Year 5 (Part 2)

Year 5 Report: Part 2

April 2014 to September 2014

The National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation

5 Part 2

IMAGE | NIGEL WINSER

IMAGE | LLOYD FIGGINS

IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

contents 1

Observing and Understanding Oman’s Natural Heritage

2

Executive Summary

3

Developing the Cadre of Research and Education Specialists

4

Environmental Field Research Projects: PROJECT 1 | Jebel Samhan Biodiversity Project Report PROJECT 2 | Arabian Tahr and Mobile Environmental

Research Unit 6-month Progress Report PROJECT 3 | Jebel Akhdar Woodlands Project Research PROJECT 4 | Falaj Research Project

Abbreviations/Acronyms: OEP - Oman Earthwatch Programme NFRCEC - National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation OCE - Office of Conservation of the Environment MECA - Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs PI - Principal Investigator (Lead Scientist on Research Project) SQU - Sultan Qaboos University OBG - Oman Botanic Gardens DRC - Diwan of Royal Court

5

GIS and Remote Sensing

6

Support to the National Field Research Centre of Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC) Strategic Development

7

Environmental Education

8

Omani Scientists Conducting Own Fieldwork

9

Operations and Safety in the Field

10

Capturing OEP Successes

IMAGE | HADI AL HIKMANI

Message from Dr Saif Al Shaqsi, National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation and Nigel Winser, Oman Earthwatch Programme

This is the report of the work of the National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC) from 1st April - 31st September 2014 in year five of the Oman Earthwatch Programme.

IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

Observing and understanding Oman’s natural heritage

1 This report details a busy six months of fieldwork and learning activities, including multidisciplinary research across the Hajar Mountains, with specific focus on Jebel Akhdar, Jebel Shams and Wadi Sareen, and also a study of the falaj in Luzugh village.

Over the year, the NFRCEC has had the privilege to engage with staff from the government, business and education communities.

Collaborations include the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA), the Office for the Conservation of the Environment (OCE), Sultan Qaboos and

IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

Nizwa Universities, the Sultan School and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). The field data gathered by these teams is of a high value, as is their enthusiasm for supporting the NFRCEC in its goal for developing new leaders in field conservation and environmental studies.

In addition the NFRCEC has worked closely with the Ministry of Education to develop a new education pack for schools titled ”Wildlife of the Hajar Mountains”, which draws upon the biodiversity data collected by teams from the NFRCEC and other institutions. The education materials were successfully launched in September as you will read in this report.

Gathering accurate geographical information about Oman’s rich natural

resources is a major undertaking and we are very grateful to the growing community in the Sultanate who share in this task. We believe the data collected will influence the sustainable management of Oman natural resources and we would like to thank all those who have contributed to these datasets in 2014.

Finally our thanks go to Bushra Al Wahaibi and Khalifa Al Hijji at the NFRCEC and Dr James Burton, Director of the Oman Earthwatch Programme, for their stewardship in the past year.

NFRCEC | Dr Saif Al Shaqsi OEP | Nigel Winser

Executive Summary This report summarises the significant progress of the Oman Earthwatch Programme from 1st April to 30th September 2014. The major focus of the previous six months has been the continued development of a cadre of environmental and education specialists.

This has been achieved through groups of participants conducting field research for a week at the project locations.

Participants from NFRCEC, Ministry of

Environment and Climate Affairs, Office of Conservation of the Environment, Ministry of Education, Sultan School, Sultan Qaboos University, Petroleum Development Oman and the local community have all been involved. Field research was conducted by these groups on the Jebel Akdhar Woodlands, and on the Tahr Project’s Mobile Environmental Research Unit at four locations in the Hajar Mountains. This included the first fieldwork collaboration with PDO, and also the first school group.

The NFRCEC training plan is now being fully implemented by Debbie Winton and Hussein Al Qasmi. This will further increase the staff skills to conduct fieldwork, including the theoretical

background to field methods and designing research.

The Tahr Project has set camera traps in Jebel Qawan and Jebel Akdhar, to expand the area of surveys; these will be collected in October. Camera trapping surveys were restarted in Wadi Sareen and an OCE staff member is now working closely with Dr Steve Ross to share skills and further develop the project.

The Woodland Project team has been enhanced with a new leader Salah al Mazrui. The Juniper woodlands and vegetation survey was completed with over 95 km of transects walked, much of this with NFRCEC staff.

A report has been produced to

2 disseminate the important reasons for the decline of the juniper woodlands, and suggested actions.

The Jebel Samhan Biodiversity Project made significant progress.

With Dr Alan Roe taking on leadership, preliminary remote sensing work was completed, as well as ground truthing at a small number of locations.

Safety and risk assessments were conducted in wadis in eastern Jebel Samhan for future biodiversity surveys.

