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photographer + storyteller + educator
The Fate of a Species
In January 2020, right before the eventual lock down of the world's cities and travel due to Covid-19, I visited rural central Ghana to learn about a critically endangered species of monkey: the white-thighed colobus.
White-thighed colobus monkeys have been disappearing from their native ranges across West Africa due to hunting and deforestation. In two small communities in central Ghana, Boabeng and Fiema, white-thighed colobus and a smaller, not currently threatened species, the mona monkey, are considered sacred. The monkeys' status in the communities inspired locals to found the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in a small area of protected forest to allow the monkeys to live, thus creating the largest known stable population of white-thighed colobus left in the world.
I spent two weeks learning about the monkeys' biological habits from an American scientist conducting research at the sanctuary and interviewing local community members about the monkeys' roles in traditional religious beliefs. I also learned about the complexities of local, community-led conservation amidst economic and environmental pressures which continue to put the monkeys at risk of extinction.
You can read the three stories that came out of this trip to the right, and check out more photographs that did not make it into a story below.
for bioGraphic
April 2022
for Oregon Quarterly
Summer 2020
for Around the O
May 2020
Two Species
Two species of monkey live in the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary: the critically endangered white-thighed colobus and the mona monkey, considered at low risk of extinction.
Keeper of Culture: The Fetish Priest of Boabeng and the Shrine of Daworo
Nana Amoah Awuah Ampong, the fetish priest of Boabeng. Fetish priests are elected to their positions. Eligibilty is inherited from their mother's side.
Part of Nana Amoah's duty is to oversee the shrine of the spirit Darowo, considered to be the patron spirit of Boabeng. On Fridays, when the shrine is opened to community members, Nana Amoah dons a traditional white robe and paints his body with paint.
People visit the shrine of when they want to ask for good crops or to correct a misfortune. Nana Amoah helps people to communicate with Daworo by making an offering of Schnapps or Fanta, and spreading egg yolk on the shrine while saying a prayer asking Daworo to show favor to the person requesting it.
Paintings for sale in the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary gift shop depict the origin story of Boabeng. A hunter is said to have found the fetish spirit of Daworo in a jar along a stream, guarded by four monkeys: two brown Mona monkeys and two white-thighed colobus monkeys. The fetish claimed the monkeys were its sacred children, and therefore must be protected in exchange for being the patron fetish of Boabeng.
Boateng Frances, the 18-year-old son of Nana Amoah, helps to dig a grave for a colobus monkey in the monkey cemetery inside the sanctuary.
On Jan. 23, 2020, a community member found a deceased male colobus monkey and turned it over to Nana Amoah for burial. Injuries to the face indicate that the male may have died from a fall, possibly while fighting for territory with another male.
Boateng Frances places the dead colobus inside of a sack for burial. All monkeys that are buried in the cemetery are placed in a bag or a box first.
Between September 2019 and January 2020, 20 dead colobus and Mona monkeys were buried in the cemetery, which is more than usual according to Nana Amoah. Not all monkeys who die in the forest are found by people to be buried, but the increase in monkeys found in places where people do come across them that have no apparent injuries suggests to Nana Amoah that they are dying from lack of water because of the increasingly warm temperatures attributed to climate change.
Boateng Frances pours Schnapps over the body of the dead colobus while reciting a prayer asking for the spirit Daworo to avenge the monkey's death if it was caused by human hands.
Nana Amoah takes one foot out of his shoe during the prayer at the burial of a dead monkey. He said this is a requirement for showing respect.
Nana Amoah Awuah Ampong, the fetish priest of Boabeng. Fetish priests are elected to their positions. Eligibilty is inherited from their mother's side.
Part of Nana Amoah's duty is to oversee the shrine of the spirit Darowo, considered to be the patron spirit of Boabeng. On Fridays, when the shrine is opened to community members, Nana Amoah dons a traditional white robe and paints his body with paint.
People visit the shrine of when they want to ask for good crops or to correct a misfortune. Nana Amoah helps people to communicate with Daworo by making an offering of Schnapps or Fanta, and spreading egg yolk on the shrine while saying a prayer asking Daworo to show favor to the person requesting it.
