Monitoring The Health Of Kenya’s Reefs
Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Reef fish research | Date: Aug 31 2009 | By: gvikenya
My name is Aaron. I am a conservation student from England. I have joined Global Vision International (GVI) as a conservation intern to gain experience in the marine biology field. I have been with GVI for 9 weeks with a further 11 weeks to go.
This week on Marine represented a new opportunity to expand GVI’s research in Kenya. The majority of GVI’s marine research has concentrated on monitoring tourist and fishing activity against dolphin behavior and abundance. Whilst this research has been, and continues to provide essential data to Kenya Wildlife Service, it is only focused on the effects to cetaceans.
Setting up the survey
This week we were able to begin monitoring reef fish abundance, with the intention of creating a long term data capture, similar to that of the dolphin surveys. This means that not only will we be able to see effects of tourism and fishing on dolphins, but we will also be able to see the effects on not only reef fish, but also coral reef habitats as the abundance of reef fish can indicate the health of reef habitats, which also act as feeding grounds for dolphins.
The way reef fish surveys are done is by sampling 5 random sections of coral reef habitats. Reef fish species and size are noted down. This gives a snapshot of the reef fish abundance at any one point in time and provides data on an exciting and important aspect of the marine ecology of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area. It’s an honour to help set up this research and I am proud to be contributing to something that can make a real difference.
Survey training underway
Tags: abundance, cetaceans, coral, data capture, Dolphins, ecology, fishing, habitat, Kenya Wildlife Service, kisite mpunguti marine protected area, long term, marine, reef fish, surveys, tourists
Charcoal - The Alternatives!
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 27 2009 | By: gvikenya
Ok people, so in the last two blogs we’ve discussed how charcoal is made here in Shimoni forest, and how it is done mainly by desperate people with no other choice who, given the opportunity, would gladly do something else. So I’ve spent the last day fighting a battle with our temperamental internet connection to see what kind of alternatives I can find. I shall continue my search relentlessly, until we find an option that will work here.
Kenya’s coastal forests
All of the techniques I’ve manage to find so far all seem to revolve around a similar principle. One puts the organic material of choice into a large steel drum, burns it under low-oxygen conditions (to allow for carbonisation), mixes it with some sort of binding agent, and then presses it into charcoal briquettes. Depending on the organic material used, the methods differ slightly, but not by much. Here are some of the options…
Corn cobs
Get a 200 litre steel drum and fill it 1/3 full with dried corn cobs. Ignite the contents, and burn until the smoke disappears. Refill the drum approximately 2/3 full and reignite. Allow to burn until the smoke disappears. Allow the contents to cool, empty the drum and sprinkle the contents with water. Allow to dry in the sun, and then separate the “charcoal” from the ashes.
These were all the instructions given – they appear a bit basic and I’m skeptical about the quality of the resultant charcoal. Quick and easy though, so worth an experiment!
An earth-mound kiln
Coconut shells
Again, get a 200 litre steel drum. Cut a hole in the top (30cm diameter), and attach poles to the cut section so it can be used as a lid. Drill a series of small holes in the bottom of the drum and place the drum on stones to allow air to enter. Fill the drum 1/3 full with coconut shells, add a little bit of kerosene and ignite. Allow to burn for 5 minutes before putting the lid on. The colour of the smoke should change from black to white. Take the lid off, add more shells (up to 10kg’s apparently) and wait until more black smoke is produced (this means the new shells are burning). Repeat this process until the drum is full of charcoal. After 8 hours, remove the drum from the stones and seal the lid with mud so no oxygen at all can enter the drum. Leave in this state for 12 hours. Remove and sieve contents.
Sugarcane waste (bagasse)
This method is very similar to the above method. The instructions I found however are written by a student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and are very detailed. She gives much more instruction with regards to the different stages and required airflow through the drum. This method differs in that once the initial carbonisation stage is over, the resultant charcoal “fines” need to be mixed with a binding agent. In this case she uses a porridge made from cassava – a hardy root vegetable.