The Falaj Project has completed a detailed socio-economic survey of 47 households in Luzugh village in order to understand the value of the falaj system in today’s community. Water quality surveys are underway and repeated regularly to determine water quality that

will be important for selecting future pilot projects. Meetings have been held and preliminary plans drafted for the first pilot project on aquaponics and hydroponics.

This looks like a very promising option to provide benefits to the community.

The Environmental Education work of OEP and NFRCEC made a huge step forward with the high profile launch of the education materials ‘Wildlife of the Hajar Mountain Series’ and a teacher training workshop in Jebel Akdhar, jointly with the Ministry of Education.

This event received considerable media attention in the Sultanate of Oman.

A strong relationship was built with the Sultan School and a group of students conducted fieldwork in Jebel Akdhar in August.

The operations and logistics of OEP have been busy with multiple groups of participants at three of the project sites in the last six months, as well as the usual NFRCEC staff and OEP staff conducting research at all sites.

All aspects of safety and logistics received additional support from Lloyd Figgins, Head of Global Safety, Earthwatch, who visited Oman again.

James Burton Senior Research and Programme Manager

OEP Business plan report

The table provides a snapshot of the progress made in this six month period in research, training, and education,

against the five objectives of the Oman Earthwatch Programme Memorandum of Understanding. There is also a

cumulative total of our progress since the start of the Oman Earthwatch Programme.

ACTUALS Year 5 Part 2: April 1st - September 30th 2014

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Total up to end year 5

1. To develop a cadre of research and development specialists and educators in the Sultanate of Oman to take a lead in developing the long term role of the programme 15 MECA/OCE

108 government staff

0

5 NGO staff

4 (Jebel Akhdar)

4 (Jebel Akhdar)

Corporate employees in Omani to join research project teams for awareness-raising purposes

15 PDO employees

15 employees

Omani school teachers participate in 1 day field activity through the programme (not team experiences)

30 teachers at HMS launch

30 teachers

8 Sultan School

8 school students

Omani government field science staff - rangers and office staff Non-government environmental organisations Local community fellows

School students joining field research project University students to receive training on research project in field

27 (SQU and Nizwa) 43 university students

TOTAL

99

213

Building the capacity of NFRCEC staff/personnel training work

8

2. To identify and develop relevant field research and pilot projects on issues that relate to sustainability of the environment and the continuing priority to map, monitor and manage Oman’s rich natural and cultural resources.

4 projects; 1 methodology

4 Projects and 1 methodology effectively conducting field research

7

Project outputs: reports, publications, management tools, enhancing management effectiveness

3. To provide a forum for the science research and policy implementing communities to meet, agree priorities and exchange information and ideas.

Support to NFRCEC strategic development

on-going

4. To ensure that the results of the fieldwork are shared with the education community both formally through Sultanate of Oman’s national curriculum and informally through meetings, workshops, the media and other means.

Curriculum-linked & general educational/awareness-raising materials for projects: posters, leaflets etc

3 public awareness outputs

5. To identify and train leading Omani scientists to direct their own field projects in the Sultanate of Oman and elsewhere in the world.

Studentships awarded and research begun; Omani Project Leaders trained (where appointed)

IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

Developing the Cadre of Research and Education Specialists

3

Progress against the 2014 training plan for NFRCEC staff has accelerated during this six month period, and individuals from other organisations have also benefited. Activities have included: DATES

TRAINING ACTIVITY

DELIVERED

ATTENDED BY

23rd Apr 2014

Two hour course on GPS systems

OEP Project Leader

NFRCEC research and field staff

4-6th May 2014

Data analysis training and use of DISTANCE software three day course in Jebel Akhdar

OEP Project Leader

Two NFRCEC staff

20th Aug 2014

One day course “Introduction to research methods in ecology”

OEP Vegetation Ecologist

NFRCEC research and field staff

6-18th Sept 2014

International Earthwatch Project “Tracking Beavers Through German Waters”

Earthwatch Project Lead Scientist Dr William Megill

Three NFRCEC staff

23rd Aug 2014 18th Sept 2014

Oxford Fieldwork and Training Programme

Earthwatch UK staff

6 x Nizwa University students 6 x Office of Conservation of Environment staff 6 x NFRCEC staff

PROGRAMME OF SUNDAY LECTURES IN 2014 Tues 15th Apr

On Earthwatch “Water Research and Learning Programme“ in Wadi Wurayah in the U.A.E

Sun 20th Apr

On OEP project “A study on the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of the Aflaj of Oman (Lizugh village)”

Sun 27th Apr

On OEP project “Research for conservation of high altitude woodland habitats on Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams in the Hajar mountain range”

Sun 18th Apr

From the Director of “Kudat Turtle Conservation Society (KTCE)” in Borneo Malaysia

Sun 25th Apr

On the snakes in Oman by a national expert

Authors: Dr Steve Ross, Saeid al Rashdi, Waleed al Zakwani, Abdul Hallemal Rashdi, Fatmi al Zadgali Assan al Kalbani, Nassa al Rahabi

Coming up: This was a twelve day programme with fieldwork on Earthwatch Project “Climate Change in Wytham Woods”.

