AWF Blog

• Unacceptable Losses

  Posted: February 1, 2012, 7:49 pm by Kathleen

  39 Elephants Poached. Cameroon.

  We are in northern Cameroon, Boubba’ndjidda, National Park to be exact. We are close to the border of Chad. Boubba’ndjidda connects to Sena Oura National Park. We are on a scoping mission, assessing conservation opportunities with the hopes of being able to provide support to the management and protection of the Binational  Sena Bouba (BSB) Yamoussa Complex in coordination with the Governments, Wildlife Authorities and partners.

  Unlike southern Cameroon well known for its tropical forests, chimpanzees, gorillas and lovely coast line, Boubba’ndjidda and its surrounding lands are savannah. A familiar landscape of sorts for me, coming from East Africa. The wildlife is incredibly diverse, but threatened severely poaching and lack of capacity.

  Upon arrival we heard that 27 elephants had been poached in the last three days. That’s right, 27 elephants in three days. During our stay 12 more were poached, putting the estimated ‘known’ number to 39. A massacre. There were 50 poachers on horseback, armed. They got away. Villages feast on elephant meat.

  Cameroon boasts a variety of habitat types, ranging from coastal, to desert, to rainforest, to savanna.

  Cameroon has set aside 20% of its landscape as conservation areas, a commendable percentage. But like most African countries, they struggle to operationalize and sustain these protected areas with adequate resources. Take Boubba’ndjidda for example. On a morning game drive we saw a wide diversity of wildlife, including elephant, eland derby (for which the Park is known), kob, duiker and more. We stayed at the only camp in the Park (www.paulboursafaris.com), which is lovely camp perched on a wide river, where we watched crocodiles and an amazing diversity of birds. In the evening I awoke to the glorious sounds of lions roaring. However, only approximately 300 people visit the Park / year, hardly enough to generate enough revenue for Park operations.

  So, when a major poaching episode happens like the one that took place during our visit, the Park Authorities and government leaders have little ability to respond. There is no communication in the field, access is difficult, weapons are few and vehicles minimal. Building their capacity is key to conservation success.

  The other issue we witness is the movement of people and livestock from the surrounding countries of Chad, Nigeria and Central African Republic. When conservationists hear the word corridor, we think of wildlife corridors. But in this part of the world there are “trans-humance corridors”–human corridors that are designed to help facilitate the movement of pastoralists across vast lands and to reduce conflict. Thousands of people move through these landscapes with livestock seeking better grazing lands, water and access to markets. This increases conflict with people and wildlife and is a difficult issue to tackle. With desertification in the north, more and more people are moving from the north to the south exacerbating conflict. In addition, with strife and conflict in neighbouring countries, such as Nigeria, more people are seeking refuge in other places, such as Cameroon. Its complex.

  Cameroonians comprise of hundreds of groups, often each with their own language. European colonization and refugee immigrations from Central Africa contributed to the melting pot population.

  Our visit included meetings with traditional leaders, local NGOs, partners, hunting concession owners, protected area authorities. We spent time in the bustling city of Yaoundé, and then took a yellow, 25-year old Toyota taxi to the coast of Cameroon, the town of Kribi. The beach is lovely, water warm, fish fantastic and a great place relaxing as well as seeing turtles and other marine species. A deep sea port is being developed just south of Kribi, which will have a significant impact on the town. At night the off-short rigs are bright.

   

  From Kribi we made our way to Campo M’aan, a tropical forest, National Park located on the border with Equatorial Guinea. On the way we passed pygmy people selling bark for medicine, vast forest on fire—slash and burn practices, and villages dotted across the landscape. The Park has gorillas and chimps and I can’t believe I am in such close proximity to these amazing mammals and will not be able to see them. The forest is so thick that you would not see an elephant 10 feet into the forest. Chimps and gorillas in an area like this with high bush meat poaching are very skittish, and stay clear of humans. There is a habituation program underway for the gorillas in an effort to encourage tourism.

   

  Kathleen and other AWF representatives met with local leaders to discuss the future of Cameroon's wildlife.

  Cameroon is an incredibly diverse country with high endemism, a wide diversity of ecosystems, over 240 tribes, savannahs, forests, vast rivers and ocean. Its largest reserve in southern Cameroon, Dja, hosts approximately 600 gorillas and 600 chimps. As a country it is ecologically significant and has a diversity of sources for economic revenue: tourism, carbon credits, and agricultural. With proper planning, support, partners and investment, this country will thrive and AWF hopes to be part of this unfolding development.