Various organic material
I found another set of instructions that again, is a similar process to the ones above. It follows suit with the sugarcane method, and requires a binder. They suggest using soil with a high clay content. This method claims that almost any organic material can be used (coconut shells/husks, corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse, roots of vetiver grass, dry leaves etc.).
So there we have it. Finding all of that took a matter of a few hours. I think with a bit more digging, plenty more is out there. It is time for me to ask a small favour from all of you wonderful readers who would also like to see the end to the destruction of our beautiful forest. If anyone has any bright ideas about what we can use as a binding agent (we don’t have soil with high clay content, and I don’t think cassava is abundant here – I will check though), please throw them our way. Remember it has to be cheap (preferably free…!). And of course, if anyone has any information / ideas / websites / friends / contacts / suggestions about alternative charcoal – you know where we are!
I’ll keep you all updated on our experimentation progress…
Tags: bagasse, binding agent, briquettes, carbonisation, carbonised, cassava, charcoal, coconut husk, coconut shell, corn cobs, experimentation, kerosene, methods, MIT, organic material, oxygen, porridge, root vegetable, Shimoni Forest, smoke, steel drum, sugarcane
Charcoal - The Real Issue…
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 26 2009 | By: gvikenya
So everyone knows about the problems related to unregulated, inefficient and illegal charcoal burning. It’s very easy for one to sit back and point the finger at the people conducting these activities, labeling them criminals. The real issue however, is slightly more complex than that.
We have been conducting research in Shimoni forest for over three years, and have been working with the community group Friends of Shimoni Forest for two and a half years. Through all of this we have had a lot of experience with the issue of charcoal burning, and have countless meetings (both organized and impromptu) with the charcoal burners themselves. What we’ve found in the majority of cases, is that these people do not want to be charcoal burning any more than we do. The difference being, we have the luxury of choice.
The result of a charcoal pit
The vast majority of people in this area are living below the poverty line, and are desperately poor. They have families to feed and school fees to pay for, and they don’t have any choice. They know charcoal burning is illegal, and they know it does huge damage to the forest. Most of them would muc rather be doing something else, but if it comes down to feeding their families – it’s not even a choice. We have been asked by so may of them to find them alternatives, to offer them a choice. And if a choice was offered, they would happily give it up.
An earth-mound kiln ready to light
So that’s our mission. The solution to the problem is clear: find an alternative to charcoal burning. One thing we need to remember is that everyone in the entire area (and most of the country) use charcoal to cook. So not only do we need to find an alternative income for the burners themselves, but we need to find a charcoal replacement otherwise we will have only solved half of the problem.
The obvious way around this is combine the alternative livelihoods with the production of alternative, forest friendly charcoal!
To the internet! I will be back in the next day or two with what I’ve found…
Tags: , alternative livlihoods, charcoal, Charcoal Burning, criminals, Friends of Shimoni Forest, inefficient, poor, poverty line, Shimoni Forest, unregulated
Charcoal Burning - The Technical Side
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 25 2009 | By: gvikenya
If you cast your eyes back through some of the many blogs we’ve posted, you’ll see that plenty of them are about, or refer to, charcoal burning. We assume that most people have established what we are talking about – the means by which charcoal is produced. We thought however, it may be of interest to some people to know a bit more detail about this destructive and highly inefficient form of resource use.
About 47% of Kenyan households use charcoal, and total charcoal production is about 2.4 million tones (or 67 million bags weighing 36kg each). The widespread preference for charcoal is explained primarily by its affordability; it is the cheapest form of household cooking fuel (Kwale Management Team, 2009).
In Shimoni forest and the surrounding area, the majority of charcoal burning is done for subsistence purposes, and therefore on a relatively small scale when compared to commercial operations. The methods these subsistence charcoal producers use however, are basic and highly inefficient. The standard method is that of the earth-mound kiln.