Research activities were wide-ranging, including canopy measurements with hemispherical cameras, pitfall trapping for invertebrates, moth trapping, constructing litter traps for carbon measurements, soil respiration measurements and installing root

in-growth cores. The fieldwork was complemented by training sessions in experimental design, GPS, Environmental Impact Assessment, mammal tracking and risk management. The teams also had informing sessions with experts in wildlife conservation from Oxford University, focusing particularly on large carnivores and invertebrates.

Participants also learnt how to keep a field diary, apply GPS to all research activities and plan fieldwork trips, and had a chance to design their own research project. All the above combined to form a well-rounded training course in field skills and conservation research methods.

DATES

TRAINING ACTIVITY

PLANNED ACTIVITY

19-25th Oct 2014

International Earthwatch Project “Wildlife of Australia’s Rainforest”

NFRCEC Senior Research staff

24th Oct 2014 - 6th Nov 2014

10 day programme including Durrell Institute Conservation Education and Interpretation course; London Environmental Education Forum course Working with school groups; Forest Schools Taster Day; Bristol Natural History Consortium Conference; visiting educational groups in Oxford

NFRCEC Environmental Education staff

5th - 16th Nov 2014

Meetings with UK museums and libraries and Outdoor Learning Conference attendance

NFRCEC Senior Environmental Education and Training staff

22nd Nov - 4th Dec 2014

Two week programme for development of skills required for the roles of Field Safety Coordinator and Training Coordinator. Includes training courses “Facilitation Skills for Successful Collaboration” and “Off-Site Safety Management”, plus training in Earthwatch’s UK office to develop understanding of risk management systems, providing the tools and skills necessary to enable them to apply similar procedures and standards at the NFRCEC

NFRCEC Environmental Training Coordinator

Nov 2014 - Jan 2015

GIS training and course in applications of Google Earth – two or three short courses of 1-2 days

NFRCEC Environmental Researchers

Authors: Debbie Winton and Hussein al Qasmi

4

a | IMAGE, STEPHEN BISHOP

c | IMAGE, STEPHEN BISHOP

PROJECT 1

Environmental Field Research Projects The four environmental field research projects have grown in breadth of research, productivity and staffing.

These model projects are producing totally new and vital findings to support future conservation planning and community sustainable management of their resources. This will result in the testing of practical pilot projects to benefit communities and reduce the impact on the environment in the coming year.

c | IMAGE, STEPHEN BISHOP

d | IMAGE, STEPHEN BISHOP

Jebel Samhan Biodiversity Project Report

PROJECT 1

In July, remote sensing work commenced utilising available imagery to assess the impact of habitat loss through time in and around the Jebel Samhan: Remote sensing is also being used to generate vegetation classifications from their spectral reflectance signatures.

In September, a safety and logistical assessment was conducted of the sites for planned biodiversity research activities at Wadi Raykhout and Wadi Hadhbaram. While in Hasik the team also visited the MECA Centre for

Environmental Research in Hasik to meet staff and inspect facilities.

A clear potential was identified for collaboration between the Jebel Samhan biodiversity project and this Centre. The report arising from this assessment was submitted to the NFRCEC. On return to Salalah a productive meeting was held with the Director General of MECA, to introduce the scope of the project and explore possibilities for cooperation between MECA and the NFRCEC on this activity.

Later in September, project researchers accompanied by experts from the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, began ground-truthing vegetation signatures for mapping by remote

sensing. The team visited 14 sites in cross-section along the monsoonal rainfall gradient of the Dhofar mountains escarpment. Later in September MECA issued the project team for a permit for biodiversity studies to be conducted within the boundaries of the Jebel Samhan Reserve, opening the way for the main phase of ecological research.

Author: Dr Alan Row

a

Project team members and staff from the Environmental Research Centre visiting Wadi Raykhout

b

A permanent spring fed pool in Wadi Raykhout

c

Unattended camels grazing on Acacia near Hasik

d

Planning the route, Jebel Samhan

4

a | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

PROJECT 2

a

MERU, Hover Fly J Ackdar

b

MERU, Shield Bug J Ackdar

c

Tahr Proj, Training Rangers and Biologists in tahr trapping, Wadi Sareen

Environmental Field Research Projects The four environmental field research projects have grown in breadth of research, productivity and staffing.

