GVI Kenya

Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, bottlenose dolphins | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: gvikenya

The activity of dolphin (whale)-watching is described as “the commercial observation of cetaceans in their habitat from a platform on land, sea or air” (Hoyt 2001).
The dolphin-watching industry constitutes an emergent business in many coastal areas around the world and has seen spectacular growth over the last fifteen years. The industry began in the 1950’s in San Diego (California) and has since expanded as far as Antarctica. During the 1960’s, the industry grew significantly in the United States and Canada, followed by Australia, New Zealand, the Canary Islands, Japan and Norway in the 1980’s (Hoyt 1995, 1996) and, Iceland, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Tonga in the middle of 1990’s.

 
In 1998, the number of dolphin-watching tourists totalled around 9 million, estimating the volume of income generated to be 1 billion US Dollars, doubling the income in 1994 (Hoyt, 2001). In 1998, of those nine million participating in dolphin-watching trips, one million were from the United States alone. More recently, other countries and regions such as the Canary Islands and Canada have reached similar volumes. Australia and South Africa are expected to double their numbers from 500,000. (Hoyt, 2001)
This activity has been developed in more than 492 communities with the majority experiencing a real transformation. Dolphin-watching provides important incomes, creates new activities which generate new employment and moreover, constitutes a very useful tool to study marine mammals and marine environments.
Whale and dolphin watching have become an increasingly popular and financially important tourist activity along the East African coast.  Currently, dolphin research and conservation efforts are being undertaken in Tanzania (Zanzibar) and Mozambique within the Sustainable Dolphin Tourism in East Africa Project. However, to date, few studies of cetaceans have been undertaken in Kenya and there is an urgent need to initiate research to aid future conservation and management of the species found in Kenyan coastal waters.

A bottlenose dolphin being watched by tourists in the KMMPA 
Global Vision International (GVI) Kenya has set up a new project focused on the dolphin-watching activity of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area (KMMPA). The objectives of this project are to collect information about the socio-economic impact of tourism operation on the area and to analyze the sustainability of increased levels of human-dolphin interaction.  Further, to identify existing problems and to propose constructive changes to respective government institutions that would help boat operators, tour companies, and the local residents in running the activity sustainably. These objectives will in turn add value to the Code of Conduct for KMMPA, developed by Kenya Wildlife Service in 2007.
Aims:
 1. Analysis of the socio-economic activity (dolphin-watching) in KMMPA.
 2. Impact of tourist dhow boats on the cetacean population.
 3. Education and awareness of boat operators and tour guides.

The data will be collected through interviews to tourist, boat operators, hoteliers and local community members in Mkwiro, Shimoni and Wasini. Also, GVI research vessel will assess the impact of this tourism investigating the abundance, distribution and behaviour of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). Moreover, we will compare sightings and behaviour on different areas and with different levels of tourism activity that will allow us to evaluate the Code of Conduct. And finally, GVI will create awareness and education of local dolphin species and habitats engaging the boat operators and tour guides in different projects so as to promote conservation issues.

References:
Hoyt, E. 1995. The Worldwide Value and Extent of Whale Watching: 1995. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Bath, UK. pp. 1-36.
Hoyt, E. 1996. Whale watching and community development around the world. Keynote lecture to the International Whale Watching Festa ’96. The International Whale Watching Forum (Japan). Zamami, Okinawa, Japan, 9 Mar. 1996.
Hoyt, E. 2001. Whale watching 2001:  Worldwide tourism numbers, expenditures and expanding socioeconomic benefits. International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, MA, USA, pp. i –vi; 1-158.

Tags: , abundance, Antarctica, Australia, behaviour, boat operators, California, Canada, Canary Islands, cetaceans, coastal areas, code of conduct, commercial observation, conservation efforts, constructive changes, distribution, dolphin research, dolphin-watching, East African Coast, emergent business, financially important, generate new employment, Global Vision International, government institutions, habitat, Hong Kong, human-dolphin interaction, Iceland, important incomes, indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenyan coastal waters, local residents, marine environments, marine mammals, mkwiro, Mozambique, new activities, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, platform, real transformation, research vessel, San Diego, shimoni, socio-economic impact of tourism, South Africa, spectacular growth, sustainability, Sustainable Dolphin Tourism in East Africa Project, Tanzania, Tonga, tour companies, tourist activity, United States, useful tool, Wasini, whale watching, Zanzibar

