RZSS LifeLinks Summer 2017 - Budongo Conservation Field Station extract

GREEN GUIDE: EXPLORING THE GLORIOUS GARDENS OF EDINBURGH ZOO

SUMMER 2017

THE RZSS MEMBERS’ MAGAZINE

INSIDE

MEET THE NEW WEE BEASTIES AT EDINBURGH ZOO + 20 YEARS OF OUR SPECTACULAR SUMMER SCHOOL

LESSER SP OT TED LEOPARDS SAVING THE WORLD’S RAREST CAT

C O N S E R V AT I O N

OFF THE B E AT E N TRACK

C R E AT I N G CO N S E R VAT I O N G AT E WAY S IN THE BUDONGO FOREST Jon-Paul Orsi meets the unsung heroes of the Budongo Forest in Uganda – a team of transect cutters without whom much of the field station’s activities would be impossible

I

t is mid-morning, the heat of the day is starting to long; there are no chainsaws or heavy machinery kick in and I find myself bouncing around in the to assist their progress. Godfrey, who has worked back of an old Land Cruiser heading deep into in the forest for ten years, gives me an overview of the Budongo Forest. Fred Odong, the driver at the their work and the tools they use. Pangas (Ugandan Budongo Conservation Field Station, is taking us to machetes) are used to clear vines and foliage, axes meet the transect cutting team and it is hard not to be take care of larger branches and, where necessary, in awe of his driving skills. The track is barely even long bow saws are used to cut larger trunks and that, and frequently we encounter obstacles that clear fallen trees. Progress can be surprisingly fast seem impassable. Fred, however, has been bouncing – on a good day the team can clear up to 1km of over rocks, power-sliding through mud and snaking transect – but fallen trees and heavy rain can slow under fallen trees for more than 14 years. Although this quite dramatically. progress is slow, we are grateful for the ride, During my trip, the team are busy opening which would otherwise have taken many up a new road, which means travelling hours on foot.

30km to the outer edges of the grid.

The field station has been Given the distances involved it is undertaking research in the often more practical to camp – for Budongo Forest for almost three up to two weeks at a time – and, decades and has now grown to the while water and food are taken point that it is transitioning into a out to the cutters regularly by non-governmental organisation.

Fred, even in a vehicle it can take Ever-increasing areas of study over an hour to reach them. The include chimpanzee health campsite itself is basic: blue monitoring, vocalisation and tarpaulins draped over wooden Fred brings supplies in ‘Drogba’ the social behaviour, smaller primates, pole frames, which in turn border a Land Cruiser birds and tree phenology. While the central fire pit. Water cans are piled up topics may vary, they all have one key at the side and makeshift washing lines requirement in common: access to the dense are strung between trees.

Budongo Forest.

At the campsite I meet the youngest member The transect cutters maintain a crucial 200km of the team, Godfrey Andrua, who has been at the network of pathways, spanning an area of around CONTINUED OVERLE AF> 2,000 hectares. The work is hard and the days are

22

LifeLinks

Members of the Sonso chimpanzee community resting along one of the forest paths

LifeLinks

23

C O N S E R V AT I O N

<FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

field station for three years. The younger Godfrey is tasked with maintaining the campsite and providing a steady supply of tea and food for his older colleagues. His day starts at 5.30am, getting the fire pit going and warming tea ready for the cutters to start work at 6.30. As he stirs a large pot over the fire, it is clear how much he relishes being out in the forest, learning from his older colleagues and observing the animals. He talks proudly about the land he has been able to buy with his salary and his plans to build his own house.

At first glance it is all too easy to underestimate the importance of the transect cutters. I ask Sadiq Olah, Head Transect Cutter, why he thinks their work is important and he replies quite simply that they allow the researchers and veterinary teams access to the forest. While this is undoubtedly true, he is also being very modest about the team’s wider contribution.

Researchers spend long days in the dense rainforest, and navigating through it is a slow and tiring process. Jagged thickets, creepers, vines, fallen trees and rivers have to be negotiated, making paths 24

LifeLinks

a hugely valuable resource (even the chimpanzees seem to enjoy using them). And there is nothing accidental about the route each path takes. The grid is made up of perpendicular paths, set at regular intervals and labelled in sequential order. This grid provides an invaluable wayfinding tool when entering the forest. An essential navigation aid in the early days of the field station and vital backup to GPS today, it is an equally important labelling system for academic purposes, too.

Research is central to almost all the work that goes on at the field station, and the long-term dataset that has been captured here is one of Budongo’s most valuable assets. The grid provides a vital reference point for observations and studies.

Just as each path is labelled, so is each ‘block’ of forest that the intersecting paths create. Everything – from tree phenology to feeding behaviour of smaller primates and snare counts – is being studied and referenced using this grid system.

The Budongo veterinary team also benefits. It can take up to three months to remove a snare from a chimpanzee. This means long days out in the forest carrying heavy veterinary equipment. The grid greatly eases this journey, in addition to

Researchers observing chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest

providing clear lines of sight for darting when required. Sadly, there are also occasions when chimpanzee carcasses need to be recovered and brought back for a post-mortem, and again the transects help aid this process.

2017 happens to be a census year. At around 70,000 hectares (or three times the size of Edinburgh), the Budongo Forest is home to several chimpanzee communities, not to mention countless other species of flora and fauna. To conduct each census, temporary transect lines are created by Sadiq and his team to allow researchers access to carefully plotted areas of the forest. Understanding long-term patterns in forest health, fruiting levels and species distribution is essential information, helping to inform not only the field station’s activities but also those of governmental agencies such as the National Forestry Authority.

The transect cutters have one final role to play in protecting the Budongo Forest and its inhabitants – spotting signs of illegal activity. One of the most powerful examples of this has been the dramatic reduction in the number of snares set in the forest.

To illustrate the point, Nelson Diro, one of the transect cutters, holds up a handful of snares (nine

Snares recovered from the forest by the transect team

in total) that had been recovered by the team just that morning. And the team’s work does not end there. Their presence can be enough to dissuade some of the larger-scale criminal activity, too, such as charcoal burning and pit-sawing, even if it is just in the area immediately surrounding the field station.

As we pack up and prepare to leave, I ask the older of the two Godfreys what he enjoys most about his work at the field station. He talks to me passionately about how he is very happy in his job, and about the satisfaction he gets seeing the chimpanzees and other wildlife they are helping protect. It is also clear that he and his colleagues take pride in what their jobs allow them to do in their personal lives – pay for food, clothes and for their children to go to school.

On leaving I say a heartfelt thank you to the team for the pathways they have created. Besides their helping to compensate for my general lack of fitness when trekking in the forest, during my trip I have observed first hand just how vital their work is to the field station. What at first glance may look like humble paths are in reality much more: they are conservation gateways into the Budongo Forest. Δ LifeLinks

25

Now Open New for 2017 Enter our brand new reptile, amphibian and creepy crawly house. Find them over beside the penguins.

#EdinburghZoo

edinburghzoo.org.uk/weebeasties