These model projects are producing totally new and vital findings to support future conservation planning and community sustainable management of their resources. This will result in the testing of practical pilot projects to benefit communities and reduce the impact on the environment in the coming year.

b | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

c | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

PROJECT 2

Arabian Tahr and Mobile Environmental Research Unit 6-month progress report MERU finished work in Jebel Qahwan in April, leaving 22 camera traps on the mountain to establish baseline data on mammal distribution.

University. The PDO teams were provided with environmental education and experience, practical field skills were taught to the SQU biologists, and technical skills in data collection and DISTANCE analyses were taught to the Ministry of the Environment and NFRCEC teams.

The same was accomplished in Jebel Akhdar Reserve area. Both sets of camera traps will be collected in October and data will be used to build recommendations for reserve monitoring. This is important for informed management of the two new reserve areas. The biodiversity monitoring work will be expanded this coming winter in four-reserve areas.

In addition several teams were hosted on MERU including personnel from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Affairs, two teams from the PDO, and one team from Sultan Qaboos

The Tahr Project will use the camera trapping data gained during MERU camps for its Hajar wide tahr distribution survey. In addition cameras were set in the mountains surrounding Wadi Sareen and those between Muscat and Amerat.

The Tahr Project restarted in Wadi Sareen in May 2014 and camera traps were set to continue the ‘pit experiment’ which is investigating tahr scent marking behaviour and its relationship to tahr life history. An Office of Conservation of the Environment (OCE) biologist, Haitham al Rawahi, has been receiving training on

Authors: DR Steve Ross, Saeid al Rashdi Waleed al Zakwani, Abdul Hallem al Rashdi, Fatmi al Zadgali Assan al Kalbani, Nassa al Rahabi

the project since May. In August trapping of Arabian tahr was initiated in Wadi Sareen to attempt to attach more GPS collars, aiming to gain understanding of their movement, spatial requirements and habitat use patterns. Eight tahr have been captured so far and five of these were large enough to attach GPS collars. We aim to attach another seven collars before the end of October.

GPS collaring proposals have been developed to conduct a vegetation survey in Wadi Sareen in January to understand how tahr movement relates to food availability. In addition, a proposal to conduct a camera trapping occupancy survey in Wadi Sareen has been drafted. We aim to conduct this survey in November; the results will help US understand current management of the reserve area, and monitoring, and will provide comparative data to that being collected in Jebel Qahwan tahr reserve.

a | IMAGE, ALAN ROE

4

c | IMAGE, ALAN ROE

b | IMAGE, ALAN ROE

PROJECT 3

PROJECT 3

Jebel Akhdar Woodlands Project Research The Jebel Akhdar project received a boost in May when a new project leader was appointed after an extensive and far-reaching recruitment effort.

From April until June the Juniper woodlands and vegetation assessment

was ongoing. Researchers surveyed 86 sites across the Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams, trekking more than 95km across inaccessible mountain slopes and tracks in the most extensive on-ground assessment of woodlands yet undertaken on Jebel Akhdar. Data was collected on a range of botanical and biophysical variables with four NFRCEC field assistants actively participating in the work.

The socio-economic and land use survey was simultaneously completed.

This study encompassed 20 settlements lying at high altitude and provides insights into usage of land and natural resources by communities within the project area and the value of these to local livelihoods.

The pilot phase of remote sensing work was completed in June. Analysis of land

This first step highlights the potential for recalibrating the technique to investigate direct disturbance to woodlands and high altitude habitats.

the newly established MECA Jebel Akhdar Reserve, the second a team of female students from SQU and the third male students from SQU. Their mixed program of research included vegetation surveys, bird surveys, woodlands condition assessment, monitoring livestock grazing and interpreting remote sensing data.

They also camped a night on the high plateau of Jebel Akhdar.

During June the project successfully fielded three participant teams, totalling 18 individuals. The first team comprised core staff of

In August a group of students from the Sultans school in Muscat joined the project for a program of environmental education.

use change on and around Jebel Akhdar during the period 1986- 2013, utilising image differencing techniques, revealed that the area of villages, towns, roads and farms increased by over a 100 km2 during this period.

d | IMAGE, ALAN ROE

a

A short break from the trek. Salah (project leader) mentoring two MECA field team participants

b

Tagging a goat for a grazing impact study

c

Members of the female (SQU team) returning from a study

d

A senior member of the Jebel Akhdar community guiding researchers from SQU Authors: Sala al Mazrui, Waleed al Zakwani, Abdul Hallem al Rashdi, Fatmi al Zadgali Assan al Kalbani, Nassa al Rahabi

4

IMAGE | NAT SPRING

PROJECT 1

IMAGE | NAT SPRING

PROJECT 1

Falaj Research Project The Falaj Project is now very productive with good progress in both research and preparation for implementing a pilot project.

The project leader, John Cody, has conducted multiple meetings with a company to plan the setup of an aquaponics unit in Luzugh village.

