They Call Me Pest
Fundraising campaign by
Diane Gueho
-
£2,990.00raised of £5,000.00 goal goal
Funding for ‘They Call Me Pest'
In October of 2015 The Mauritian government authorised the cull of 18,000 Mauritius Flying Fox (Pteropus Niger), a specie of bats endemic to our island. They claimed that the recent rise in their population was threatening the island’s fruit crops. The government estimated their numbers to be 90,000 although the conservationists at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation estimated the numbers to be about 50,000.
In the approach of the litchi and mango season, every year around October, fruit farmers lobby the government for “crop security” and blame most of their fruit loss on bats.
In this documentary we shed some light on the subject...
- We talk to fruit farmers who want their fruit to be protected from bats.
- We talk to Mauritians who used to hunt bats as part of their heritage and consider them as a culinary delicacy.
- We discuss with scientists and conservationists to find out why this endemic specie is important for our ecosystem.
Aim of the documentary:
A lot of Mauritians view the fruit bat as a pest. This documentary's aim is to find a way to help mango and litchi tree owners protect their fruits against the bats but will also hopefully inform Mauritians, and the wider world about the importance of our endemic bat in our ecosystem.
Our goal is to show the documentary in public and private schools on the island, and also broadcast the documentary on the national channel (Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation).
What exactly do we need funds for?
We have already captured some amazing images but not enough for the documentary to be complete. As you could guess, filming interesting images of bats is tricky. They sleep during the day and hang at the top of very tall trees. What we really want to film is when they are active, which is at night. You need top quality equipment to capture images of a subject far away from the camera, and even better equipment when you have little to no light.
-Equipment
We will need to hire cameras and lenses. We also want to get drone images of bats flying and images of the Island’s unique wildlife in general from the air.
-Transport/fuel
For this project we will need to travel all around the island to film the diverse wildlife and interview different people.
-Editor
We need someone to edit the film. If you aren’t familiar with how filmmaking works, especially documentaries, then you wouldn’t know that to make a wildlife documentary you accumulate hours of footage that an editor has to go through, choose and cut.
-Animations
We would like to show the significant pollination contribution that bats have on the island. We think that the best way to explain that would be through an animation.
-Grading
Grading is the process of altering and enhancing the colour of a motion picture. We want to hire a professional so that we can make the documentary’s images as beautiful as real life.
-Music & Sound
Every movie needs music, we are working in collaboration with the famous Mauritian band ‘Grup Latanier’ for a soundtrack and will also need to hire some sound recording equipment for filming on location.
Now you know what the funds are needed for, if you want to see this film come true then share and make a donation ! :)
Organizer
- Diane Gueho
- Campaign Owner
Donors
- Anonymous
- Donated on Mar 21, 2017
Well done Diane:-) Can't wait to see the finished documentary. Big hugs Xxxxxx
- Anthony Bouic
- Donated on Feb 22, 2017
What exactly are we raising funds for ?
Update posted by Diane Gueho at 09:40 amWe have already captured some amazing images but not enough for the documentary to be complete. As you could guess, filming interesting images of bats is tricky. They sleep during the day and hang at the top of very tall trees. What we really want to film is when they. . . . .
Donors & Comments
- 3 Million Page
- Posted On Jun 25, 2017
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- Anonymous
- Donated on Mar 21, 2017
Well done Diane:-) Can't wait to see the finished documentary. Big hugs Xxxxxx
- Anthony Bouic
- Donated on Feb 22, 2017
- Andrei Zandreik
- Posted On Feb 12, 2017
if someone want to help me /support-my-art
- Julie Hervel
- Donated on Sep 29, 2016
Keep it up ! I am eager to watch this documentary :)
- Kim Yip Tong
- Donated on Sep 28, 2016
I'm a poor student might give more next month ;)
- Martha Ornberg
- Donated on Sep 28, 2016
This looks like an amazing project! Go you!
- Catherine Ramnauth
- Donated on Sep 20, 2016
Je suis mauricienne par adoption, je suis mariée à un mauricien depuis 33 ans, et j'aime l'Ile Maurice. J'ai foulé le sol mauricien pour la 1ère fois en 1981... J'ai, depuis, suivi son développement, souvent avec beaucoup de tristesse. J'habite Ebene et lorsque l'année dernière au mois de novembre, je suivais en direct le massacre des chauve-souris, j'étais horrifiée. Ma colére était indescriptible du fait de mon impuissance à changer le cours des choses, ma tristesse profonde. Je pleurais à chaque coup de feu qui faisait écho et qui tirait de leur sommeil ces pauvres roussettes de leur sommeil en formant un gigantesque nuage noire au-dessus de la montagne. Le spectacle était désolant, macabre... Et je ne pouvais rien faire si ce n'est crier mon désarroi en le dénonçant sur les réseaux sociaux. En voyant votre vidéo ce matin, qu'une amie partageait, j'ai eu un regain d'espoir. Je vous souhaite tout le succès que vous méritez pour cette initiative qui j'espère portera ses fruits auprès des mauriciens mais surtout auprès des autorités mauriciennes... Merci.
- nethyanand Chunwan
- Donated on Sep 19, 2016
- Tom Elliott
- Donated on Sep 13, 2016
Fantastic cause
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