To celebrate the International Gibbon Day, KFBG curated “The Gibbon’s Life in the Treetops” Exhibition during 16^th to 24^th October 2021, that brought gibbons and their forest homes to the heart of the city.

Gibbons are one of human’s closest relatives. They spend their whole life up in the canopy, so they are highly vulnerable to deforestation or forest fragmentation. On the other hand, gibbons are important dispersal vector for larger seeds in the forest, playing a major role in forest regeneration and restoration.

Given the unique ecological role of gibbons, and the general lack of conservation attention, KFBG has been conducting projects in China to help save two of the world’s most threatened primate: the Hainan Gibbon and the Gaoligong Gibbon. The former has a world population of ≈35 and the latter has a population of <150 (in China).

Even though there are no wild gibbons in Hong Kong and all our primary forests are lost, we could not live without forests. Most of our commodities contain ingredients produced in a forest, or from forest destruction. Therefore, by supporting forest-friendly products, we can also help save natural forests in other parts of the world.

The event page can be found here. 

OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony was held on 17^th Oct, where we were very much honored to have Mr. Wong Kam-sing (GBS, JP, Secretary for the Environment) and our sponsor Dr. April Fong (Founder of Kakato Premium Pet Food) as officiating guests. At the ceremony, Mr. Wong Kam-sing praised the work of KFBG in saving the world’s rarest ape from the brink. The fact that the Hainan Gibbon population was able to recover from 13 individuals had brought hope and prospect to biodiversity conservation.

EXHIBITION

At this colourful outdoor exhibition, visitors were guided through the reinvented tropical forest research station, learned about the life of the gibbons, listened to the different calls of the gibbons, joined one of the art workshops, grasped the threats faced by the gibbons and their forest homes and were encouraged to make a pledge for supporting forest-friendly products. About 10,000 people visited, more than 3000 people made a pledge.

There was also a 3-meter-tall bamboo installation handcrafted by a local artist with traditional techniques. This installation is now erected at the Plaza of KFBG and continues to advocate for gibbon conservation.

ART WORKSHOPS

During weekends, free art workshops were available for adults and children. About 450visitors brought home their self-created gibbon origami or silk-screening tote bag.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING AND SHARING

On the two Sundays, screening and sharing of two gibbon documentaries were offered to the public for free. “A Song for Love – An Ape with an App” and “Cao Vit Gibbon’s Ark” attracted a total audience of about 100.

ENHANCING AND MEASURING IMPACT

We care about how effective are we at getting our conservation messages across, so we had arranged staff and volunteers to guide visitors in all part of the exhibition throughout the day, we had also invited visitors to complete an evaluation questionnaire designed with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The results indicated that this exhibition was effective in increasing knowledge about gibbons and what they can do to help conserves forest.