There is now a proposed plan for this to be implemented. Dr Saif and the community are planning to visit this company to see a working unit in order to get agreement and plan the next steps.

Dr Abdullah al Ghafri and Dr Dennis Powers, working with John, Hammad and Isakk have completed the socio-economic surveys of 41

households in Luzugh. Additional research has been conducted by John Cody on the water quality of the falaj.

This enabled us to ensure that the water will be suitable for the aquaponics.

John has also trained Hammad and Isakk in both these research methods, so that in future they can conduct this type of survey independently. Also the Falaj records for the previous 14 years have been transcribed onto a database by the project team. These will be valuable for the socio-economic study of the falaj.

Authors: John Cody, Hammad al Huseini

IMAGE | NAT SPRING

5

GIS and Remote Sensing Progress on Woodland Project Two studies have been conducting to assess the changes in land cover and land use in the Woodlands study areas using Landsat images for the years 1986, 2000 and 2013.

Landsat May 1986

The results of the first study which is the mapping and assessment of vegetation cover change of the woodlands areas using NDVI techniques has revealed that about 80% of changes in vegetation cover occurred between 1986 and 2013 in areas of woodlands, while less change has occurred in areas that are included in

Landsat May 2000

the Jebel Akhdhar Nature Reserve.

The figures below illustrate theses changes in vegetation cover in the Woodlands areas in general and the Jebel Akhdhar Nature Reserve specifically.

Authors: Dr Ehsan Khalefa, Mohammed al Quaimi

Landsat May 2013

Changes in NDVI values classes for the Woodlands study areas during the three years 1986, 2000, 2013

Changes in NDVI values classes for the Jebel Akhdar Natural Reserve during the three years 1986, 2000, 2013

The severe changes in the vegetation cover may be mainly due to infrastructural development in those areas.

However, further investigations were conducted in the second study to assess the changes in land use to housing and infrastructure development.

These analysis on vegetation cover dynamics in this study use Landsat images. This is a useful starting point to further analyse spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation changes in degraded areas.

The second study conducted focussed on detection and assessment of historical and recent land use change in the woodlands areas using Landsat images and GIS techniques. This has provided good results on detecting the changes of land use in terms of urban sprawl and infrastructural development during the period (1986-2013).

The figure on the right shows these changes during the period (1986-2013).

Based on the units of the study areas, we calculate the percentage of changes in land uses in each year for each unit of the selected study areas. Most of the changes in land uses and urban areas sprawl were broadly in the same area as where there was a marked decrease in the vegetation cover.

These changes in land uses might be due to human activities such as infrastructural developments, tourism activities or urban sprawl in those areas. Further investigation in terms of field work regarding human activities should be done to help clarifying how human activities affect the woodlands in the long term and the required actions to modify human activities to improve conservation of the woodlands.

The urban areas sprawl during the period from (1986 to 2013).

The study area units and the urban areas sprawl during the period from (1986 to 2013).

The urban areas span since 1986 to 2013 in each selected units of the study areas.

Progress on Database Development

For the purpose of storing and saving all the data of the Oman Earthwatch Programme, a cloud storage system in Dropbox for Business Account (DBA) was chosen to create a safe storage space and allow monitoring of the OEP data to manage the data for the four projects.

Using the DBA as a cloud storage services will enhance the work of OEP team to keep the projects’ information and data safe, secured in one place with all the space needed to store this data.

OEP will start to set up the DBA in the beginning of October 2014 and conduct a training workshop for the Project leaders and NFRCEC staff on how to use the DBA to store the OEP datasets for

each project and discuss the accessibility of the data by OEP team and NFRCEC staff.

It is expected that all the OEP datasets will be collected and stored frequently up to September 2015. OEP will help and support NFRCEC in transferring all the datasets for the four projects to NFRCEC database system by December 2015.

a | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

6

Support to the National Field Research Centre of Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC) Strategic Development Corporate Employee Engagement

This year saw the first links with the Oman business community being developed and established in the field with an employee engagement programme. The NFRCEC hosted staff committed to environmental sustainability from PDO following discussions with Mr Raoul Restucci and Mr Abdul Amir Al Ajmi.

Akhdar with support from Project Leaders Salah Al Mazrui and Dr Steve Ross. The success of these field visits led to further opportunities for the NFRCEC and PDO to work together in the future. The notion of a Desert Research Centre in the PDO concession area, to study the unique limestone plateau and rich biodiversity as a product of the heavy night mists of the central plateau, is now being considered.

Two strong teams from PDO contributed to the field science study of the Juniper woodlands and biodiversity on Jebel

Nigel Winser, Roderic Dutton, Debbie Winton and James Burton

a

Hajars Teacher Day

b

NFRCEC/OCE team in Wytham Woods

c

Nizwa University team in Wytham Woods

Oxford Research and Learning Programme A second strategic development was the Oman Oxford Summer School, that provided a 12 day in-situ field research training and learning programme in Oxordshire’s Wytham Woods during August and September.