Paintings for sale in the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary gift shop depict the origin story of Boabeng. A hunter is said to have found the fetish spirit of Daworo in a jar along a stream, guarded by four monkeys: two brown Mona monkeys and two white-thighed colobus monkeys. The fetish claimed the monkeys were its sacred children, and therefore must be protected in exchange for being the patron fetish of Boabeng.
Boateng Frances, the 18-year-old son of Nana Amoah, helps to dig a grave for a colobus monkey in the monkey cemetery inside the sanctuary.
On Jan. 23, 2020, a community member found a deceased male colobus monkey and turned it over to Nana Amoah for burial. Injuries to the face indicate that the male may have died from a fall, possibly while fighting for territory with another male.
Boateng Frances places the dead colobus inside of a sack for burial. All monkeys that are buried in the cemetery are placed in a bag or a box first.
Between September 2019 and January 2020, 20 dead colobus and Mona monkeys were buried in the cemetery, which is more than usual according to Nana Amoah. Not all monkeys who die in the forest are found by people to be buried, but the increase in monkeys found in places where people do come across them that have no apparent injuries suggests to Nana Amoah that they are dying from lack of water because of the increasingly warm temperatures attributed to climate change.
Boateng Frances pours Schnapps over the body of the dead colobus while reciting a prayer asking for the spirit Daworo to avenge the monkey's death if it was caused by human hands.
Nana Amoah takes one foot out of his shoe during the prayer at the burial of a dead monkey. He said this is a requirement for showing respect.
Nana Amoah Awuah Ampong, the fetish priest of Boabeng. Fetish priests are elected to their positions. Eligibilty is inherited from their mother's side.
Part of Nana Amoah's duty is to oversee the shrine of the spirit Darowo, considered to be the patron spirit of Boabeng. On Fridays, when the shrine is opened to community members, Nana Amoah dons a traditional white robe and paints his body with paint.
People visit the shrine of when they want to ask for good crops or to correct a misfortune. Nana Amoah helps people to communicate with Daworo by making an offering of Schnapps or Fanta, and spreading egg yolk on the shrine while saying a prayer asking Daworo to show favor to the person requesting it.
Paintings for sale in the Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary gift shop depict the origin story of Boabeng. A hunter is said to have found the fetish spirit of Daworo in a jar along a stream, guarded by four monkeys: two brown Mona monkeys and two white-thighed colobus monkeys. The fetish claimed the monkeys were its sacred children, and therefore must be protected in exchange for being the patron fetish of Boabeng.
Boateng Frances, the 18-year-old son of Nana Amoah, helps to dig a grave for a colobus monkey in the monkey cemetery inside the sanctuary.
On Jan. 23, 2020, a community member found a deceased male colobus monkey and turned it over to Nana Amoah for burial. Injuries to the face indicate that the male may have died from a fall, possibly while fighting for territory with another male.
Boateng Frances places the dead colobus inside of a sack for burial. All monkeys that are buried in the cemetery are placed in a bag or a box first.
Between September 2019 and January 2020, 20 dead colobus and Mona monkeys were buried in the cemetery, which is more than usual according to Nana Amoah. Not all monkeys who die in the forest are found by people to be buried, but the increase in monkeys found in places where people do come across them that have no apparent injuries suggests to Nana Amoah that they are dying from lack of water because of the increasingly warm temperatures attributed to climate change.
Boateng Frances pours Schnapps over the body of the dead colobus while reciting a prayer asking for the spirit Daworo to avenge the monkey's death if it was caused by human hands.
Nana Amoah takes one foot out of his shoe during the prayer at the burial of a dead monkey. He said this is a requirement for showing respect.
Faces of Boabeng and Fiema
Elizabeth Adubga of Boabeng carries bananas and peanuts to sell to tourists to feed the monkeys.
Nana Savfo Kantanka I is the chief of Fiema.
Ohemaa Konadu sells food at a roadside stand in Fiema.
Joachim Boedi was the sanctuary manager until June 2021.
Robert Damoah is a tour guide at the sanctuary.
Robert Koranteng is one of two field techs working with researchers at the sanctuary.
Rose Fofie collects firewood from the sanctuary and sells surplus to her neighbors in Boabeng.
Mercy Bafowa is one of few community members who do not practice any Christian beliefs. She practices only the tradtional beliefs.
Isaac Sarkodie is from Boabeng works at the sanctuary as a tour guide and revenue collector. He considers himself an environmentalist and mentors youth.
