Met up with Cheryl Wagstaff, an amazing student film-maker who is going to Africa to help save endangered baboons by making educational movies for the internet.
Cheryl who’s studying Documentary Film and Television at the University of Wales, Newport, will be going to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa to work for the charity The Great Primate Handshake.
She told me that chose to work with the Great Primate Handshake because it aims to help raise awareness of African primate sanctuaries and conservation programmes by harnessing the latest communications and multimedia technologies to broadcast their work to a local and global audience via the internet.
She wanted to give something back and decided this was the way to do it after finding out through the charity that 25% of primate species are close to extinction. She’ll be filming various primates to raise awareness about the problem. Apparently, the baboons in particular are in danger – the locals see them as a pest because they are moving into towns looking for food as deforestation destroys their natural habitat, and they are being killed. Working with teams in a fully equipped mobile workshop, Cheryl will be touring conservation areas and making films for the charity’s website.
She hopes the films she makes will educate people about the possible extinction of the baboons.
“Up to now my films have been about people so it will be a big departure making films about baboons!” she said.
Cheryl has so far raised £500 but needs another £1000 to be able to take part in the project. Anyone who would like to help her reach her target can email her on primatevolunteercheryl@hotmail.co.uk for details about the project, can visit http://www.primatehandshake.org/
For details of film-making and all other courses at the University of Wales, Newport call the university information centre on 01633 432432 or visit http://www.newport.ac.uk/
Cheryl who’s studying Documentary Film and Television at the University of Wales, Newport, will be going to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa to work for the charity The Great Primate Handshake.
She told me that chose to work with the Great Primate Handshake because it aims to help raise awareness of African primate sanctuaries and conservation programmes by harnessing the latest communications and multimedia technologies to broadcast their work to a local and global audience via the internet.
She wanted to give something back and decided this was the way to do it after finding out through the charity that 25% of primate species are close to extinction. She’ll be filming various primates to raise awareness about the problem. Apparently, the baboons in particular are in danger – the locals see them as a pest because they are moving into towns looking for food as deforestation destroys their natural habitat, and they are being killed. Working with teams in a fully equipped mobile workshop, Cheryl will be touring conservation areas and making films for the charity’s website.
She hopes the films she makes will educate people about the possible extinction of the baboons.
“Up to now my films have been about people so it will be a big departure making films about baboons!” she said.
Cheryl has so far raised £500 but needs another £1000 to be able to take part in the project. Anyone who would like to help her reach her target can email her on primatevolunteercheryl@hotmail.co.uk for details about the project, can visit http://www.primatehandshake.org/
For details of film-making and all other courses at the University of Wales, Newport call the university information centre on 01633 432432 or visit http://www.newport.ac.uk/