18 leaders in environmental conservation from the NFRCEC, the Office for Conservation and Nizwa University made a valuable contribution to Earthwatch’s long term study of climate change in UK woodlands.

b | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

c | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

7

a

a

Hajar Mountains Series education pack launch: teachers and Ministry of Education coordinators on Jabel Akhdar participating in a field science in Oman walk and talk, led by Dr Steve Ross.

b

Ministry of Education teachers and coordinators participating in a Hajar Mountain Series education pack training workshop.

b

Environmental Education The environmental education team has made significant progress in the previous six months, making important contributions to various aspects of the Oman Earthwatch Programme.

The NFRCEC/OEP has developed a strong professional relationship with the Ministry of Education,

Science Curriculum Division resulting in successfully producing curriculum linked education resources and fielding of Omani teachers and MoE staff, with plans for future collaboration.

A huge contribution to the success of this first camp.

The education team has also developed a strong relationship with the Sultan School with the first Omani school student team fielded in August 2014 on the OEP Jabel Akhdar Woodlands

Conservation Project. The production of the Hajar Mountain Series education pack, accompanied with an official launch, teacher training workshop and a day in the field for teachers and Ministry of Education coordinators and managers has been well received by the Royal Court of Oman and MoE officials, attracting significant media attention within the Sultanate of Oman.

Authors: Saeida Rouass, Bushra al Wahaibi, Bushra al Huebi, Marwa al Mukhaimi

c | IMAGE, STEVE ROSS

c

Education Resources The Hajar Mountain Series was launched in September 2014 in partnership with the Ministry of Education of Oman, Science Curriculum Division.

The pack is designed for teachers to use as a learning resource to complement existing MoE science resources and textbooks by providing Oman specific

content and activities. It utilises current research and findings from OEP projects ensuring opportunities for Omani students to learn about Oman’s natural heritage and current threats to the rich biodiversity found within the country. The pack consists of 13 biodiversity booklets, each covering a specific species found in Oman, accompanied by a student activity worksheet. To complement the booklets the pack includes vocabulary and picture flashcards, a poster about the Arabian tahr and a poster introducing the range of species found within the Hajar Mountain range. There is also a

c

Hajar Mountain Series teacher team photography on Jabel Akhdar

teacher guide that provides example lesson plans and guidance on how the pack can be integrated into wider Science teaching in and outside the classroom.

Through working collaboratively with the Science Curriculum Division, the NFRCEC and OEP have ensured the Hajar Mountain Series becomes official Ministry of Education materials.

While this is an important step towards achieving the OEP education business plan targets, more importantly it means the Hajar Mountain Series makes a significant contribution to the teaching

d | IMAGE, FADI DADA

d

f | IMAGE, FADI DADA

e | IMAGE, FADI DADA

e

f and learning of science within the Sultanate of Oman through enriching the resources available to the education community.

The launch was attended by the Director-General of the NFRCEC, the Director of OEP and the Under-Secretary of the Science Curriculum Division of the Ministry of Education. Their attendance ensured greater awareness of the Hajar Mountain Series and its significance within the education system of Oman.

It was also attended by 28 invited teachers and MoE coordinators and managers who each received a pack.

They also participated in a two hour training workshop, providing them with an overview of the pack and its usage.

The second day of the launch saw the participants visit Jabel Akhdar to gain field experience.

Authors: Saeida Rouass, Bushra al Wahaibi, Bushra al Huebi, Marwa al Mukhaimi

d

Sultan School student participating in a reflective learning workshop as part of a week long programme on Jabel Akhdar

e

Sultan School students participating in a conservation relationships workshop as part of a week long programme on Jabel Akhdar

f

Sultan School students conducting field research on the Jabel Akhdar Woodlands Conservation Project

Public Awareness Resources As part of the Hajar Mountain Series official launch, a photography exhibition and video was organised that profiled three NFRCEC/OEP areas of work.

The first photography stand profiled biodiversity within the Hajar Mountains,

g

highlighting the current status and threats to this important geographical area. The second highlighted field science within Oman and profiled the value of citizen science as a learning and conservation approach. The exhibition stand outlined the range of field teams and programmes conducted by the NFRCEC/OEP. Finally, the third stand profiled education achievements, promoting the links between field science and wider learning.

Accompanying the photography exhibition, a short film was produced and aired at the launch. The film

was a compilation of wildlife footage captured through camera traps set up within the Hajar mountain range by Dr Steve Ross. The three exhibition stands and video again contribute to the OEP education business plan targets through the production of four public awareness raising resources.

