Community
Involvement in Adaptive Research and Wildlife Management
Malawi is
one of the most densely populated countries in Southern Africa with
a human population growth of 3.7% per annum. The depletion of natural
resources, over exploitation of wildlife and constant growth of
the human population have all taken their toll resulting in general
decline of the biological diversity.
Vwaza Marsh
Wildlife Reserve is experiencing a unique type of resource utilization
undertaken nowhere else within Sub-Saharan Africa. There are no
buffer zones in the protected area, therefore, communities are harvesting
resources inside the areas. Little is known on the impact of resource
harvesting on habitat, which might undermine the ecological integrity
of the reserve. There is no baseline information to track and evaluate
the impact of natural resource harvesting. Furthermore, there is
pressure on the limited natural resources due to the increasing
human population.
In 1994,
the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) recognized
the importance of incorporating the needs of its rural people living
adjacent to the reserve in its management. A public survey was conducted
and the majority of the community respondents indicated that they
want to be harvesting certain resources for their livelihood. In
view of this, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife started
the resource utilization program in 1995 whereby local communities
are allowed to harvest resources such as fish, thatch grass, mushrooms,
termites and others on a sustainable basis. This is part of collaborative
management, which is the cornerstone of Malawi’s wildlife policy.
The resource
utilization program inside the Reserve in Malawi is very unique
in the Sub-Saharan countries and the “Community Involvement
in Adaptive Research and Wildlife Management” project has been
designed to assess accurate baseline data on biodiversity and a
science-based understanding of biodiversity for the Reserve. It
plans to deliver this information to policymakers and help to build
the capacity of local communities and other stakeholders to better
manage the Vwaza ecosystem. This project is seeking additional funding
to continue acquiring baseline data, contact information is below.
The broad spectrum of this project is to inventory, monitor, and
assess the status of the species harvested (rare, endangered, endemic
or common), and to quantify and assess the impact of resource use
on the ecosystem.
Expected
Results
The involvement of local communities has become the highest priority
in the management and conservation of biological diversity of the
reserve and this study is expected to achieve the following results:
- Determine the natural
resource base and develop baseline data on selected resource
species.
- Investigate the
impact of resource harvesting on habitat and develop monitoring
strategies.
- Promote alternative
resource harvesting through propagation of indigenous plants.
The results
will be published for the benefit of the natural resource managers,
policy makers and other stakeholders.
Significance
of the Project
The program is vital as it involves the local communities in the
conservation of the biological diversity. The local communities
possess traditional ecological knowledge in wildlife conservation
and management. Wildlife conservation that takes on board local
communities in decision-making and responsibility sharing can achieve
conservation goals.
-- Hetherwick
G. Msiska and William O. Mgoola
Contact:
Dr. Hetherwick G. Msiska
Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve
PO Box 44
Kazuni
Rumphi
Malawi
Cousin
Island Special Reserve
Cousin Island
is one of the world's first whole island reserves. This granite
island was first made a nature reserve when it was bought in 1968
by the International Council for Bird Conservation (now BirdLife
International) in order to protect the last tiny population of a
near extinct bird species, the Seychelles Warbler. The entire island,
including the reef around it to a 400m distance, was also declared
a Special Reserve by the Seychelles Government.
The Island
is now managed by BirdLife Seychelles, a local, non-profit non-governmental
organization.
Today, the
main goals of Cousin Island Special Reserve are to maintain and
improve the richness of the island's biodiversity, to improve understanding
of small island ecology, and to provide visitors with opportunities
to experience and learn about this unique island ecosystem.
-- Nirmal
Shah
Distribution
and diversity of arboreal microarthropods in tropical forest canopies
(website)
Diversity
and faunal associations of forest canopy arthropods in the tropical
forests of West Africa is virtually unknown and information concerning
the ecology and description of these communities is lacking...Results
from our previous canopy studies support the theory that a unique
ancient forest insect community exists, with several new species
that are specific to microhabitats within these forest ecosystems...
We propose
to document the community composition of the canopy microarthropod
fauna in this tropical forest, correlate this with tree species,
distribution within the canopy and associations with epiphytes.
-- Neville
Winchester
Indian
Ocean Biodiversity Assessment (website)
In 1905
and 1908-1909 the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition visited the islands
of the western Indian Ocean to investigate the biological relationships
between the islands of the Seychelles, Mascarenes and Chagos groups
and to locate evidence for former land connections between the islands.
This expedition still forms the basis of our understanding of the
region's biogeography with the recognition that the granitic Seychelles
islands are continental fragments of Gondwana, isolated from India
and Madagascar 65 million years ago whilst the other islands are
volcanic in origin. The continental history of the granitic islands
results in a divers and archaic fauna, with more recent immigrant
taxa of African, Malagasy or cosmopolitan origin. The Mascarenes,
Amirantes, Aldabra and Chagos Island groups all support immigrant
taxa with affinities resulting from the predominant marine currents.