A typical earth-mound kiln
The earth-mound kiln will begin with the digging of a shallow pit, which will be as big in surface area as the producer would like it to be. Just from personal experience, I have seen smaller kilns no more than 2 metres by 3 metres, and larger ones of up to 5 metres by 5 metres. These are quite small when compared to commercial kilns, but still do huge amounts of damage.
Trees are then cut down, cut into small pieces and piled up in the bottom of the pit. A wall, or structure is then built around the pit using lumps of rock and coral, tightly packed with earth. An earth roof is then constructed, sealing the structure. The idea is to starve the combustion process of oxygen, so only a couple of very small holes are left to allow smoke to escape. Some sort of fuel is poured over the wood before it is lit, to aid in the lighting process. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but my guess would be something like diesel, judging by the smell that is emitted. Long pieces of dry grass are fed in through the sides and roof so that once everything is sealed, the grass is simply lit, igniting the contents inside.
One of the smaller charcoal pits
Generally speaking, old, mature hardwood trees are cut down. Only a relatively small portion of the felled tree will actually go into the kiln. Only 10% of the wood that goes into the kiln will end up as usable charcoal. And of that percentage that does become charcoal, 80% of the energy in the wood has already been lost. The rest of the wood, and energy goes to waste.
The end result
Tags: affordability, burning, charcoal, combustion, commercial operations, cooking fuel, coral, destructive, diesel, earth-mound kiln, energy, hardwood trees, inefficient, kwale management teaem, mature trees, old trees, oxygen, resource use, rocks, Shimoni Forest, subsistence
Circumnavigating Shimoni Forest
Category: Coastal Forest, Colobus, Primate Research, Primate census, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 24 2009 | By: gvikenya
About two weeks ago I wrote a few blogs about the colobus census we conducted in Shimoni east forest, for a masters dissertation. Marta, who has been with us for almost 10 weeks, is doing a masters degree in environmental modeling, monitoring and reconstruction. The aim of her dissertation is to assess the effects of forest fragmentation on the distribution of the rare subspecies of Angolan black and white colobus.
The main bulk of her practical work was the census, which we successfully conducted a few weeks ago. To go hand in hand with that, and to provide the information she will need to utilise GIS mapping systems, we needed to get the GPS coordinates of the entire circumference of the forest. It turned out to be a far more challenging task than we imagined…
Myself and Marta spent two days traversing the perimeter of the forest on foot, with out hand-held GPS recording coordinates every 10 seconds. We started at the southern most point, and walked (vaguely) north-east, following the edge that borders Shimoni village, and ended at the very top of the forest, beyond the village of Anziwani. It was enormously challenging! The main reasons were because the edge of the forest is marked by very thick, very dense new growth, shrubs, thorns and thickets! We were very glad to have a sharp panga (machete) with us. The other main reason was because we are just coming out of the main rainy season, everything was green, thick and overgrown, and actually distinguishing between the technical forest edge, and the new growth and sporadic pockets of trees, was nearly impossible.
One of the easier sections… There was actually a path!
It was an adventure though, and we both got back at the end of each day with scratches and bruises galore and very tired legs, but content in the knowledge that once her dissertation is complete, it will be an invaluable source and tool, in the fight to highlight the damage being done to this beautiful coastal forest, and home to these charismatic primates.
Tags: anziwani, Colobus, dissertation, forest edge, masters, modelling, monitoring, reconstruction, shimoni, Shimoni Forest, university
Stop Press: Eco-tourism In Shimoni Forest As Featured In The Lonely Planet!
Category: Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 19 2009 | By: gvikenya
Hello there,
My question for the day: how do you find Shimoni Forest? Well, a good place to start is the Lonely Planet…
A year ago when we were in the early stages of planning community-based eco-tourism with guided walks in Shimoni Forest to see the beautiful Angolan black and white colobus monkeys in their natural habitat as an alternative, sustainable use of forest resources, we had a surprise visitor… a travel writer from the Lonely Planet.
