First quarterly report

Transcription

1 First quarterly report (January, February and March) One the way to the forest of Anabohazo Guy Randriatahina, Programme Director Lot IVH 169 N Ambohimanandray Antananarivo Madagascar 1

2 Acronyms GPS: Global Positionning System SOS: Save Our Species Table of content 1. Staff meeting Improvement in tourist camp Boat minor maintenance Reforestation in Analalava Conservation project in Anabohazo to protect Eulemur flavifrons... 5 a. Implementation of the project... 5 b. Training of research guides... 6 c. Human pressures... 7 d. Mapping of villages around the forest of Anabohazo... 8 List of photos Photo 1 Grass Photo 2 Grass on the walkways... 3 Photo 3 Garden Photo 4 Orange tree... 3 Photo 7 Boat small repair... 4 Photo 5 Young plant of Terminalia Mantaly Photo 6 Reforesting... 4 Photo 8 Meeting in Ambinda... 6 Photo 9 Practice on use of GPS Photo 10 Lemur counting... 6 Photo 11 Solar lamps Photo 12 Cooking material for the camp... 7 Photo 13 Stock of woods... 8 List of tables Table 1 Group composition of Eulemur flavifrons... 7 Table 2 Information on the nearby villages

3 These activities were carried out with the support and contribution of the following AEECL Zoo members If your logo needs updating, please it to 2

4 1. Staff meeting Presentation of wishes was carried out at the beginning of the year. We also did a staff evaluation of the previous year and present the activities for 2016 in Antsohihy, Analalava and Ankarafa station. For the staff of Analalava to Antsohihy, there was no comment about the staff work including the interpersonal relationship. On the other hand, there was a professional negligence and problem of relationship between staff in Ankarafa station. Professional negligence included the non-respect of the working hours and days off schedule mainly for those working in research camp. During the evaluation, we emphasized that everyone has to respect the leave schedule and to work every day. Despite this decision, all employees decide to work seriously and asked for a pay raise. 2. Improvement in tourist camp The rain period is favorable for planting. At the tourist camp, the staff has grown grass on the walkways. They also cultivated bananas, oranges and satrana tree. They started to prepare the soil of the vegetable garden, but planting began from April. This improvement aimed to create an orchard in camp and also to produce vegetables as food for the camp. Photo 1 Grass Photo 2 Grass on the walkways Photo 3 Garden Photo 4 Orange tree 3. Boat minor maintenance When the rain falls, all baggage and provisions in the boat are wet. We have repaired cracks and leaking area. This repair is made to Analalava by our team itself. There were only minor repairs to temporarily stop the water flowing inside trunk. The final maintenance must be done by qualified people. The last date of maintenance of the boat was in

5 Photo 5 Boat small repair 4. Reforestation in Analalava AEECL is well-known within the District of Analalava as an organization for environment protection. Therefore, the Chef cantonnement de l environnement et Forêt invited us for a reforestation which took place in Analalava in January 28, The reforestation happened in Bevilany about 15km from Analalava which is about 3 hours of hiking. No trees grow in the area. It is savannas and is often burned. The authorities decided to reforest this place to create some greenery. As the area was reforested one year ago, our task was to check if there were any dead young trees and replace them. And also we planted new saplings. At the beginning of the reforestation the Chef de Cantonment de l environnement et Forêt explained to the participants the planting technique such as hole size and space between two saplings. A total of 1,200 Terminalia Mantaly young trees and 800 Acacia auriculiformis are reforested by 100 people. To protect seedlings, the organizer will create firebreaks around the reforestation site as we did in Ankarafa. Photo 6 Young plant of Terminalia mantaly Photo 7 Reforesting 4

