A 23-YEAR-old documentary filmmaker from Hereford is currently on a solo journey to the Peruvian Amazon to film a monkey facing impending extinction.

Former Hereford Cathedral School pupil, Lizzie Jenkins, is hoping her documentary will make an important contribution to the current primate conservation crisis.

The documentary focuses on the Taricaya Ecological Reserve which is making breakthroughs in its fight to save the black-faced spider monkey, which is hunted for its meat and illegally trafficked across the globe.

Located in the Peruvian Amazon and accessible by boat alone, the reserve's team of world leading primatologists and conservationists, are striving to reintroduce the primate to an area where its ceased to exist for almost a century.

Lizzie said: "Caught in the spitfire of corrupted governmental bodies and media censorship, this documentary follows the team’s journey as they battle with black market and trafficking syndicates in the fight to save this remarkable species."

Lizzie studied art at the University of Edinburgh and now practises as an independent filmmaker.

She said: "Armed with a camera from a young age, my artistic practices throughout school, university and beyond, have always explored man’s relationship with the natural world.

"After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Art, I spent a year training in filmmaking under the guidance of OTOXO Productions. I now practise as an independent filmmaker, alongside studying part time for an MA in Advertising and Marketing."

Her family live in Roman Road in Hereford and she regularly returns home to visit.

She hopes to share her documentary, which is called Taricaya, with the county.

She said: "With all my roots tied to Hereford, including roaming its countryside for inspiration, I feel passionately about sharing this film with its community. I plan to host screenings on the film across the county as well as the rest of the country upon its completion."

In 2015 she travelled to the Amazon to carry out a research trip and has now returned to carry out the filming needed.

Lizzie said: "I remember reading Journey To The River Sea by Eva Ibbotson when I was younger, an adventure children’s novel that tells the story of an orphaned girl who journeys to the Amazon rainforest.

"This book is where my desire to experience the rainforest began, a fascination that’s grown with time."

The majority of the project has been self-funded but Hereford Cathedral School awarded her a travel grant to help fund the film.