RESEARCH
The Darwin Initiative Update - Dec 2006

Photograph by Kieran Dodds

The Darwin Initiative Project looking at hydrology and fire ecology of Kasanka, continues under Dr Mike Kennedy. Water quality sampling activities at up to 35 river, wetland, lake, well and borehole sites (dependent upon seasonal water levels) in and around the park is ongoing. Water is analysed for conductivity, pH, alkalinity and oxygen isotope ratios, and we now have a dataset going back over more than a year. The data collected allows us to look at how different waterbodies fluctuate and are maintained through the course of the year, hopefully allowing us to manage them properly in the future.

Burning trials across woodland, grassland, and seasonally wet grasslands have continued, with early burning treatments and late burning treatments all being completed by the end of September.  Exclosure cages (to prevent animals grazing from small areas of the plot) have also been set up to look at which habitat types and burning regime large grazers are likely to benefit from.

Mike Kennedy also contributed to a conservation education workshop held at Kapepa Centre at the beginning of August.

Work continued well in training local guides under the assistance provided by the Darwin Initiative project. Leslie Reynolds, our guide trainer, worked hard to pass on his knowledge and at least 2 of the trainees have reached a standard where they can take full responsibility for the hosting of international clients. As well as relieving the burden on Les and others, this also allows them to progress faster through more exposure. Feedback from the visitors continues to be positive so we must be moving in the right direction! We hope to be able to use the sponsorship from the Darwin Initiative project to send Leslie to do the next phase of the Luangwa training and qualify as a walking guide, and to send one of our other trainees on the first stage course. This will be in the first half of next year. Work has continued on the development of a guiding manual specific to Kasanka.

Darwin Initiative Newsletter (December 2005)

The Darwin initiative, a programme aimed at biodiversity conservation and increasing awareness of conservation issues through research and education in developing countries, has come to Kasanka. The UK government funded initiative came into being following the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro during the early 1992 (see www.darwin.gov.uk for full details of the programme). A project entitled ‘Conservation of Wetlands and Associated Biodiversity in Northern Zambia’, currently underway in Kasanka National Park represents the first project funded under the Darwin initiative to be based in Zambia. The project is also partly funded by the UK based Holly Hill trust, and is administered through the University of Aberdeen in the UK.

An inaugural workshop was held in November 2004, and was attended by representatives of local dignitaries, local and national government representatives, and members of the local community resource board and the Kasanka based Community Project. Both the CRB and the community project have had an ongoing working partnership with the Kasanka Trust and are seen as central to bringing conservation education to local communities whilst maintaining sustainable livelihoods. It is envisaged that the Darwin project will work closely with these organisations, and with school based education projects run through Kasanka Trust. The workshop was also attended by the park Manager, Mr Edmund Farmer, the principle investigator from Aberdeen University, Professor Paul Racey, and the Holly Hill trustee, Mr Martin Stanley.

Water sampling on the Mulembo River.

The project began in earnest in 2004with the training of Kasanka Scouts in conservation issues, and this continued during 2005. The training was begun by the bird expert Bob Stjernstedt, and was taken over by Leslie Reynolds, an experienced bush guide with a good eye for spotting wildlife. Les has employed by Kasanka Trust since July 2005. The scout training is still underway and will continue for at least the duration of the current Darwin Initiative project funding (currently scheduled to finish in early 2008), with the aim of training three scouts per year.

One of the aims of the Darwin project has been to identify excellent Zambian graduates to go onto the M.Sc. in Tourism and Conservation at the internationally renowned Durell Institute, based at the University of Kent in the UK. Two studentships were made available as part of the funding for the Darwin project, and Patricia Mupeta, a graduate in Biological Sciences from the University of Zambia, who has previously worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society, was the first to take up a studentship during 2004. Particia undertook project work looking at ways of increasing school level involvement within Zambian national parks such as Kasanka as part of her M.Sc. project. As of November 2005 Patricia has returned to Zambia and is awaiting the results of her long hours of study – good luck!

