may 2012 nature net

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naturekenya.org May 12nature net

ISSN 2073-5111(Print)

B i r d L i f e I n t e r n a t i o n a l

m e e t i n g i n N a i r o b i

BirdLife International, a global partnership of conservationorganisations, had a successful meeting in Nairobi in March.Specifically, it was the Council of Africa Partnership (CAP), the firstin a series of regional meetings to plan BirdLife strategy for 2014to 2017.

The CAP meeting, which is held every two years, is the maingovernance body for BirdLife International Africa Partnership. Themembers of BirdLife Africa, together with key stakeholders andsupporters, come together to discuss and adopt a common frameworkand strategy with priorities for bird conservation in Africa. NatureKenya, being the BirdLife Partner for Kenya, together with theAfrica Secretariat of BirdLife International, also located in Nairobi,hosted over 80 delegates coming from over 30 countries in Africaand Europe.

2inside:

P. Matiku

Minister for Forestry and Wildlife graces theopening ceremony of the Council of AfricaParnership meeting 2012.

Two IBAs under threat

Partners agreed on a globalframework and elements for a

regional programme of work

emphasizing on saving species,

protecting sites and habitats,

promoting ecological sustainability

and empowering people.

- CAP 2012

Minister for Forestry and Wildlife Hon. Dr Noah Wekesa (2nd left) with,

from left, Mark Anderson of BirdLife South Africa, Paul Matiku of Nature

Kenya, Julius Arinaitwe of BirdLife Africa secretariat, Marco Lambertini,

CEO of BirdLife International, and Alan Carles, Nature Kenya chairman.

Photo by E. Mwongela

3 Scopus now available in PDF

The CAP meeting received some high level attention. At the openingceremony, the Prime Minister of Kenya was represented by Hon. DrNoah Wekesa, Minister for Forestry and Wildlife.

The Chairman of the East Africa Natural History Society (Nature

Kenya) and the Chief Executive Officer of BirdLife Internationalgave speeches to set the scene for the meeting. Later in the week, anevening get-together was hosted by the Spanish Ambassador. Therewere good speeches given by the ambassador, the representative ofthe UNEP Director and the CEO of BirdLife International

The focused discussionsduring the week were fruitful.Partners agreed on a globalframework and elements fora regional programme of work.The focus will emphasize savingspecies, protecting sites andhabitats, promoting ecologicalsustainability and empowering

people.

To deliver this framework for the period 2014 to 2017, BirdLife willwork on key priority programmes including: flyways for migratorybirds, preventing extinctions of globally threatened species,saving forests through the Forests of Hope initiative, protectingImportant Bird Areas, empowering people and building the capacityof the BirdLife Partnership and secretariat. The strategy will beadopted by the Global BirdLife Partnership World Conference thatwill take place in Canada in June 2013.

Hosting this BirdLife meeting was not without challenges. It tooksubstantial time for key senior Nature Kenya and BirdLife AfricaSecretariat staff. Although the meeting was in Nairobi, staff had

to be resident at the venue so as to mingle and share lessons andexperiences with the delegates and maximise their presence inNairobi. There were also gains. Three members joined the Society,and sales of books, honey, T-shirts and other merchandise amountedto Ksh 88,000. Bilateral meetings in particular with RSPB (BirdLifeUK), NABU (BirdLife Germany) and DOF (BirdLife Denmark) took placeand helped to consolidate the relationship for project development.

The delegates went back home a happy lot.

The Mombasa Butterfly Exhibit will soon be opening to the public in the grounds of Fort Jesus NationalMonument. It will showcase the rich and varied biodiversity of the coast region. The exhibit will includea butterfly flight cage with storyboards, and a gift shop that will specialize in community conservation

products.The live butterflies for the exhibit and the gift shop products will be purchased from farmers living aroundArabuko-Sokoke Forest and other key biodiversity areas. The facility is designed to be a popular venue forlocal and foreign visitors and also promote conservation awareness and support for local communities.The project has been in the works since the early 2000s and is supported by the United States Agencyfor International Development USAID.Anthony Githitho - National Museums of Kenya Project Manager

utterfly

ombasa

ouse

MBH (Butterfly photo courtesy of P. Usher)


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action

The Mayor of Kapsabet and the town s council are firmly againstthe construction of a dam at South Nandi Forest.Geroge Malakwen, from Community Action for Nature Conservation

(CANCO) added that local leaders were taking the issue seriously

during the National Liaison Committee (NLC) on Important Bird

Areas (IBA) meeting held at the Nairobi National Museum in March.

