1KM Into Shimoni West!
Category: Coastal Forest, Shimoni Forest, Transect cutting | Date: Nov 12 2009 | By: gvikenya
Hey everyone,
Well I hope you’ve enjoyed the last couple of blogs about our marine team working with the Funzi Turtle Club. I’m rather jealous I wasn’t able to go along with them! I have had my hands full here on the mainland, carrying on with our coastal forest research.
We have been pushing on through the heat and the sweat towards our goal of setting up survey transects in Shimoni west forest. The last time I spoke about this I think we’d got about 600 metres up our future north / south spine.
Andy having a swing
We went in with a GPS a couple of days ago to continue plotting our progress, and to our delight we found that we had gone 1037 metres! We’ve broken the kilometer mark! By our estimations the north / south spine is going to be approximately 1.8 – 2 km long, allowing for up to 10 survey transects!
This highlights how far we have yet to go, as each transect is going to be longer than the spine, but we are not backing down! Our panga (machete) arms are bulging and our hands are blistered, but the future of research in Shimoni’s beautiful and unique coastal forest is in our hands, and every hour we spend in there takes us closer to assessing the conservation status of Shimoni west.
Andy and Chelsea
Once we’ve uploaded the GPS points onto the map, I’ll stick them up on the blog so you can all have a look for yourselves!
Tags: coastal forest research, conservation status, Funzi turtle club, gps, machete, Marine team, north / south spine, panga, Shimoni Forest, Shimoni west forest, survey transects
Cutting Our Way To Shimoni West
Category: Coastal Forest, Colobus, Primate Research, Shimoni Forest | Date: Oct 22 2009 | By: gvikenya
Well my arms are aching and my hands are blistered, yet I feel the need to let everyone know about why…
We have been doing primate and biodiversity research on Shimoni east forest for almost 4 years now, and are getting some robust data. Yet just across the road on the other side of Shimoni village lies the uncharted, and mysterious realm of Shimoni west, ever beckoning us to it. We have been planning to expand our research into Shimoni west for a while now, and have finally begun the adventure.
The girls ready for the day
The western forest is almost twice the size of its counterpart, and teaming with flora and fauna that are crying out for recognition. There is definitely a viable population of our beloved colobus monkey, as highlighted by the censuses conducted in 2001 by Julie Anderson and in 2007 by GVI. That is the only time GVI have officially done research in West, and Anderson’s census is the only other event.
We have on occasion, ventured into Shimoni west on fact finding missions and with the intention of making preliminary assessments into the possibility of starting research in there, and one thing we have noticed is the high level of disturbance ranging from charcoal pits, pit saws and snares. This only increased our sense of urgency.
Katie getting stuck in
So as of last week, we have officially begun our preparations. By preparations, we mean donning work gloves, sharpening our pangas (machetes) and practicing our angry faces and heading into West to begin the long and tiresome process of cutting transects. Transects are an essential part of research (specifically for distance sampling – the method of survey we use for the primates), which involves cutting paths in a grid system that allow us to pass relatively easily through the research area. We do try and minimize the damage we cause, so there is always plenty of crawling and climbing!
Matt’s panga face
We’ve started cutting our north / south spine, which will run approximately 1 – 1.2 km through the centre of the forest, off which our research transects (that run east-west) can cross. We have done two days so far, and have gone approximately 600 metres! That may not sound like much, but trust me on this – it’s not bad! This endeavor will take many months to complete (as we still have to carry on our surveys in East), but we’ll keep you updated on our progress.
Once more into the breach dear friends!
Tags: , adventure, angolan black and white colobus, biodiversity research, census, Charcoal Pit, climbing, colobus monkey, crawling, distance sampling, disturbance, fauna, flora, grid system, Julie Anderson, machete, panga, pitsaws, preparations, Primate Research, research area, Shimoni east forest, Shimoni village, Shimoni west forest, snare, snese of urgency, transects, western forest, work gloves
-
100% of your donation, minus a small bank fee, will go to your intended purpose.
Donations made here are safe.