Moreover, they provide a public awareness resource that can be utilised by the NFRCEC/OEP at future events.

Authors: Saeida Rouass, Bushra al Wahaibi, Bushra al Huebi, Marwa al Mukhaimi

Sultan School team on the Jabel Akhdar Woodlands Conservation Project.

g | IMAGE, FADI DADA

g

Fielding The NFRCEC/OEP fielded the first secondary school group of 8 students from the Sultan School in August 2014 as part of the Jabel Akhdar Woodlands and Conservation project.

The group spent five days on Jabel Akhdar with a programme of morning field work lead by Chloe MaClaren, Nasser Al Rahabi and Azan Al Kibani.

Ministry of Education relationship The relationship with the Ministry of Education of Oman has gone from strength to strength.

In the previous 6 months the NFRCEC/ OCE and MoE have committed resources and manpower towards collaborative environmental education initiatives resulting in the Hajar Mountain

NFRCEC Capacity Development

The OEP education consultant, Saeida Rouass, has contributed towards capacity development within the NFRCEC through developing a UK based training programme for the NFRCEC Education Assistant and the development of a UK networking programme for the NFRCEC

The field work included vegetation plotting, habitat comparison and bird surveys. In the afternoons the team participated in workshops designed to enrich field learning by embedding morning sessions into wider conservation debates, led by Saeida Rouass.

As part of the Hajar Mountain Series launch 25 Omani teachers and education coordinators participated in a one day field experience on Jabel Akhdar.

The day involved a Power Point presentation by Dr Steve Ross at the Al Sahab Hotel, in which teachers

learned about current research projects within the Hajer Mountains and a two hour walk and talk in a selected area of Jabel Akhdar. As part of the walk and talk Dr Steve Ross, Fatma Al Zadjali and Azan Al Kilbani demonstrated specific field science methods adopted to gather data on biodiversity within the mountain range.

Authors: Saeida Rouass, Bushra al Wahaibi, Bushra al Huebi, Marwa al Mukhaimi

Series education pack receiving official Ministry endorsement and the attendance of teachers and coordinators from different regions of the country to the launch, teacher training workshop and Jabel Akhdar field day. This has meant the education work of the OEP has achieved against its business plan targets and established a solid foundation from which to build further work with the Ministry of Education.

Two areas of development that have emerged from this relationship are the Globe Network, a NASA programme

managed by the MoE across Oman, inviting the OEP to participate in a two day camping/field work programme for 150 students from Oman and the region in March 2015. The second area of development is the production of a second education pack that will present environmental science and conservation as a cross-disciplinary and cross-skills subject.

Education Manager. These programmes are expected to be delivered in October 2014 and November 2014 respectively.

A visit and presentation from Francesca Winifred from the Kudat Turtle Conservation Society based on Borneo Island, Malaysia to the NFRCEC office in Madinat Qaboos provided staff an opportunity to learn about a grassroots conservation project. A visit from

Sultan Qaboos University to the Madinat Qaboos office allowed NFRCEC staff to learn about snakes through close-up and responsible handling.

Authors: Saeida Rouass, Bushra al Wahaibi, Bushra al Huebi, Marwa al Mukhaimi

Authors: Saeida Rouass, Bushra al Wahaibi, Bushra al Huebi, Marwa al Mukhaimi

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Ministry of Education teachers and coordinators participating in a Hajar Mountain Series education pack training workshop.

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James Burton OEP Khalifa al Hijji NFRCEC Mike McGrady OEP Alan Roe OEP Steve Ross OEP Azan al Kalbani NFRCEC Nasser al Rahabi NFRCEC Waleed al Zakwani NFRCEC Abdulhalim al Rashdi NFRCEC Fatma al Zadgali NFRCEC Hammad al Huseini NFRCEC Mohammed al Muqimi NFRCEC Laila al Haddabi SQU

Omani Scientists Conducting Own Fieldwork The last six months has been an exceptionally productive period for young Omani scientists to conduct fieldwork. There has been a wide range of experiences gained in Oman, Germany and the UK. As NFRCEC staff spend more time in the field conducting research on the Mobile Environmental Research Unit, Falaj and Woodland Projects, they gain further new skills and build the expertise that they have gained previously.

For example, Said al Rashdi of NFRCEC has continued showing leadership of the Mobile Environmental Research Unit, working with and learning from Dr Steve Ross. He has shown a particular interest in camera trapping studies. Hammad al Huseini of NFRCEC

has been trained by John Cody and Dennis Powers in socio-economic surveys. This meant he successfully completed the surveys in Luzugh community. He was also trained in water quality testing, which he is conducting monthly in the village.

