 200,000 people gave over 5 million hours of their time as volunteers through CSV. CSV trains 12,705 people of all ages www.csv.org.uk

2. To receive a £50 grant, which covers expenses including materials, projects must: improve the local environment, involve volunteers, or meet a local community need. Examples of projects completed by volunteers last year include: Planting up a wildlife area in a local school, erecting bird/bat/hedgehog boxes in a nearby wood, cleaning up a local beach and clearing and signing local footpaths. To register a project and apply for a grant or get more information on CSV Action Earth, call CSV on Tel: 0121 328 7455 /0131 622 7766 or visit www.csv.org.uk . or www.actionearth.org.uk

3. The Monkey Sanctuary Trust - www.monkeysanctuary.org - Looe, Cornwall, PL13 1NZ t) 01503 262532

4. Morrisons is the UK's fourth largest food retailer with 382 stores. Every week ten million customers pass through Morrisons doors and 117,000 colleagues across the business work hard to deliver quality services to customers.