We plied him with as much information as we could about the planned guided walks in Shimoni forest and also community-based cultural tourism in Mkwiro, where we have our marine research base and work closely with a community that has many challenges in accessing the tourism revenue that Kisite Marine Park brings to the area. It is fair to say that at the time, everything was very much a ‘work in progress’ and we have continued to support the development of these initiatives over the last year.
But I am ecstatic to report that the Lonely Planet put their faith in our optimism, and have put both Shimoni Forest and Mkwiro village on the map - or at least in the pages of their latest edition of the Kenya Lonely Planet. This is about the best free marketing we could have hoped for.
In actual fact, the first we knew of Shimoni and Mkwiro’s recent rise to backpacker prominence was when an excited Faridi, our friend in Mkwiro, received a phone call for a Mkwiro homestay booking. Within days Athumani, treasurer of Friends of Shimoni Forest, had an enquiry about a guided walk in Shimoni Forest. It took a few more days before we found out where the leads had come from, and it gives us a huge amount of encouragement. So now the challenge is on to get the communities up to speed and delivering a professional, enjoyable and worthwhile eco-tourism experience, but it is a challenge we are relishing!
As you have been reading we have been out cutting the tourist trails but to ensure we are offering an eco-tourism experience that is both professional and educational, we really need to find financial support for Friends of Shimoni Forest; to access some of the sacred kaya sites over the coral rag we will need to construct a raised boardwalk to keep visitors safely on their feet, we hope to compile signs and information boards and an information centre with restaurant to enable visitors to spend the day exploring the rich forest wildlife on their ‘Shimoni safari’!
We see this as an invaluable opportunity to raise awareness about the conservation of Shimoni’s coastal forest and the wider eco-region and to engage the local community in generating sustainable revenue from their forest resources and wildlife rather than exploiting them through extraction of timber and charcoal. Our coastal forests are a Global Biodiversity Hotspot and it seems only fitting that we tap in to the global community to support their conservation. So we are asking all of you that would like to help contribute to community-based conservation in Shimoni and safeguard the future of the colobus in their natural habitat to consider donating towards this cause.
The support of the Lonely Planet has really instilled the confidence in us all here in Shimoni to make this happen and we hope that it will instill confidence in you to donate the much needed funds.
Here’s to a brighter future in Shimoni,
Corti
Tags: angolan black and white colobus, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, lonely planet, Shimoni Forest
Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area Receive Further Training
Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Environmental Education, Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area | Date: Aug 18 2009 | By: gvikenya
Thursday was a slightly different day for the marine team, as we headed to the other side of Wasini Island to give a series of lectures to the Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area (WLMMA) group. We headed out from Mkwiro in two groups; one on foot along the path of the mangroves on the north side of Wasini Island and the other in Squirrel, our boat, travelling west along the channel to reach our destination, Wasini Village.
On our arrival we were ushered to the local football club building by Feisal, one of the committee members of the WLMMA, the group we would be giving lectures to for the day. We waited patiently for the rest of the villagers and members to arrive. The day began with a prayer by one of the village elders, a man of eminent presence, dressed from head to toe in flowing white with a kofia, but also with a touch of the modern day with a hearing aid and flashy sunglasses. Before the presentations kicked off everyone introduced themselves, and we learnt that amongst the members present there were several fishermen and elders of the village.
Sergi giving a presentation
The Wasini LMMA committee began in 2003, when PACT Kenya visited several villages around the Shimoni peninsula area of the south coast. Their aim was to educate the people of these areas on the value of the environment around them and ways to conserve it, as well as highlighting particular marine areas near the villages that were susceptible to the negative impacts of tourism and over-fishing. The locally managed marine area of Wasini runs from the west tip of the island around the coast finishing mid-way along the north side of the island, encompassing several areas of mangroves and also the reef in front of the village. The group have already introduced and enforced the use of mooring buoys due to the devastating impact of the anchors of the many dolphin dhows that stop to have lunch in Wasini village. They also have daily boat patrols to apprehend anyone using illegal fishing techniques that damage the reef, including spear-gun and dynamite fishing.
