GVI Kenya

Category: Kisite Mpunguti MPA, Turtles, mpunguti island | Date: Oct 21 2009 | By: gvikenya

Around 2000 years ago, trade in sea turtle products was observed in the Red Sea and East Africa region and although trade in ambergris and ivory occurred, tortoise and turtle shell was the most commonly mentioned product.  (Jack Frazier, Proceedings of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Turtle Conservation Workshop, Mombasa, 2005). All five species of Indian Ocean sea turtles are considered to be endangered and can be found in Kenya. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) are reported to nest throughout the coastline but although there are some green turtle nests confirmed in the nearby area of Funzi Island, sea turtles haven’t laid their eggs in the KMMPA (Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area) for at least seven years.

So it was with great joy that last week GVI Kenya heard the good news about a green turtle visiting the white sandy beach located in the Lower Mpunguti Island. Lily, from Coral Spirit Restaurant, located in Wasini village, shared with us the pictures she took while she was visiting the island.

Green turtle arriving in Lower Mpunguti Island in September 2009 (photo by Lili Angel).
This is an amazing happening in this Marine Protected Area, and will hopefully contribute to the conservation efforts GVI and its major local partner KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) are putting in place in the area. The islands of Mpunguti are known to support an important population of coconut crabs, nesting sites to African fish eagles, and its surrounding waters are frequently visited by Bottlenose and Humpback dolphins, as well as Hawksbill and Green turtles that feed on sea grass and algae. Both local fishermen and KWS rangers still recall the days when the turtles came to lay eggs on the Lower Mpunguti Island, the only sandy beach available for setting up the nest.  It has been almost seven or eight years since the last turtle arrived on the Lower Mpunguti Island.

 Female Green Turtle preparing the nesting site, throwing sand with her flippers (photo by Lili Angel).

Green turtle leaving the beach, returning to the sea (photo by Lili Angel). 
Green turtles typically live about 45 to 59 years. Given that a female nests in six or seven of those years and lays about 330 eggs each nesting season, she will produce 1900-2300 eggs in her lifetime. Factoring in natural predation, fungus infection of nests, and other embryo failure rates, one can expect each healthy female to produce 1000-1900 hatchlings (Spotila, James R. Sea Turtles, 2004). This information emphasises the importance of a single nest in this region. Although this turtle did not lay its eggs, she might go back to the nesting place or other turtles might look for this place as an option to nest. The next crucial step in this process is to take management actions in order to protect the nesting area and recognize it as a non-disturbance place.

Nesting site attempt (photo by Lili Angel)
The historic decline of green turtles is one of the most cited and best documented conservation issues. Its population has declined 50-70% since the 1900’s and they are recognized internationally as endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and are protected in the Appendix I of the Conventional on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and in Appendix I and II of the Convention Migratory Species (CMS).

The Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee (KESCOM) was established to complement government commitment to addressing global concerns for marine turtle population decline. GVI works closely with KESCOM in sea turtle conservation efforts, through research, education and capacity building activities such as training in biology and ecology of sea turtles. The data and the pictures collected in our study area (KMMPA) are shared with this organization in order to recognize and protect important foraging, mating and nesting areas for sea turtles. The ultimate goal is to restore green turtles to population levels at which they can fulfil the ecological roles they performed in the past.

 Ines Gomez

Tags: , African Fish Eagle, algae, ambergris, biology, bottlenose dolphin, capacity building, coconut crab, conservation issues, Convention Migratory Species, Conventional on International Trade in Endangered Speci, Coral Spirit Restaurant, East Africa, ecology, education, embryo failure rates, endangered, fishermen, fungus infection, Funzi Island, global conscerns, hawksbill turtle, humpback dolphin, indian ocean, ivory, Kenya, Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation Committee, Kenya Wildlife Service, kisite mpunguti marine protected area, KWS rangers, Lower Mpunguti Island, management actions, natural predation, Red Sea, research, sea grass, sea turtles, tortoise shell, turtle shell, Wasini Village, World Conservation Union

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 05 2009 | By: gvikenya

We recently returned to Mahandakini, a village located in the southern part of Kenya close to the border with Tanzania. The village has a population of around 2,000 people, many of whom having given up poaching in nearby Tsavo West National Park and have been seeking to engage in sustainable income generating activities.  GVI’s role is to assist the community with capacity building to support alternative livelihoods. During our week long trip to Mahandakini we continued where we left off last time, developing a Food Security Programme for the community and cotton processing industry that Mahandakini is endeavoring to establish.