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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: Kenya Wildlife Service, Shimoni Forest, yellow baboon | Date: Oct 20 2009 | By: gvikenya

Yesterday saw an interesting discovery for us GVI folk here in Shimoni forest.  We were at the end of the negative sections of transect 5, innocently conducting a butterfly sweep net survey, when we were stuck with a very intense smell of decay.  We spent a good few minutes trying to establish the source, but soon discovered where it was coming from.  Tucked away right at the foot of an impressively sized baobab tree, lay the semi-decayed corpse of a yellow baboon!

Baboons are a very widespread and successful group, who can be found in most places across sub-Saharan Africa.  They are certainly abundant in Kenya, and there is a lively population here in Shimoni.  In many places in Africa, they are a bothersome crop pest, and are even listed as vermin in some countries.  Here in Shimoni however, the yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) are found in the actual forest itself, and are still wild and shy, avoiding humans at all costs and surviving on the fruits of the forest alone.  This makes them a fantastic animal to see when in the forest, and a relatively rare one. 

This photo shows the whole body in the foetal position, with the left arm out behind its back

So you can imagine our surprise when we stumbled across this poor fellow!  Its very difficult to say exactly what happened to it, especially as none of us here are experts in dead bodies or establishing causes of death!  There were no obvious injuries or wounds that gave it away (we did look quite closely), although there was a lot of dry blood around the body.  It was at the foot of a big baobab, so perhaps it fell out of the tree?  It was also right on the edge of a shamba (farm), so the idea of it being killed by a vengeful farmer is not impossible either.

This shot is from the other side, again of most of the body

What did strike us as strange was the apparent lack of scavenging of the body.  Almost all the skin was in tact, with none of it appearing to have been eaten.  Perhaps it was the location of the body – in the shadow of a big tree – that has allowed it to remain invisible and untouched by the many scavengers in the area.

 A closer look at the head

It was a very interesting find; never before have we been allowed such a detailed look at the anatomy of a baboon, yet I fear the mystery of its death will remain unsolved.  We will be informing the Kenya Wildlife Service of our find.  I am however, going to ask their permission to bury it, and then to keep the skeleton (once it has fully decomposed), as it would be really interesting to have a full baboon skeleton to use as an educational tool.  I’m not sure what protocols they have regarding dead animals, so this may not be allowed, but there’s no harm in asking!

If we come to any conclusions about the cause of death, we’ll let you all know!  

Tags: abundant, anatomy, baboons, baobab tree, butterfly sweep net survey, cause of death, crop pest, decomposed, dry blood, educational tool, farm, farmer, foetal position, injuries, Kenya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Papio cynocephalus, protocols, scavenging, shamba, shimoni, shy, skeleton, skin, sub_Saharan Africa, vermin, wild, wounds, yellow baboon

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Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kisite Mpunguti MPA, bottlenose dolphins | Date: Oct 14 2009 | By: gvikenya

Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area (KMMPA) lies south of Wasini Island (south-coast of Kenya) and covers an area of 39 square kilometres. The KMMPA includes the National Park surrounding Kisite Island and the Marine Reserve surrounding the Mpunguti islands. The KMMPA and the marine wildlife it contains are an important tourist attraction and, as a result, an important resource for Shimoni and surrounding communities. The islands within the KMMPA are surrounded by coral reefs attracting divers and snorkelers to the area. Almost every day dolphin-watching companies operating from Shimoni travel through Wasini Channel to the KMMPA. These tourist dhows most frequently encounter Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), and less frequently, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis).

Global Vision International (GVI) Kenya’s main working partner is the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). The research conducted by GVI is shaped to satisfy the objectives of KWS, so as to assist them towards better management of the area.  All data collected thus far is made available to KWS to aid in management plans of the study area. The Marine Programme is supporting KWS to collate data by conducting vessel surveys, which was focus on assessing the bottlenose dolphin abundance on the area, during the initial phase.