Emma mid-presentation
The group’s main project at present is to take tourists out to a section of the reef for snorkelling trips. So our job was to give lectures and educate the group on several aspects of the marine environment. The lectures included conservation, mangroves, marine mammal biology, whale and dolphin species, sea turtles, reef fish, marketing and company etiquette. The presentations went brilliantly with the students being extremely involved, asking many questions whilst also teaching our volunteers; Kiswahili names and some local traditions.
However we did not spend the whole day in lectures and there was time to have a chai and cake break, lunch in a new eco-friendly restaurant with a delicacy of sea grass on the menu, and a game of football with some of the local children. We were also taken out to the snorkelling area which was an amazing experience. The guys had warned us that we would not see fish any where near the size of the fish found in Kisite-Mpunguti MPA, but this did not damper the experience at all, it just meant everything was miniature! Amongst the many fish species observed we saw anemonefish, an Indian lionfish (Pterois muricata) lurking beneath an over hanging rock, Black-saddled tobies Canthigaster valentine, juvenile Black snappers (Macolor niger) and an Emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) elegantly gliding around the reef. All in all a very rewarding day for everyone involved!
Tags: anemonefish, black snapper, cake, chai, Community Conservation, emporer angelfish, indian lionfish, lectures, local traditions, marine environment, marine mammal, Wasini Locally Managed Marine Area, workshop
Funzi Island Turtle Conservation
Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Kaya, Mangroves, Turtles | Date: Aug 17 2009 | By: gvikenya
Howzit!!
My name is Nic. I am a conservation student from South Africa. I have joined Global Vision International (GVI) as a conservation intern to gain experience in the field of marine biology. I have been with GVI for 7 weeks with a further 13 weeks to go.
In accordance with my internship project on the socio-economic impact and tourism strategies of Funzi Island, this involves the establishment of a baseline review of the turtle conservation efforts on the Island. It calls for me to:
• Identify areas that will require further development with direct and indirect benefits for the Turtle Conservation Groups (TCG) and that of the local turtle populations;
• Identify breaches of local laws and legislations that protect the turtles;
• Research alternative conservation strategies;
• Ways in which the GVI can assist the TCG’s in their endeavours;
• Look at ways to increase eco-tourism sustainably and build local awareness of sea turtle conservation;
• Identify environmental impact associated with tourism of the local sea turtle population and hence find the best measures in which to mitigate each impact.
Funzi Island
Sergi (marine science officer for GVI), and I made our way for the weekend to meet up with Douglas, who works for KESCOM and Ali Vuyaa the head of the local turtle conservation group on the Island, Funzi Turtle Club (FTC).
We arrived at Bodo and where transported via the FTC’s boat to the Island. The weekend was peppered with activities which included: a meeting on conservation strategies that are in place and ways to better future endeavours on Funzi, and the local communities involvement in turtle conservation on the island, a walk through the forest where exotic fruits were tasted and tantalised our palates while local monkeys swung freely through the canopy above, a turtle nesting site was visited on a excluded beach cove, a village tour that was undertaken, lunch at a local restaurant had, a visitation of the islands holy kaya’s, meeting with local community involved with the FTC and anti-poaching strategies as well as being shown the local handicrafts made from sandals collected from beach clean ups and a mangrove tour.
One of the sacred Kaya’s
A down side to this visit to this magical place was to see the amount of destruction created by land developers on the forest and mangroves, which the local community are trying to rectify through the TCG’s involvement and the assistance of GVI and KESCOM.
Some of the recent destruction
The island of Funzi is a marvel and the sights and people create a magical ambiance which should be protected, explored and maintained. I look forward to more visits in the near future and working closely with the TCG’s and local communities, in which the partnership between them and GVI will develop their eco-tourism in a sustainable way.
Funzi Island must remain a majestic, tranquil, beautiful island and I will happily be apart of its positive change and development in the future.