Throughout the week at Mahandakini, we worked in two groups; the first focused on developing the Food Security Programme, whilst the second spent time assisting with the development of a cottage cotton industry in Mahandakini.  as part of the Cotton Processing group we worked through problem solving with the community, providing training on using natural dyes and assisting with financial management.  The primary obstacle facing the cotton processing industry in Mahanadakini is the lack of funds for the processing and ginning machines necessary to undertake large scale cotton processing.  Over the week, we managed to initiate a plan for the community to develop the cotton industry by selling the cotton they are already growing, and buying cotton material which can be dyed and manufactured into value-added products. In this way the community will be able to start generating income immediately, some of which can be used to save up for the cotton processing equipment required for spinning and weaving. 

Our week wasn’t all about cotton though; we took time to visit some of the amazing sights in the local area.  We visited caves which were used by British soldiers who were fighting in Kenya during World War 2 and are now home to thousands of bats, went swimming at beautiful Njoro Spings the source of which is melt water from Mt. Kilimanjaro, and visited Ziwani Voyager Ranch, a great opportunity to see some local wildlife including elephants, hippopotamus, zebra, antelopes and a vast array of birdlife. Finally the week culminated with a wonderful traditional dinner prepared by some of the women from the ex-poachers group; the community invited us to share a meal with them as a sign of their appreciation for the work we had achieved together!

Tags: alternative livelihoods, capacity building, cotton, food security, Mahandakini, sustainable development, tsavo west national park

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Category: Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Environmental Education, Human-Wildlife Conflict | Date: May 25 2009 | By: gvikenya

Every few months our team rides the rough, red dusty road through Tsavo West National Park, to the village of Kidong, a small but significant dot on the vast landscape that stretches between Tsavo West National Park across the border to Mt Kilimanjaro. We are aiming to support this community-based organisation for former poachers convert conflict with wildlife in to conservation.

The Kidong Education and Cultural centre is already teaching local farmers to protect their crops from elephants using chili peppers but they aspire to make the centre substitute income from poaching with a livelihood from hosting… tourists! On our most recent visit we worked with members of the community to bring together two of the skills we helped teach them previously; making soap from neem trees and paper from elephant dung. With one eye on the potential tourists we have been helping them develop their new found cottage industry of soap making in to a marketable product for tourists, experimenting with moulds and packaging made from recycled paper using elephant dung. With ex-poachers turning elephants from pests in to products, we hope the story behind the packaging will be enough to spark the interest of new customers!

The other side of the equation of course is bringing tourists to the centre in the first place and having already facilitated the collation of the people’s history, culture and evolving relationship with wildlife, we spent time developing a 15 minute presentation to kick off their cultural experience for the eco-toursits we will be targetting. There is still work to be done at the centre to get it ready for eco-tourism but we are also working behind the scenes on ways to get their restaurant built by the end of August.

Our new introduction to their ever-expanding repertoire of environmental sustainability was a workshop on the wonders of vetiver grass… this humble horticultural tool is being viewed as something of a miracle plant by those in the know. Tolerant of arid conditions, but able to cope with high rainfall, it is being used worldwide to stabilise soils against erosion, slow waterflow with its deep root system to ensure rains drain downwards rather than run-off and can be used as almost anything from livestock fodder to weaving mats and baskets. Using a strain that is infertile but propogates readily ensures its use can be controlled but easily expanded. So convinced were we by the benefits of the grass, that before leaving we planted 100 of them to get the community started!

And just to remind ourselves of why tourists should choose to visit Kidong on their safari stop off, the magnificent Mt Kilimanjaro appeared from behind a curtain of clouds and we found time to cool off in its refreshing (some might read ‘freezing’!) meltwaters at the idyllic Njoro springs.

 I look forward to reporting progress in a few months time,

 Corti

Tags: bush meat trade, capacity building, Eco-tourism, Elephants, Human-Wildlife Conflict, Kidong, Kilimanjaro, poachers, soil erosion, sustainabe development, tsavo west national park, vetiver grass, water conservation, wildlife

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