After three years of cetacean research in Kisite-Mpunguti MPA, GVI has estimated the absolute abundance of bottlenose dolphins around 122 individuals, being the second biggest population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in East Africa. The largest population of the species inhabits in Kizimkazi (south-coast of Zanzibar), and holds between 139 and 179 individuals (estimation made by University of Stockholm in 1999-2002).  

Photo-id and mark-recapture methods were the methodology used on both studies to get the estimation. Photo-ID refers to the identification of individuals by distinctive features (shape, outline, natural markings and scarring) of their dorsal fins, flanks and flukes. Some scars will be retained through life, whereas others will be added and may fade through life. The depth and severity of the wound will determine the length of time this may be used for identification. These features allow known individuals to be re-sighted. The re-sighting rate can be plotted on a discovery curve, the plateau of which suggests population size. Photo-ID can also be used to determine residency and demographic data such as inter-birth intervals, patterns of ranging and mortality.

Mark-recapture methods are used to calculate population size from the proportion of known individuals re-sighted over the study period. Mark-recapture models estimate only the size of marked individuals in the population. Therefore, the total population size has been corrected by the correction factor.

Kenya Wildlife Service applied a code of conduct in 2007 for the tour operators to follow when manoeuvring around the cetacean species; unfortunately it is not being fully adhered to as it has only recently been implemented. The levels of interaction between cetaceans and the tour operators are not being monitored or regulated in any way. The impact these activities may be having is unknown. In particular, it’s not known whether current levels of dolphin tourism are sustainable for the area. The first estimation of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in KMMPA will allow GVI and KWS to measure the levels of tourism impacts, analysing the population dynamics of this species.

Tags: absolute abundance, coral reefs, correction factor, demographic data, depth, divers, dorsal fin, identification, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, inter-birth intervals, Kenya, Kenya Wildlife Service, kisite island, marine programme, marine reserve, mark-recapture, mpunguti island, national park, photo-ID, severity, shimoni, snorkellers, south coast, surveys, University of Stockholm, wasini channel, wasini island

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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

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Category: Cetacean research, Dolphins, Kisite Mpunguti MPA | Date: Apr 27 2009 | By: gvikenya

Neil joined us as a volunteer here in Kenya and below gives us his thoughts on the experience:

Having travelled for three days – including a wonderful overnight stay at the Reef Hotel in Nyali, Mombasa – it was good to arrive at Shimoni, cross to Mkwiro, and start the settling in process. Meeting lots of people for the first time, getting to grips with living very simply in a constantly changing community, and starting a steep learning curve for the activities of the next five weeks is no easy matter! It is however, interesting, exciting and challenging.

This is certainly not a holiday; long working days in intense heat – and I haven’t got into the forest yet – are hard work. So, too, is the fact that the base is on an island with no mains power or running water. Everything has to get to this island and the last part of its journey is usually a matter of carrying it from the boat by the staff and volunteers: at high tide, that means up the steps from the sea and at low tide, there’s an additional journey along the beach before reaching the steps!

All this effort is to enable GVI to work with and serve its partner organisations here in Kenya, principally Kenya Wildlife Service and, of course, the wider community, both in Kenya and throughout the world. Conservation and living in more sustainable ways is not just a concern for local populations but for us all. This wider perspective is very important. This last week, I’ve been on the boat for three days: on the first two, we saw spinner, bottlenose, and humpback dolphins and it was very exciting and rewarding; on the third, we saw just one humpback dolphin and spent hours hoping for more that didn’t appear. But that’s one of the differences between being a tourist and contributing to scientific research; the experience of my third day may be telling just as important a part of the story of dolphins here in Kenya, as the one of my first two.

Tags: bottlenose dolphin, conservation, dolphin research, humpback dolphin, Kenya Wildlife Service, mkwiro, spinner dolphin

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Colobus, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging | Date: Mar 02 2009 | By: gvikenya

Jambo!

Drew here back again and there’s more great news happening with Friends of Shimoni Forest. One thing that we as a group have strived for is support from both governmental and NGO in the area. We have been very successful in making friends with many local community based organizations who have been willing to support our causes, including Anzwani Women Group and Shimoni Mkwiro Dhow Tours. We are very proud to announce our support now from Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS). We have always worked with KWS and they have been willing to help us from day one, coming to meetings and supporting our projects, but now they have made the next step in helping us protect our coastal forest. Until recently KWS concern was for the welfare of the animals and not protecting the forest itself. This was largely due to the fact they had little authority in matters of conversation of our costal forest. They always helped us any way possible but, fortunately, there is little to no poaching happening in Shimoni forest so there was not much for them to do.