Western
Indian Ocean biogeography is of great interest due to the combination
of the influences of dispersal and vicariance over a large geographical
area and to the retention of archaic taxa recognizable as family-level
endemics or as combining features of distinct families characteristic
of both the Indian and Afro-Malagasy regions. Despite this ecological
and evolutionary significance the islands have received relatively
little attention since the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition. The smaller
Mascarene Islands are still virtually unexplored from a biological
perspective and the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition remains the most
extensive study of the Seychelles islands. Since 1909 there have
been a small number of small-scale expeditions. The result of these
expeditions is that collections have been made on 31 islands, of
which only 12 have been studied in sufficient detail to provide
meaningful data. A further 84 have not been studied with the exception
of individual visits to record reptiles and birds. Collections made
in the 1990s indicate the occurrence of significant faunal changes
in recent years resulting from continued colonization from Madagascar
and invasion by alien species.
There is
a need to review the current biodiversity of the islands to determine
the conservation status of the region's biodiversity and to investigate
the balance of colonization and extinction over the last 100 years.
The conservation requirements of the islands are pressing due to
the expansion of development on the islands, the decline of historical
land management practices and the spread of alien species.
The assessment
will survey the terrestrial and fresh-water biodiversity of all
115 Seychelles Islands. This international expedition, timed to
be completed for the centenary of the Percy Sladen Trust Expedition,
would use thorough collecting techniques on each island to make
representative collections of all animals, plants, lichens, fungi
and protests on each island, including surveys of important, but
neglected parasites. For many of these groups this will be the first
systematic study in the region. The proposed project will provide
the data required to locate important biodiversity sites, identify
areas and taxa of concern and evaluate the current distribution
of alien species and their spread over the last 100 years. Surveying
the islands that remain uncollected will fill in the main gaps in
our knowledge of the region's biodiversity and facilitate interpretation
of the biogeographical patterns. The compilation of biodiversity
data for the 115 coraline and granitic islands of the Seychelles
group will provide a unique resource for the study of island biogeography
as both the largest and the only complete data-set for all taxa
and all islands in a single biogeographical region. The contrasts
between oceanic and continental islands and the historical comparison
available for some of the islands will make these results of exceptional
significance. These data are needed to further scientific knowledge
of the region, to plan appropriate conservation measures and to
ensure that development can be environmentally sensitive in important
biodiversity sites.
During the
course of this project it is expected that many new species will
be discovered. In recognition of the project's major sponsors, new
species will be named after them. This will provide a permanent
testimony to their essential and far-sighted support for science
and conservation. The initial research carried out in preparation
for the full project have already identified species not seen for
over 100 years and many new species of animals, including a new
species of dwarf frog.
At each
stage of the project will be followed by preliminary reports and
the findings will also be published throughout 2001 and 2002 in
peer reviewed and popular articles. There are at least 7 taxonomic
papers in development including one on a new frog species.
Picture:
-- Justin
Gerlach
Management
of Seychelles Avian Ecosystems
The objective
of this project, funded by the GEF/World Bank and implemented by
BirdLife Seychelles, is to restore biodiversity of island habitats
through the successful management of ecosystems important to birds.
Birds have been chosen as the flagship species of the project because
they are known to be excellent indicators for the health of ecosystems.
The priorities
are habitats of three of the four critically endangered birds of
Seychelles: Scops Owl, Paradise Flycatcher and magpie Robin.
It is expected
that successful implementation of the project will not only result
in the restoration of theses endangered bird populations but also
other biodiversity. Monitoring of habitats, and other fauna and
flora associated with these birds will measure the value of this
project. It will use knowledge based science to:
- Improve management
and restoration of three ecosystems and their endangered endemic
birds
- Assess islands,
implement initial measures to restore one of them and prepare
for translocation of at least one endemic bird
- Design models for
tropical island restoration and bird conservation that can be
repeated
- Forester training
and partnership that will facilitate management of threatened
ecosystems throughout the Western Indian Ocean
- Measure socio-economic
values of biodiversity, and integrate conservation further with
decisions on development.
The project will lead to an:
- Increase in the
quality of island ecosystems by partially restoring one island
- Increase in the
knowledge of the limiting factors of bird species
- Increase in bird
population size and geographical range, particularly for the
three critically endangered bird species
- Increase in the
number of trained Seychellois in island restoration and species
recovery
- Increase in the
ability of stakeholders to work together
- Increase in earnings
from tourism related to nature
- Increase in awareness
of the value and importance of Seychelles biodiversity
-- Nirmal Shah