Gyan Moses is from Fiema. He is a farmer and member of the sanctuary committee.
Bright Amponsah helps his family by selling bananas and peanuts to tourists to feed to the monkeys.
Patricia Adwumwaa is a high school student in Boabeng who wants to study home economics.
Joseph Asamoah carves masks to sell in a tourist shop adjacent to the sanctuary. He also sells paintings that his nephew makes about local history and culture.
Esther Ahenewaa runs the busiest shop in Boabeng, selling everything from hot food to go to toothbrushes, soap, and pasta.
Michael Antcui used to farm in the forest before it became the sanctuary and had to move his farm.
Joseph Amponsah is a farmer in Boabeng who said he sees no personal benefits from the sanctuary.
Diana Christie is a PhD student and biological anthropologist who studies how the social behaviors of white-thighed colobus monkeys impact their gut microbiomes.
Oppong Kwasi farms cashews in Fiema.
Samuel Amponsah is the current game and wildlife officer assigned to the sanctuary.
Zany Wynar from Washington state worked as an assistant to primatologist/anthropological biologist Diana Christie in 2019 to 2020.
Nana Owusu Damoah Ameyaw III is the chief of Boabeng.
Elizabeth Akowuah of Boabeng is the widow of sanctuary founder DK Akowuah.
Charles Kodom is a field tech who works with researchers at the sanctuary.
Elizabeth Adubga of Boabeng carries bananas and peanuts to sell to tourists to feed the monkeys.
Nana Savfo Kantanka I is the chief of Fiema.
Ohemaa Konadu sells food at a roadside stand in Fiema.
Joachim Boedi was the sanctuary manager until June 2021.
Robert Damoah is a tour guide at the sanctuary.
Robert Koranteng is one of two field techs working with researchers at the sanctuary.
Rose Fofie collects firewood from the sanctuary and sells surplus to her neighbors in Boabeng.
Mercy Bafowa is one of few community members who do not practice any Christian beliefs. She practices only the tradtional beliefs.
Isaac Sarkodie is from Boabeng works at the sanctuary as a tour guide and revenue collector. He considers himself an environmentalist and mentors youth.
Gyan Moses is from Fiema. He is a farmer and member of the sanctuary committee.
Bright Amponsah helps his family by selling bananas and peanuts to tourists to feed to the monkeys.
Patricia Adwumwaa is a high school student in Boabeng who wants to study home economics.
Joseph Asamoah carves masks to sell in a tourist shop adjacent to the sanctuary. He also sells paintings that his nephew makes about local history and culture.
Esther Ahenewaa runs the busiest shop in Boabeng, selling everything from hot food to go to toothbrushes, soap, and pasta.
Michael Antcui used to farm in the forest before it became the sanctuary and had to move his farm.
Joseph Amponsah is a farmer in Boabeng who said he sees no personal benefits from the sanctuary.
Diana Christie is a PhD student and biological anthropologist who studies how the social behaviors of white-thighed colobus monkeys impact their gut microbiomes.
Oppong Kwasi farms cashews in Fiema.
Samuel Amponsah is the current game and wildlife officer assigned to the sanctuary.
Zany Wynar from Washington state worked as an assistant to primatologist/anthropological biologist Diana Christie in 2019 to 2020.
Nana Owusu Damoah Ameyaw III is the chief of Boabeng.
Elizabeth Akowuah of Boabeng is the widow of sanctuary founder DK Akowuah.
Charles Kodom is a field tech who works with researchers at the sanctuary.
Around Town in Boabeng and fiema
Charity Owusu collects water from the communal pump in Boabeng.
Baby Opoku Wisdom’s mother Akosua Fabea waits to order some hot food to go from Esther Ahenewaa’s shop on the main road in Boabeng.
View of the main road through Boabeng with the trees of the sanctuary in the background.
Cosmos Antwi Owusu plays the drums in church in Boabeng, Ghana 2020
Men lower a casket during a funeral in Boabeng.
Mona monkeys scavenge for food scraps around homes in Boabeng.
One of the larger, second-growth trees in the sanctuary.
Student drummers during a funeral procession in Boabeng.
Fofia Rose collects dead firewood in the sanctuary for daily cooking fires and to sell t