Wildlife Club Head Into The Forest
Category: Butterflies, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Environmental Education, Shimoni Forest, Wildlife clubs | Date: Nov 14 2009 | By: gvikenya
Yesterday was Friday. And that meant one thing – environmental education! For the last few months or so, we’ve been swapping our boots and clipboards for chalk boards, songs and games and heading into the Base Academy (a small primary school in the village) to teach the children about environmental issues and some basic science.
We feel it is really important to give the children this sort of knowledge and awareness about the environment around them because firstly, what they learn in school about such issues is minimal and basic, and it doesn’t cover the things that affect their everyday lives.
This is why we have been focusing our lessons on areas that the children can relate to such as coastal forests, the importance of forests and the animals that live there, effects of deforestation, pollution etc. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to re-brand our weekly lesson, and form a wildlife club for the kids. This means they are now part of the Shimoni Base Academy Wildlife Club! We felt this would encourage a sense of ownership and pride in the children who come, and would really make them feel a part of something.
The children coming back from the forest
We think it has worked really well, as we now have a regular group of about 30 children that are there every Friday, who all wear their Wildlife Club badges with pride, and sing the Club song through the village! And since forming the Club, we have been putting an emphasis on actually taking the children into the forest every week. The idea behind this is to get them out there, seeing the plants and animals for themselves, and getting them out of the classroom and excited about nature, the forest and the wildlife.
So far its been a huge success; the kids absolutely love being taken out into the forest, and they have really enjoyed the topics we’ve covered so far. We’ve been going over basic plant biology (as this was in their syllabus and their exams were coming up so we thought that would help), where we actually showed them the different plant species and the different parts. Then we gave a lesson on butterflies, followed by sweep netting in the forest – they absolutely loved that (and were rather good at it…I’m considering using them for our surveys!), where we also showed them how to get the butterflies out of the nets without hurting them.
And then yesterday we tried to touch on the subject of colobus behaviour. We managed to get across the basic idea of why we study their behaviour, how colobus behaviour is adversely affected by things such as disturbance, and then what possible impacts this could have. It went surprisingly well, and they grasped the concept really well. It was a very simplified version of course, with the basic premise being if the colobus are undisturbed they will spend more time feeding, resting, sleeping and socialising, whereas if the forest around them is being disturbed, they may spend more time alert or travelling.
They are a great bunch of kids to work with, all so eager to learn and take part. Hopefully we will be helping these children to grow up into environmentally aware adults, who understand about their surroundings, and take pride in the beautiful areas they live in.
Tags: , adverse effects, alert, basic science, boots, butterlfies, chalk boards, clipboards, coastal forests, colobus behaviour, deforestation, disturbance, Environmental Education, environmental issues, exams, feeding, knowledge and awareness, nature, ownership, plant biology, plants and animals, pollution, possible impacts, pride, resting, shimoni, Shimoni Base Academy, simplified version, sleeping, socialising, songs and games, surveys, sweep netting, syllubus, travelling, wildlife club
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
Guided Walks A Step Or Two Away
Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Eco-tourism, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Logging, Mangroves, Shimoni Forest | Date: Aug 12 2009 | By: gvikenya
I write to you all today with very tired legs, blistered hands and an aching arm, but with good news! Today we headed out into Shimoni east to help the members of Friends of Shimoni Forest (the community based organisation we work with) plan, cut and tag the trail through the forest that they will soon be taking tourists on!
Friends of Shimoni Forest have been planning these guided tours though the forest for a while now, and are finally almost ready to go. The idea is to take tourists on walks through the forest to visit the sacred Kaya’s (traditional religious sites), and to experience the amazing wildlife that exists.
A view of the mangroves from the trail
There were times of sadness and frustration, as we confirmed our fears that it simply was not possible to get up to the Kaya’s (which are a couple of kilometers past our normal survey transects) without passing through vast swathes of destruction. The areas of pristine, mature forest are becoming more and more fragmented and patchy. This was expected though, and maneuvering the tourists through only untouched forest would have been a falsehood (as well as difficult!). This way they will see both sides – the results of overexploitation and illegal activities, and the amazing coastal forest as it should be.
Some of the stunning forest the trail passes through
Raising awareness of this forest, and the issues that it faces is the single most important thing we can do. Not only will these guided walks show tourists what is happening, we believe it will raise awareness amongst the local community as well. Not only this, but it will bring Friends of Shimoni Forest valuable revenue which it can use to fund activities like forest patrols, tree planting, school scholarships, and perhaps will aide in finding alternative livelihoods for some of the people charcoal burning and logging.