He continues to do an excellent job as the community liaison with Luzugh village. Waleed al Zakwani, Abdulhalim al Rashdi, Fatma al Zadgali, Nassr al Rahabi, and Azan al Kabani all from the NFRCEC have now completed the socio-economic surveys, a key part of the Woodland Project. They have enhanced their skills, following training

by Dr Alan Roe. Azan al Kabani and Nassr al Rahabi of NFRCEC have continued gaining skills in ornithological research, working with Dr Mike McGrady. They have a number of mini research projects that they are conducting independently,

supervised by Mike. Mohammed al Muqimi of NFRCEC has received further training in GIS and setting up a database from Dr Ehsan Khalefa.

The Oxford Fieldwork and Training Programme, was a twelve day programme with fieldwork on Earthwatch Project “Climate Change in Wytham Woods”. Research activities were wide-ranging, including canopy measurements, invertebrate sampling, constructing litter traps for carbon measurements. This involved six NFRCEC staff, six Office of Conservation staff and eight Nizwa University students. Also, three members of NFRCEC conducted research on the Earthwatch Project ‘Tracking Beavers Through German Waters’. All these gave the Omani scientists experience of research internationally and a wide range of environmental issues and solutions.

Operations and Safety in the Field April and May 2014 saw the busiest period of fielding from the Oman Earthwatch Programme to date.

This included fielding two Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) teams in May. This provided many safety and logistical challenges for us and the respective teams, all of which were met with professionalism and enthusiasm.

The period between April 2014 and September 2014 saw the OEP continue to grow with many new members, all of whom received risk management training by myself as part of a thorough induction programme.

May also saw the National Centre Field Assistants take delivery of their field kit which they take pride in wearing.

This enables them to set a professional standard when working on teams as well as taking pride in their appearance and maintaining high standards of safety.

September also saw a further visit by Lloyd Figgins, the Earthwatch Head of Global Safety, to Oman to ensure that the programme maintains its high standards of in-country and field safety.

Lloyd conducted a series of open meetings with the OEP team to ensure compliance with the Earthwatch high standards of safety as well as gain feedback for the contractors on various issues. This was an extremely valuable visit and helped to ensure

the programme remains safe and ‘fit for purpose’ During Lloyd’s visit, we, along with Dr Alan Roe, made a three day site visit to Jebel Samhan to look at potential project sites in the reserve. This was a hugely successful visit which enabled us to further improve our working relationship with MECA and the Jebel Samhan rangers.

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Steve Bishop FRGS, Programme Manager September 2014

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IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

Capturing Success During Year 3 of the programme, OEP developed a series of clear measures of success (MoS) to monitor the programme against, in addition to monitoring achievements against programme objectives in the MoU. We continue to track numbers against targets and to log relevant activities that relate to our MoS.

IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

IMAGE | STEVE ROSS

Year 5 training and educational activities participant numbers The charts below show the progress made in formal capacity development throughout the programme up to the end of year 5. This is achieved through fielding participants on teams and courses on OEP projects, targeting a wide range of audiences including: NFRCEC field assistants; university and school students; teachers and educators; rangers;

MECA and OCE rangers and scientists; and other Ministry and Diwan staff. Also now included are Omani participants joining Earthwatch programmes internationally, such as the Oxford Fieldwork and Training Programme in August and September 2014.

Figures presented here are for the time period of 1st January 2010 to 30th September 2014. We feel that providing some individuals with a greater depth and continuity of training is as important as giving multiple people a one-off training experience in order to reach a broader audience. To this end,

ACTIVITY

some participants take part in more than one team, thus gaining more experience and receiving a higher level of training, further developing their capacity as conservation practitioners.

Therefore in year 5 we began to track the depth of training received as well as the total numbers of participants, recording how many teams each individual participates in to gain an understanding of the level of development being achieved.

Debbie Winton

DATES MOS

Hosting PDO employees on two research teams on the OEP Woodlands Project in Jebel Akhdar, engaging them in environmental field research and running sessions on environmental sustainability and how it is important to them and their organisation.

11th - 22nd May 2014

Facilitating world class scientific field research and enabling organizations and business to become more sustainable.

The first school team fielded, on the Woodlands Project in Jebel Akhdar, with eight students from the Sultan School.

10th - 14th August 2014

Facilitating world class scientific field research and developing environmental leaders

Planning, development and delivery of the Oxford Fieldwork and Training Programme for participants from Nizwa University, NFRCEC and OCE

23rd August - 18th September 2014

Facilitating world class scientific field research and developing environmental leaders

Launch of the Hajar Mountain series education materials.

24th - 25th September 2014

Disseminating world class scientific field research and developing environmental leaders

Development of the National Action Plan for the Arabian Leopard in Oman

December 2013 September 2014 (ongoing)

Informing environmental policies, agendas and management plans

Footnote: Figures for charts a & c are based on the number of participants that join each team.

Therefore, a participant who attended two teams has been counted as two people

IMAGE | JAMES BURTON