6 5. Conservation project in Anabohazo to protect Eulemur flavifrons In term of conservation action, the block forest of Anabohazo was the least affected. No research station is established there and forest monitoring is not common as that of the block forest of Ankarafa. Thus, the forest of Anabohazo is highly threatened. In order to reinforce the conservation of the biodiversity of the park, we have implemented a conservation project of the critically endangered blue-eyed black lemur which is the flagship species of the Sahamalaza-Iles Radama National Park. Late in 2015, we have submitted a grant application to the Save of Species organization and it was accepted. The project entitled Reinforcing conservation activities to ensure the longterm survival of the critically endangered blue-eyed black lemur. The project consists in the development of a research center, training of guides, census of lemurs species and implementation of ecotourism. It is a Rapid Action Grant and will last 1 year. We had the funding and the project is implemented. The project objective is to: - prevent prevention the extinction of the blue-eyed black lemur habitat, - decrease the forest habitat destruction of the blue-eyed black lemur by the reduction of the anthropogenic activities within the park such as slash and burn agriculture, selective logging, uncontrolled fire and hunting, - improve the local communities living conditions by the development of the ecotourism, - change the local communities behavior through education and outreach activities. a. Implementation of the project The guides who will work in the new station were already informed since December. But the official launch of the project was made in village of Ambinda in March 19, The launch meeting is assisted by village representatives who are key people including the head of village, elder, head of community health, teachers, the president of the association nursery and few villagers. In total 25 people attended the meeting. The objective of this meeting is to present the project, its context, its objectives, its outcomes, the environment and organization of the project and to have the confidence of the villages. This meeting is important for the establishment, in confidence, of the future collaboration bases (roles, responsibilities, communication, etc.). These people had no doubt about the project. They were unanimously agreed and happy on the implementation of the project. In addition, the creation of the research center was among of their wishes for a long time to protect the forest Anabohazo and its biodiversity. 5

7 Photo 8 Meeting in Ambinda b. Training of research guides The local guides were trained on lemur census methodology and the use of GPS in order to increase their skills. The training was carried out in the forest for 5 days. Regarding the lemur census methodology, the line transect method was chosen, this method is simple and does not require high skill level. The guides were trained how to estimate the density of lemurs along the transect line. As practical training, we have established 2 transects of 2km that the guides will use as lemur observation habituation. Concerning the use of GPS, the guides were trained how to record waypoints, and how to calculate distance between two points. GPS, etrex 10 was used because it is easy to handle. The guides were also learnt basic information about lemurs such as lemur behavior, scientific and both of english and french names. When they become familiarize with this method, more transect will be established. From now, the guides work every day except Sunday. They conduct lemur observation along the transect three days a week and they walked 2 transects per day. These three days are interspersed by lemur group habituation. For each observed group, the group size and composition are recorded. Photo 9 Practice on use of GPS Photo 10 Lemur counting The guides made census only during the day, however, all lemur species observed are noted either they are diurnal or nocturnal. 6

8 Table 1 Group composition of Eulemur flavifrons Females Males Total Group Group Group Group Group Group Group Group Group Group Group Group Group As show in the table, the guides counted 122 individual of Eulemlur flavifrons from 13 groups since the implantation of the project from January to March We did not calculate yet the density because we will have to make sure if they have followed the method correctly. The same for the waypoints, they are not considered either, as the use of GPS is not fully acquired. Photo 11 Solar lamps Photo 12 Cooking material for the camp Some equipment such as GPS, solar lamps and kitchen utensils were bought and left at the camp in the forest of Anabohazo. c. Human pressures Local guides told that some people have used toxic substances to capture lemurs but this has not been verified. Seven woods were found outside the forest. The local guides said that they were from the forest. Some villagers use the track into the forest to go through the village. According to the guides, the lemurs have fled once they saw them. That means people disturbed or hunt them. 7

9 This villager s behavior has to be changed and we will tell them during environmental education. Photo 13 Stock of woods The local guides reported what happened in the forest but anyone has not been observed doing those pressures. d. Mapping of villages around the forest of Anabohazo There are 5 villages around the park. Although the village of Ampanitoa is the nearest village from the forest, the village of Ambinda remains the center because the main path passes through the village. While during the rainy season, the path passes the village of Betsimipoaka is often used to reach the forest. For this project, we chose the village of Ambinda as the main village. The forest is about 1 hour 30 on walk from the village. Table 2 Information on the nearby villages Village Number of villagers Distance (village-forest) Walking time Ambinda km 1 h :30 Betsimipoaka km 4 h :30 Ampanitoa km 1 h :30 Befanivana 100 7,5 km 2 h :00 Andaveno II km 3 h :30 8