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African conservation papers presented at conference in Brazil Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology July 27, 2005 Below is a sampling of some African conservation-related papers submitted for the conference. All descriptions are excepts from the official "Book of Abstracts" from the meeting. More abstracts. Forests are vital to Liberia 's economy, however, logging has been a source of instability; timber revenue paid for arms, and companies employed militias for security. In the past, it was dangerous to protest human rights abuses related to logging, but less risky to publicize the environmental damage they caused. We discuss the important role civil society, both international and local, played in prompting the UN Security Council in 2003 to sanction timber exports from Liberia. To that end, the UN demanded reform so that timber no longer contributes to violence and is used only for the legitimate development of Liberia. Instead of demanding specific reforms that may not have been locally appropriate, the UN experts recommended that all reform be consistent with principles of 'good governance': transparency, accountability, participation, effectiveness, enforcement, and rule of law. Although reform remains far from complete, this approach has served to: a) ensure a consistent set of 'goalposts'; b) focus international assistance (technical and financial); and c) focus the Liberian government's reform. This has further permitted Liberian civil society a voice in protecting the environment, and ultimately, the Liberian people CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF CONSERVATION AND LIVELIHOOD IN THE EAST USAMBARA MOUNTAIN FORESTS. MASHAURI M., SHEDRACK. Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism; P.O. Box 6053, Morogoro, Tanzania. mashauri((AT))lycos.com. This paper examines the socio-economic aspects of conservation in the East Usambara Mountains, a small part of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya. Specifically it focuses on the growing importance of the relationships among conservation efforts, values of nature and local livelihoods. It delves into the importance of each of these three dimensions and looks into the possibility of making conservation an enriching process rather than a poverty causing or enhancing one. Both the Total Economic Value of the resources and Sustainable Livelihood models are presented. This paper looks into the relationship between the authorities mandated with conservation and the local communities' livelihoods and the potential benefits of conservation. Trends in conservation show that the management of ANR has make considerable efforts towards both conservation and involvement of local communities, and are looking into sharing of benefits and costs of conservation. Moreover, the type of community participation remains far from the ideal; it is still strongly passive. Although local communities have yet to develop a strong sense of ownership, current efforts are making some headway to develop a partnership that addresses local livelihood concerns A MULTI-CRITERIA APPROACH TO PROTECTED AREA ZONATION IN NYUNGWE NATIONAL PARK, RWANDA. Masozera, Michel; FORREST, JESSICA; Munanura, Ian; Blondel, Nicholas; Rugerinyange, Louis. Wildlife Conservation Society - Rwanda Country Program, Building le PRESTIGE near Station Discentre, Kicukiro - Kigali, Rwanda (M.M.); Living Landscapes Program, International Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10460, USA, jforrest((AT)) wcs.org (J.F.);Wildlife Conservation Society - Parc National de Nyungwe, P.O Box 163, Cyangugu, Rwanda (I.M., N.B.); l'Office Rwandais du Tourisme des Parcs Naturels (ORTPN) - Parc National de Nyungwe, P.O Box 163, Cyangugu, Rwanda (L.R.). Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda is an ecosystem of global importance, supporting a vast species diversity, including 13 species of primates, over 275 species of birds, and more than 1200 species of plants, many of which are found only in the Albertine rift. Together with neighboring Kibira National Park, this ecosystem forms the largest block of remaining tropical montane forest in east Africa between 1500 and 2300 m. We report on a recent effort to zone the national park and surrounding human landscapeXIX Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology ABSTRACTS for park management purposes using a geographic information system to incorporate information on the biological, geological, and human landscapes. We first mapped the biological landscape by assigning ranks to sensitive species and habitats, species richness, irreplaceability of Albertine rift endemic species, landscape heterogeneity, and degraded areas. Human landscape features and threats data were overlain on the biological basemap to recommend 8 major zones within the park for different management strategies ranging from strict protection, to potential tourism, to restoration. Districts adjacent to the park comprise the ninth management zone, and were ranked according to their level of conflict with the protected area. As a conclusion we suggest that there are certain critical methodological differences and data indicators necessary for conservation planning at the regional and local levels CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS IN AFRICA. KAHUMBU, PAULA. Lafarge Eco Systems P 0 Box 81995- 80100, Mombasa, Kenya, paula.kahumbu((AT))bamburi.lafarge.com. The future of African biodiversity will depend on the continents ability to protect and manage her natural resources. A global survey was designed to examine what inspires conservationists to work in Africa. Results reveal that most conservationists are driven by the same inspiration, values and ideals, and despite challenges, most western educated Africans return to work in their home countries. Field opportunity at an early age ranked as the most important event influencing interest to work in Africa. However, differential access to resources make it more challenging for Africans to chose a career in conservation compared to expatriates. Weak formal education, lack of jobs, poverty, government red tape, lack of access to finance and access to scientific information were all cited. The survey concludes that African conservationists highly value collaborations with western expatriates for educational and knowledge sharing. While most expatriate conservationists in Africa were content, same aged Africans aspired to achieve much more. We conclude that hooking more Africans onto conservation is essential for the long term survival of the continents heritage. It will involve targeting the young by providing field opportunities and better educational facilities. Once hooked, young conservationists need financial and academic support to be effective. Capacity building needs on the continent are basic, - traditional tertiary education as well as information access, equipment, tools, transport, labs, funds and importantly, good professional support REGIONAL SURVEYS MAP THE FOREST ELEPHANT CRISIS IN CENTRAL AFRICA. BLAKE, STEPHEN; Maisels, Fiona; Ilambu, Omari; Bokoto, Bruno; Mkokmbo, Calixte; Boudjan, Patrick; Bene-Bene, Lambert; Williamson, Liz; Bayogo, R. Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard Bronx, 10460, USA. Anecdotal and limited scientific evidence indicate strongly that central Africa's forest elephants are in the midst of a dramatic decline due to illegal killing for ivory and meat, and habitat fragmentation. The last regional inventory was published over 15 years ago, and current rigorous, science-based field inventories are immediately required to provide unambiguous information for conservation planning at all scales. We report on a region-wide systematic survey of elephants conducted under the auspices of the Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants Program (MIKE), centered on a suite of 6 critically important protected areas. The abundance and distribution of both forest elephants and human activity were quantified to inform conservation planning and implementation, and as a baseline for long-term monitoring. Field methods involved elephant dung and human sign counts on systematically distributed line-transects, and path of least resistance "reconnaissance" surveys. Analysis involved abundance estimation, distribution mapping from simple interpolations, and advanced spatial modeling. Results demonstrate that 1) the anecdotes were well-founded - forest elephants are in crisis, 2) complimentarity within the suite of survey methods provided compelling results of direct use at site, national, and international levels, 3) appropriate inventory and monitoring are essential to conservation planning and adaptive management. Society for Conservation Biology - Brasilia 2005 News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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