A sequence from miombo woodland edge, through termitaria grassland and seasonally inundated grassland in a dambo – the kind of habitats that will be central to the burning research

The main research thrust of the project began in August 2005 with the Arrival of myself, Dr Mike Kennedy. I was appointed as post-doctoral researcher on the project in March 2005, and had a two-week visit to the park during May and June 2005 to clarify research priorities. Briefly, my background is a first degree in Plant Biology, followed by a Masters degree in Environmental Science, and a PhD in wetland Plant ecology. I have also previously worked for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) on freshwater sampling issues, and on a two-year research project looking at the role of wetland systems in maintaining water quality in the UK. This background should help in undertaking the kind of multi-disciplinary work that is required in Kasanka National Park as part of the Darwin project. The office for the Darwin project is now up and running at the new Mulaushi Conservation centre (near to the main entrance to the park), and I am now fully installed at Mulaushi. The new laboratory is also nearing completion, and water quality testing will be routinely carried out here. It is the intention that other groups (either long term researchers or short term expedition groups) will use the facilities that have been set up. We have also now taken possession of a Land Rover. This will be dedicated to the Darwin project, and will eventually be donated to the Kasanka Trust. On a personal note, I have been struck by the friendliness of the Zambian people and the interest shown in the project.

Chris Soulsby, Professor of Hydrology at Aberdeen University, and Dr. Glenn Iason, an expert in Grazing ecology from the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) in Aberdeen are acting as advisors on the project and visited Kasanka for ten days during October and November 2005. The visit was very successful and allowed research plans to be finalised. It was decided that burning trials should be concentrated around the complex of enclosed dambo systems around the main Wasa camp. This will allow close monitoring of the trials, and will hopefully prevent accidental/illegal burning of the trial plot areas. The trials will contrast early burning, late burning, and absence of burning, in various dambo habitats and surrounding miombo woodland, and the consequences for vegetation development, preference by large Grazers such as Puku and soil conservation. Certain specialist equipment will be deployed following burning, and information leaflets will be placed in visitor chalets and at the Mulaushi Conservation centre to keep visitors informed of the active research taking place in the park. Chris will be putting together an application for funding for a detailed hydrological study during large storm events, hopefully to commence during the 2006/2007 rainy season. This will hopefully complement the baseline studies being undertaken by myself. Glenn is also pursuing funds to undertake a future study of Sitatunga behaviour in the park.

We have also been setting up several other monitoring schemes within the park. These include intensive studies of hydrological dynamics within a single dambo system near the Mulaushi centre, the installation of rain gauges at new sites, monitoring of daily evaporation at Mulaushi (to get a better idea of the overall water balance in the park), and hydrological monitoring of the floodplain swamp areas. Monitoring will commence in the wet evergreen Mushito woodland once the famous Kasanka Straw-Coloured fruitbats have left for new feeding grounds. It is hoped that we can map the remaining areas of woodland, and get an idea of the local hydrology in order to halt the decline of the woodland. Paul Reyhing, a student from the University of Applied Science in Eberswalde, Germany has been helping in the set up of the various trial plots and monitoring schemes. He will be based in Kasanka until February 2006. Intensive water at twenty-six locations around the park is also been undertaken at fortnightly intervals to look at water quality, and to investigate what the major water sources and sinks are.

Paul Racey, Cilla Racey and Martin Stanley returned again during November/December 2005, during which time they enjoyed a day of hydrological sampling and game spotting. A successful second annual workshop was held during their visit to give an update to the various stakeholders, and identify future directions and collaborations.

As for the future, we will be forging links with various research establishments in Zambia, to try and encourage higher levels of undergraduate research and teaching within the national park. A group of students from Glasgow University in the UK also hopes to visit the park for 6-8 weeks during August and September 2006 to undertake baseline monitoring projects within various freshwater habitats (which will be a great help to the Darwin project), and to get involved with education projects in local community schools.

Finally, we are also currently interviewing for a Zambian graduate assistant, following the placement of a series of national adverts. The response to the adverts was good and we hope to appoint an assistant before Christmas.

Mike Kennedy (Darwin Researcher), December 2005.