   

   

• Putting Herself Out There

  Posted: February 1, 2012, 6:35 pm by Anna

  When we checked in on progress of the Bwindi census in September, we met Harriet Kyakyo, a volunteer with the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the only woman participating in the census as a team member. She ended up spending a total of 4 weeks in Bwindi, with two weeks on, two weeks off, and another two weeks on. When I was there with her team, we had a very engaged discussion of why women should and, from some people’s perspectives, should not be encouraged to participate in the census. The following is the experience she faced in her own words, with a follow-up Q&A between myself and Harriet. Please join the conversation and write your thoughts as a comment on this post.

  —

  When I reported to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for my voluntary work, I was given a list of activities that I was going to be involved in and one of them was the gorilla census since I was part of the monitoring and research department which was attached to the census. But actually it was not really a must that I was to participate because everyone thought that no lady could handle the terrain in Bwindi. I kept on pressing the head of the department until he included me on the list of the participants.

  After confirming that, I was so excited and I started preparing myself psychologically. But this still didn’t take away all my fears because the words from the people around me just kept on ringing in my mind. “She won’t manage; they will bring her back here on a stretcher,” one of our colleagues had mentioned. I prayed to God so much that He would help show everyone that I was capable of participating in the census and indeed He did not abandon me.

  Team members review the map and the plan before entering the forest.

  On the night of 6th September 2011 we traveled to Ruhija, one of the outposts in Bwindi for training. The training was to equip us with skills that would enable us to carry out the census in the right way. Before we reached the outpost, we stopped at a certain village (Mburameizi); one of the passersby asked a question that truly hurt me. “Are women also taking part in the census?” and one of us answered, “yes.” Surely this gave me moral to go and do the best that everyone else would live to commend.

  The training went on well and after it every one was given a team. Our team was to work in the northern sector. The first few days when the census had just started, it was very hectic. By the third day of the census I had gained a lot of strength that it amazed everyone, including my teammates. Actually one them had said, “Harriet, I no longer consider you a woman, you are now a man.” This he said because no woman had ever had such zeal and stamina like I had.

  Days became weeks, I would take GPS points, direct my colleagues with the compass, collect fecal samples and the other chores everyone else did. I became very experienced that at one point Dr. Martha Robbins, the field organizer of the census had mentioned making me an assistant team leader. I bet because of the nature of gender some of my colleagues could not come to terms with that suggestion.

  Harriet, Lawrence, and Ismael record census data.

  I cannot say that everything went on smoothly, there was a day we encountered a wild gorilla group, and this group had probably seen us from a distance, so we approached it unknowingly. They charged us and we had no option but one of our colleagues had to scare shoot in the air. Harriet here I was, never in my entire life had I experienced a bullet at a very close range. This scared me a little, but still I didn’t give up. The other challenge was when it came to putting up a tent when we got into a new camp. At times I would book a place, but since I didn’t know how to build a tent, I would wait for the men and in the process of waiting the malicious ones would take over my area for the tent. I am naturally a calm lady, there was no need to fight back.

  Of course I can’t forget the many stinging insects and plants that none of us dodged. The other challenge was falling down. This later became normal because at times the terrain was slippery that nobody would miss the fall. But at least God protected us from falling onto cliffs that at times had rivers underneath. I personally, am water phobic so each time I met a water source, I would be affected psychologically.

  Apart from the challenges above, surely I can say that the census is one exercise that I will live to tell. First of all it gave me experience I wouldn’t have gained from anywhere else; at times seeing the gorillas face-to-face that so many are wishing to come across, I interacted with high profile people from whom I got various ideas and of course working as a team gave me lots of friends.

  I thank my teammates for without them I wouldn’t have managed to come to the end of the census. That is Bakebwa Ismael, Raymond Kato, Alison Byamukama, Lawrence, Christopher Byaruhanga and David Lorika and the rest I may not have mentioned. God bless them all.

  My last word to all ladies out there; if you are determined to do something, let no one else put you down. It is just the courage that you have that will make others know that you are able. Ladies as well as gents can do the same chores if given the chance!!!!

  Harriet Kyakyo

  —

  Question for you, Harriet: What can the collective we do the next time around to make sure more women have the courage (and support) to volunteer like you did?

  Harriet’s response: Sensitization. The community’s attitude towards ladies participating in the census is negative. This does not encourage the interested parties (ladies) to involve themselves in census. So if the community a round us can be sensitized so they know that women as well as men can do the same work if given the opportunity. Mobilization. Many a times the ladies are not mobilized and probably have no idea about the activity. So if they are mobilized in time, am sure many will be ready to give a hand in the next censuses to come. For the recently concluded census the list of participants did not include any lady, until I volunteered to be part of the team. What does this imply?? Ladies probably didn’t get the information!!

  I realized (from experience) that taking part in the census does not require only the very energetic, all it takes is a determined heart. So in this way i would advise the ladies not to have fear. Everything is possible when one is optimistic.

  —

  Many thanks to Harriet for her courage, participation and candor. It was well received.

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Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes