ST. PETERS--Nature Foundation researcher Sane Collee and manager Tadzio Bervoets met with agricultural experts Mario Beauperthuy and Jocelyn Richardson on Wednesday, to discuss the impact the invasive monkey population has had on the agriculture sector. The two experts said they have lost some US $10,000 due to monkeys damaging their crops.
Stemming from that meeting with the agriculturalists and other affected people in the community, Nature Foundation has launched an online survey on the socio-economic influence of the invasive Green vervet monkey population on the country, to gauge the general impacts of the species.
The questionnaire is posted online and anyone affected by the monkeys and/or everyone who has an opinion on what should be done about the invasive monkey population is asked to fill it out. The survey is available at http://surveymonkey.com/r/monkeyresearch.
The survey asks for age and gender to assist in building a sample, and to give an insight in the audience being dealt with. The questions about income and occupation are to understand which layers of society are affected most when looking at social and especially economic damage. When more vulnerable groups experience a lot of impairment, finding solutions might have a higher urgency, said the Foundation.
The final data derived from these questionnaires will be used to perform several analyses, which should give an insight in the scale of affected stakeholders and their geographical location, the severity of the social and economic damage inflicted by the monkeys, and the most preferred methods of control filled out by the participants.