We have no forestry department in Shimoni and the local police station has limited man power making them unable to accomplish what needs to be done in order stop illegal charcoal burning and logging. KWS has always been very busy managing the Kisiti Mpunguti National marine park, located about one kilometer from Shimoni, and has had limited resources to do much else. This has really left no one able to apply pressure on the people committing these crimes and one of the reasons our group was established in 2007. Fortunately, with the growing support from not just our village, Shimoni, but others now as well including Anzwani things are starting to change. We are very proud of the local communities who have been increasing their support for protecting their forest. We have talked about the local area assistant chief who has started his own patrol group brining in charcoal burners. Community members have been putting pressure on police to prosecute criminals to the full extent of the law. And village elders and chairmen have been encouraging the community to no longer allow these people access through their villages in order to reach the forest to begin with. KWS has seen the support for conservation and are now stepping up their game. They are really not responsible for controlling destruction, however they do realize that the wildlife they protect depend on the forest. Yesterday, for the first time, KWS could here power saws coming from the forest and decided it was their turn. Two rangers headed off into the forest in search of the source. They came upon two men logging without permits and immediately made arrests. The men knew they were in trouble, being arrested by KWS; they would not get a slap on the wrist for this one, they will be in court today. We are very happy to have KWS making a stance with us today. The community sees that their voices are being herd and that large government offices are listing to their concerns. Illegal charcoal burners and loggers will think twice about their next move, knowing that KWS is on the case as well. We will be keeping you informed on all upcoming events and as always thanks for your time. See you soon. Friends of Shimoni Forest

Tags: , Charcoal burnung, Coastal Forest, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging

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Category: Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest, Uncategorized | Date: Jan 26 2009 | By: gvikenya

Friends of Shimoni Forest here again and still were working hard on our goals. I mentioned once that the local assistant area chief, Mr. Adini Mgeni, was devoted to helping us in our efforts to conserve the coastal forest. Well, for the first time in history a local politician has personally patrolled the forest in search of charcoal burners and illegal logging.

Athumani and I had a meeting with Mr. Mgeni the other day and talked to him about his efforts and plans for the future. Mr. Mgeni has been into the forest twice since coming into office, this month, and has had a firsthand look at the destruction in the forest. As he is very busy, he created a volunteer community policing group, mostly youth, to do patrols more frequently. Twice now this group has brought in charcoal burners. After talking with the charcoal burners, Mr. Mgeni discovered some interesting things. The charcoal burners are fully aware what they’re doing is wrong and would be happy to stop. The issue is that the unemployment rate in Kenya, especially among youth, is extremely high. This is why finding alternative sources of income are so important, and these guys will be some of the first we train as guides when we begin our forest tours.
The assistant area chief Mr. Mgeni has been very helpful and shared with us his thoughts on some of our plans. He really wants the forest tours to get up and running soon and agrees we should include the local Kayas as well. Kayas are sacred areas of the forest which in the past were used for prayer and worship. These are still used today by local elders, and they are very concerned about the future of the Kayas. The Kayas represent the culture heritage of Shimoni and are at risk of being destroyed, one has already been lost due to destruction. We would like to include the Kayas in our forest tour, so we are arranging a meeting with the village elders to discuss their hopes and concerns.

Active charcoal pit
Mr. Mgeni has been very active in conservation throughout his career, including being chairman of Shimoni Youth Conservation group. He has a few ideas as well which he would like our help with. One of his goals is to raise enough money to plant 5,000 saplings in local schools and public areas. This will be a way Shimoni can support environmental education, as well as the villages own way of fighting global warming. We think this is a great idea and we will help raise as much money as possible.
As always we appreciate you taking the time with us today and on behalf of Friends of Shimoni Forest, and our new partners, this is Drew saying thanks and talk to you soon.

Tags: , Charcoal Burning, Coastal Forest, Community Conservation, Environmental Education, Friends of Shimoni Forest, Kaya, Kenya Wildlife Service, Logging, Shimoni Forest

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