<p>The&nbsp;brown spider monkey and its "orchestral" Magdalena River Valley habitat in Colombia have been the focus of Dr Andrés Link's work for 20+ years. Birds, not monkeys were his original plan, he tells Kate and Edward, but the monkey's graceful movement and complex social behaviour drew him to the species whose forest habitat had become fragmented, cleared for ranching and palm oil. Reconnecting it is crucial for survival and Andrés and his team at&nbsp;the NGO he founded Fundación Proyecto Primates are not only winning support from local landowners, they're helping them to plant trees. It’s a project Andrés says has the potential to be replicated across Colombia, home to almost 10 percent of the world's biodiversity.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>How to Save It highlights ingenious solutions from the world’s leading conservationists. To learn more about their work and to receive updates, sign up here <a href="https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_NewsletterSignup</a></p><br><p>Find out more and watch Andrés film here <a href="https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Link" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Link</a></p><br><p>Follow us on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/whitleyawards/</a> and <a href="https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://uk.linkedin.com/company/whitley-fund-for-nature</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>For more on reconnecting habitat for tree-dwelling mammals, listen to our episode with Fernanda Abra who is building low-cost canopy bridges in the Amazon</p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Abra" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/WFN_Podcast_Abra</a>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Executive producer: Sarah Treanor</p><p>Illustrations: Emily Faccini</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>