Supporters and people giving their time and skills to the Farasuto Forest Community Nature Reserve project

Wim Kersten and Jenifer Keonen

In early 2013 year a group of Dutch students and their teachers Wim Kersten and Jenifer Keonen visited The Gambia and Farasuto.  Encouraged by Dr Roy Armstrong of Cumbria University before they left the country they raised over D41,000 for the essential work of fencing cattle out of the forest; see Latest Developments 13 & 14.

Alison Scimia

Alison kindly proof-read the web site for us, finding several typos which had crept in, and we thank her for her time.

Anna Jupp

Anna, Alex Tucker's sister has very kindly illustrated the Violet Turaco, Musophaga violacea, Farasuto’s icon and logo chosen by the Kuloro Bird Club.

Phil Randell – Halcyon Gambia

Phil and Clare Randell operate this very successful and popular birding holiday company from the Gambia during the dry season and from the UK during the rains. Halcyon Gambia’s bird guide is Mustapha Manneh (‘Mus’), among the best in the country and, yes, also a prominent member of the Kuloro Bird Club. Farasuto is well known to Halcyon Gambia (Phil is a long-time personal friend of Peter Tucker). Halcyon Gambia will be funding the reserve’s notice-board. Contact

John Hughes

John is Development Manager at Shropshire Wildlife Trust and knows the grant-giving world very well. He has kindly advised on potential sources of funding for the work at Farasuto.

Jon Hughes

Jon is now resident in the Gambia, knows Farasuto, was present at the community meeting on 20 January 2009 and is helping to sort out things there. He has a particular interest in the educational potential of Farasuto.

Kuloro Bird Club (KBC)

The KBC is instrumental in the conservation of Farasuto Forest. It’s President (Mustapha Kassama) and Chairman (Dawda J Barry) and the key day-to-day Gambian contacts is Mamadou W Jallow, the Public Relations Officerin for the Farasuto project team. The KBC organised the first Open Day at Farasuto on 25 October 2008, a landmark date for the reserve. The KBC is the cornerstone of the home end of the Farasuto project team.

John Tucker – Lanius Ornithology

John and Peter Tucker at Abuko Forest, January 2009

John is the prime mover on the Management Plan initiatives having been introduced to Farasuto by Baba (see above) on 10 January 2009. As a professional nature conservationist in England for 30 years (now early-retired) John is well-versed in preparing Management Plans and he has written the texts for this web site. John is the primary contact for the UK Farasuto team and will draft the Management Plan over the coming 12 months or so. To email John with information, ideas or suggestions click here. All Lanius’s input of time to Farasuto is gratis. This may change as Management Plan preparation advances. Contact

Mike Slater

Mike Slater is a butterfly specialist living in England, a member of Butterfly Conservation and Chair and Conservation Officer for the Warwickshire Branch. He was on holiday in the Gambia at the same time and John and Peter, visited Farasuto independently and coached a member of KBC (Mamadou W Jallow) in the skills of butterfly identification and behaviour such as egg laying, roosting and caterpillar food-plant identification. While there Mike produced the Farasuto butterfly list under Flora + Fauna. The most spectacular Gambian find was the overnight colonial roosting sites for the African Tiger Danaus chrysippus near Kotu. All Mike’s input to Farasuto has been gratis.

Peter Tucker – Holbrook Design

Holbrook is Peter and Alex Tucker’s company, based in Oxford providing a complete design service for the publishing industry, print-design and computing sectors. Peter is the brother of John Tucker of Lanius Ornithology (above). They were together in the Gambia for three weeks in January 2009, were introduced to the site by members of the KBC and things have developed since then. See the link in the navigation panel. Peter’s key role early on at Farasuto was to create this web site and through a companion company, Holbrook Hosting, who host the website and to design the sign for the reserve. All Holbrook Design’s input to Farasuto is gratis.

Rob Low – Rigare Ltd Consultants in Groundwater & Hydroecology

Rigare Ltd is Dr. Rob Low’s groundwater and wetland science consultancy, based in Cardiff but undertaking projects throughout the UK and further afield.  Regarding the key ingredient of wetlands, water, he offers a complete service in investigation, characterisation and management of wetland hydrology, and he has a range of associates offering additional fields of expertise such as ecology and socioeconomics.  Rob is a one-time professional contact of John Tucker and is now a friend of Farasuto having kindly offered, gratis, his advice on the hydrological monitoring regime soon to be put in place there. Contact

Saihou Colley

Mr Colley is a Gambian and the senior meteorologist at Banjul International Airport and John and Peter had the pleasure of meeting him at the airport on their way back to England in late January 2009. They discussed water issues at Farasuto and Mr Colley kindly agreed to support for the Gambian team there. He was able to assure access to the soil auger necessary to drill many metres down and place the plastic pipe ‘dip-wells’ or piezometers, see Hydrology, as well as offering access to the Gambia’s rainfall and associated hydrological records. Mr Colley’s help is gratefully acknowledged.