Nick with members of KESCOM and Funzi Turtle Club
Tags: anti-poaching, community based organisation, Community Conservation, conservation stratedies, deforestation, destruction, development, funzi bay, Funzi Island, Funzi turtle club, kaya's, KESCOM, turtle nesting
Results Of The Adventure To Tsavo West
Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Ex-poachers, Tsavo West Sustainable Development Programme, Uncategorized | Date: Aug 16 2009 | By: gvikenya
There has been a lot happening recently on our sustainable development programme on the edge of Tsavo West, where we are working with former wildlife poachers in Kasaani, Kidong and Mahandakini to find alternative ways to earn a living that enhance conservation rather than threaten wildlife. We have very exciting news to report from Kasaani but will start with Kidong…
Our team returned from Kidong very excited and clutching a box of new aloe vera soaps! One of the key objctives of our visit to Kidong had been to assist the community with the final stages of producing and packaging natural soaps to sell to tourists in Kenya… and we did it!
The community of Kidong learn how to make soap over a year ago; however more recently GVI has been helping the community group develop this recipe in to a higher-end product that could be marketed to tourists. The soaps are made start to finish by members of the ex-poacher community group and are packaged using natural materials including sisal fibres and recycled paper made using elephant dung for the labels. The looks of surprise, contenment and achievement on the face of some of the older men of the Kidong group as they wrapped soap with sisal string, tied beads on and stamped their recycled paper was very special.
The rationale behind producing soaps that can be sold to tourists is to enhance the markets and profit margins for the group. The community will continueto make their more basic neem soaps for the local market in and around Taveta which means they don’t end up wholly dependent on tourism which is not necessarily the most reliable market in Kenya.
The other key objective of the trip to Kidong was to was to continue to assist the group with the development of their cultural centre as a community-based eco-tourism initiative. It was a succesful week teaching the community how to cook panckaes with honey-carmel sauce and other ‘exotic’ dishes for tourists including guacamole and salsa. After some giggles from the community over the food that tourists might like to eat, we mnaged to uncover some talnted chefs within the group. Pancakes with honey-caramel suace were an absolute winner and with a bit more work we hope to see them served up to tourists at Kidong Cultural Centre by the end of the year!
Tags: alternative livelihoods, ecotourism, Kidong, soap making, sustainable developemnt, tavo west
A Whale Of A Day
Category: Cetacean research, Humpback whales | Date: Aug 13 2009 | By: gvikenya
On Sunday we were rewarded with yet another amazing sighting of Humpback Whales. It has been the sixth sighting since the beginning of 093 Expedition. This time, a mother Humpback Whale and its young calf were socializing in the channel between Mkwiro and Shimoni, so close to our Base Camp that we were able to see them from the land.
The mother
It didn’t take us too long to prepare the cameras and GPS and jump into the boat to spend some time watching the pair as they slowly cruised in the channel. They seemed very relaxed in this calm and shallow waters; the young calf was lying on its back showing its distinctive white pectoral fins, while the mother rubbed her body from underneath. We were just overwhelmed by the beauty and the magnificence of the moment!
The calf showing its pectoral fin
But the main show was yet to come…after a short diving period, the calf breached more than half of its body clearly out of the water just about 30m away from our boat…Whoww! Sunny Sunday Mornings at GVI’s Mkwiro Base.
The pair together
During the last year (2008) we had a total of 6 sightings of 15 Humpback whales inside our study area. And from the start of July 2009, GVI has already seen 14 Humpback whales in 7 sightings. We are now sharing this data with other organizations collecting data on Humpback whales (a network that involves almost 100 whale-watchers along the East African Coast, from southern Mozambique to northern Unguja Island, Zanzibar) and contributing to have a better understanding of the migration pattern of this species.
Tags: breach, calf, camera, gps, humpback whale, kisite mpunguti marine protected area, mkwiro, mother, pectoral fin, socialising, wasini channel
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