Gays Mills man helps protect species around the world

By Ted Pennekamp

A rural Gays Mills man continues to enjoy the rather unusual occupation of traveling the world in an effort to help save many different species and preserve habitat. 

Robert Horwich, who founded Community Conservation in 1989, has spearheaded 26 projects in 14 countries involving more than 30 cultures and 200 villages to protect more than 1.5 million acres. Horwich and Community Conservation have helped to save numerous species of monkeys and other animals in countries such as Peru, India, Belize, Nepal, Rwanda, Ghana, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, Costa Rica, Russia, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and the United States. 

Horwich, who earned his doctorate in zoology at the University of Maryland in 1967, began by studying infant development in primates at the Brookfield Zoo in Wisconsin. He later worked with sandhill cranes at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis. in 1985 and 1986. 

At the Crane Foundation, Horwich and others dressed in “crane” costumes that he made to help rear infant cranes to get them ready for release into the wild. He noted that the costumes didn’t really look much like cranes, but they didn’t look like humans either, which prevented the young cranes from “imprinting” upon the humans. Imprinting would have changed the development of the cranes and would have made releasing them into the wild unsuccessful. “They won’t interact with other cranes when they imprint on a human,” said Horwich, who noted that the costume helped him to become the “mother” crane.

The adult cranes also kept laying more eggs if the researchers kept removing the eggs from the nests.

The process became quite successful in helping to build the crane population over the years. “We were amazed because we weren’t sure what we were doing at first,” said Horwich, who noted that the more common sandhill cranes became the model for raising whooping cranes later on.

In 1984, Horwich began studying monkeys and working with villages in Belize, and later around the globe. Horwich said that in Belize and other countries, people would cut trees in order to farm the land. Horwich and others then began talking with the villagers about not cutting so many trees, or developing a tree management plan in order to help keep the habitat for the various species of monkeys. 

It has been working. Not only are there not as many trees being cut on private land, relatively large tracts have become sanctuaries and protected areas for the monkeys. The hunting of various rare species has also been reduced.

“We began with one village in Belize and then expanded quickly to seven villages,” said Horwich, who considers himself to be a catalyst and advisor. He said that most villagers are not educated but they are smart, and when informed about the relative rareness of some species, they will take steps to protect the habitat and the monkeys. In fact, in some areas, the villagers started eco-tourism businesses, created museums and became guides to help educate tourists about the ecosystem, the monkeys and other species.

“The villagers will control the land, the cutting and the hunting,” said Horwich, who cited the golden langur, a rare monkey in India, as one example of a success story. “There were approximately 1,500 golden langurs in 1998, and by 2008, there were about 5,600.”

Horwich said that once the word gets out about what wildlife researchers are trying to do, and how conservation practices can be a benefit, it becomes “conservation contagion” that expands exponentially from village to village. “All of a sudden, instead of one person trying to protect an area, you have hundreds,” he said. 

Community Conservation consists of 10 board members, Horwich and a part-time projects coordinator. He said that they get grants from various organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International. 

In addition to projects around the world, Community Conservation has helped out with numerous projects in Wisconsin over the past several years. Projects in Wisconsin have included the Ferry Bluff Eagle Days in the Sauk Prairie area, the Kickapoo Reserve, the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area at the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant, the Organic Dairy Book, the Valley Stewardship Network in Viroqua, the Museum of the Kickapoo in Gays Mills, and the Kickapoo Community Sanctuary.

Horwich has lived in rural Gays Mills since 1976 and said he will continue his conservation efforts as long as he can. 

“As long as I can walk, I will probably do it,” he said.