By Dennis Peprah
Duasidan, (Bono), March. 03, GNA – Watching them from afar conveys a sense of collective identity, and a harmonious bond forged within the dynamic monkey community.
Interestingly, as each of the creatures interacts and engages with one another, their actions exhibit an inspiring bond and mutual support; they swing through treetops, foraging for food, and protecting their young.
In fact, the thought-provoking scene at the Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary illustrates the prowess with which monkeys traverse their environment, establish bonds and thereby thrive as united, well-behaved and formidable mammals.
One of the few differences one can identify between the Duasidan monkeys and humans is language, as the fascinating creatures communicate through vocalizations and gestures, portraying beauty and intelligence.
Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary
Located at Duasidan, a small farming community with a population of about 400 people, the ancient and well-preserved Monkey Sanctuary remains a culture, heritage, and pride of people.
The community, close to 30-minute drive from Dormaa-Ahenkro, the capital of the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region, the inhabitants are mostly small-holder farmers engaged in cocoa and mixed-farming for their socio-economic livelihoods.
During a visit, as the nation marks the “Heritage Month or Ghana Month”, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) learnt that the sanctuary, located near a sacred grove which holds the history of the monkeys, and is part of a preserve forest in the community that hosts three species of monkeys.
The Heritage or Ghana Month is to put Ghanaian culture and heritage on a higher pedestal through the promotion of locally made products and showcasing the nation’s rich cuisine, music, fashion, history, ethnic and traditional diversity.
Checks reveal that the sanctuary is the habitat for the ‘Campbell monkeys’ or locally known as ‘Kwakuo’, the ‘Spot-nosed monkeys’ locally known as ‘Ahenhema’ and Oliver Colobus monkeys or what the locals called ‘Asibe’.
Despite the interesting and fascinating sight spiced with the thought-provoking scenes, the poor condition at the ancient Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary reflects the nation’s failure to leverage on tourism the prospects in tourism.
Neglect and Preservation
The presence of the monkeys is the pride of the locals, and it gives recognition to the Duasidan community. However, the sanctuary is left in ruins under the mercy of the poor people as successive governments have failed to develop it for the nation to derive the optimum benefit from eco-tourism.
Interestingly, the locals have been able to preserve the creatures and their habitat because they still hold the ancient belief that a person can lose his or her life for failing to respect the lives of the monkeys or deliberately cause injuries to them.
“There are grave consequences if you even mistakenly kill or cause harm to any of the monkeys because we revere and regard them as children of the gods,” Mr Kwabena kumah, an aged and one of the caretakers of the monkeys stated.
“In fact, the gods sometimes visit chronic diseases, deformities and epilepsy on locals who deliberately kill or eat a monkey here,” he added.
He described the condition of the sanctuary as bad, saying that with infrastructure development the habitat could be one of the interesting tourist attraction sites in the country due to the nature of the creatures.
Mr Kumah indicated a Non-governmental Organisation came to their aid and constructed a building to house the care-takers years back however the facility was also in bad condition due to the lack of funds to maintain it.
He said the sanctuary needed washrooms, and recreational facilities to accommodate visitors, saying because of the lack of those facilities visitors, mostly foreigners, were no longer patronizing the sanctuary.
Another caretaker, Mr Kwabena Kyeremeh, popularly known in the community as “Bob”, said he is in-charge of feeding the monkeys, saying the animals delighted and enjoyed bananas, ripe plantains, cassava and other fruits.
“Their feeds are scarce nowadays. It’s often sad to see some of the young ones looking hungry and we appeal to the government to come to our aid and help preserve the sanctuary for the unborn generations too”.
Way forward
Convincingly, the Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary has huge economic prospects for the nation, as tourism contributes significantly towards accelerated national development.
With improved social facilities and roads connecting to the community, the sanctuary will catch the attention and attract local and international tourists which would not only boost eco-tourism but also provide job opportunities for the locals.
The sanctuary requires an information centre, summer huts, guest houses and food joints to meet the demand needs of visitors.
If the public sector has failed, then the private sector could leverage on the economic prospects, invest and build the sanctuary to meet international standards.
Due to the changes in the climatic condition now, monkeys and related creatures like these have been extinct, and the Duasidan community needs support to preserve the sanctuary in the interest of the nation.
GNA