A charcoal pit ready to burn
The main issue with ideas such as forest patrols, is that the people of these communities simply cannot afford to sacrifice a day earning money for their families, for patrolling as volunteers. And many of the charcoal burners we have spoken to said they would happily give it up if they could earn money in other ways. These problems are not easily solved, but there are many avenues to explore.
Tags: Charcoal Burning, Community Conservation, community initiatives, deforestation, Friends of Shimoni Forest, guided tours, Logging, Shimoni Forest, tourist trails, tourist walks
Mkwiro Dolphin Club Reaches Standard 5
Category: Coastal Forest, Dolphin Clubs, Environmental Education, Kenya Wildlife Service, Year of the Dolphin | Date: Feb 18 2009 | By: gvikenya
2007 was designated the ‘International Year of the Dolphin’ by UNEP’s Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and GVI Kenya spent the year working closely with Mkwiro Primary School on education and activities that supported awareness of dolphin conservation. So successful was the year, which included the introduction of the dolphin-watching code of conduct by Kenya Wildlife Service, that CMS extended it in to 2008. Halfway through 2008, ‘Dolphin Clubs’ were launched in 10 local schools in an effort to ensure that the achievements of the initiative continued beyond the two years and resulted in something more long-term. The clubs were supported with a donation by CMS of 10,000 KSh to each one to ensure that awareness and conservation activities could be undertaken.
It was a fantastic idea, but sadly fell in to the trap they hoped to avoid… with no follow up or support from the 2008 stakeholders, the schools didn’t quite know what to do with their clubs. When GVI Kenya got back up and running we found the Mkwiro Dolphin Club with it’s student members at something of an impasse, and so in collaboration with the school and its teachers we have adopted Mkwiro’s Dolphin Club. The next obstacle we came across was something of a misconception amongst the student members of the club… although just primary school children they had developed an acute sense of financial awareness, more so than environmental awareness unfortunately. It seems that the children in the club thought they were entitled to a cut of the 10,000 KSh! So we decided to take it back to basics and seek out the children that want to actively participate in environmental learning and action, rather than those ‘in it for the money’. We have been hosting the dolphin club on Tuesdays afternoons, in their 3.10 to 4.10 clubs and societies schedule, aiming to work our way through all of the students from standard 8 to 4, giving them a taste of what the club is about, before opening up ‘full-time membership’ to the wannabe dolphin eco-warriors!
Having worked our way through standards 8, 7 and 6 with treasure hunts at our land-based dolphin research site and turtle lessons in the school, this week we took on standard 5 for an hour, with an ambitious concept - water cycles, mangroves, deforestation and the impact of increased sedimentation on near-shore coral reefs and the animals that depend on them, such as fish and in our specific case the humpback dolphins that favour the reefs fringing Shimoni’s coastal forest as a feeding ground.
It sounds like a lot of information eh? Well, we started with a warmer game, provisionally called ‘monkey’ and a bit like musical chairs… the children race to ‘climb in to a tree’ (a sack on the ground!) and whoever can’t find space is out. Each round, a tree is ‘cut down’ until at the end we were left with just two ‘monkeys’ remaining - a simple but effective introduction to deforestation we thought! The kids loved it, shoving each other out of the ‘trees’ to stay in the game. Then they rotated around three educational activities - a water cycle jigsaw that they had to arrange in order; a ‘true or false’ mangrove facts game that got them running from true to false depending on whether they believed our ‘facts’; and a simple science experiment pouring ‘rain’ on to bowls of ‘forested’ and ‘deforested’ earth to watch the difference in the water quality running down the ‘rivers’ and in to the ’sea’.
The session ended with our water cycle obstacle course, as teams ran relays with cups of water, zig-zagging along our winding ‘river’, ducking underneath our ‘ocean waves’ and jumping from ‘cloud to cloud’ to fill up a jug at the end. As we predicted it soon descended in to mayhem but it was hilarious to watch for both us and the children. Another successful introduction to dolphin club, or as the Tuesday afternoon chant goes… “dol-fin ki-la-bu, dol-fin ki-la-bu…”
Tags: deforestation, Dolphin Clubs, environmental awareness, mkwiro primary school, Year of the Dolphin
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