The Kenya government has plans to construct a Ksh.50 billion multi-

purpose dam in South Nandi forest, a designated IBA and the home

of the endangered Turners Eremomela. Building the dam will see

the destruction of over 1,000 hectares of indigenous forest.

Nature Kenya and other conservation bodies present at the meeting

raised concerns over the pending construction. They proposed an

on-line advocacy strategy through e-mails on emerging threats to

IBAs as a swift way for alerting partners and other stakeholders.

Presently, Nature Kenya with support from the GEF/UNDP is

running a project titled: Strengthening the Protected Area

Network of Eastern Montane Forest Hotspot of Kenya that

includes the South Nandi Forest. It will see the collaboration

of local Community Based Organizations with Kenyas Ministry

of Environment and Mineral Resources, Kenya Forest Service,

Kenya Wildlife Service, National Museums of Kenya and other

stakeholders in enhancing community management of forests.

Edi to r ia l teamAgatha NthengeFleur NgwenoSerah Munguti

Layout Ernest MwongelaFront banner G. Shorock

For updates go totwitter.com/nature_kenya

Connecting nature & peopleFor contributions, advertising and subscriptions - contact us atP. O. Box 44486 GPO, Nairobi Tel:020 3537568/ 0750149200/ 0751624312/ 0771343138

[email protected] www.naturekenya.orgPrinted with support from:

Last month we reported that Dakatcha Woodland ImportantBird Area at the Coast had been spared from a biofuelplantation. Unfortunately, this area, so important for water

catchment, traditional uses and biodiversity conservation, is still

being devastated by illegal charcoal production.

Community Forest Guards for Dakatcha Woodland were trained

by the Kenya Forest Service and Nature Kenya in March andimmediately saw action. In April, a week after their training and

a day after their first forest patrol, they arrested four charcoal

burners.

The charcoal burners had come from Bamba near Kilifi. They were

arrested in Dakatcha Woodlands in collaboration with the District

Forest Officer (DFO). They were arraigned in court and pleaded

guilty to illegally setting camp in a forest area and extracting

forest products without the required licenses.

This was a victory for the Dakatcha community in championing the

conservation of their own forest. Since then, however, the DFO hasreportedly received several phone calls from local administrators,

politicians and government officials.

Despite these pressures, the Nature Kenya Site Officer at

Dakatcha Woodlands, Geroge Odera, said, We will continue

collaborating with Kenya Forest Service guards, Administration

police, and community forest guards in a campaign whose aim is to

bring charcoal production to manageable level.

E. Mwongela | G. Odera E. Mwongela

Communities and Kenya Forest Service

step up against commercial charcoal

production in Dakatcha Woodland

Dam in Nandi Forest would destroy over 1,000

ha of indigenous trees

A lorry transporting charcoal at the Dakatcha Woodlands. The

Woodlands are facing a new threat from illegal charcoal burning.

Photo by D. Mumbu

A view of the South Nandi Forest. A proposed dam will lead to the

destruction of over 1,000 ha. of indigenous trees.

Photo by M. Mbenge


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&

naturalist

Three bright planets in May 2012

Venus slowly sinks back towards the sun in May. It glows brightlyin the western sky above the sunset, setting earlier each night.For most of May, the bright star Elnath appears very close to

Venus. (In reality, Elnath is far, far away in space, while Venus is

between the Earth and the sun.)

On June 6, Venus will transit across the face of the sun, a rareevent. Here in East Africa we may see it at dawn. For more

information, see: http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-

calendar-2012.html or the NASA website.

The planet Mars is now prominent high in the eastern sky (opposite

the sunset). It glows with a steady, reddish light. The star Regulus

sparkles above Mars. By months end, Mars is directly overhead at 7

pm. The moon is near Regulus and Mars on May 28 and 29.

Saturn follows Mars in the eastern sky. Golden Saturn is near the

star Spica that sparkles with a blue-white light. The nearly full

moon is near Spica on May 4.Stars of 2hemispheresHere in Kenya, on the equator,

we can see most of the stars

of the northern and southern

hemispheres. Left (south)

of Venus and the sunset, the

brightest stars Sirius and

Canopus are setting in the

southwest.

Further left, in the south, isthe famous Southern Cross.

The Southern Cross is a small

constellation (pattern made by

stars). Its four brightest stars

form the shape of a Christian

cross. At sunset it is tilted

to the east, straightening out

during the evening.

Still further left, towards the

east, two very bright stars

seem to point to the Cross.

These are Alpha and Beta

Centauri in the constellation of

the Centaur. The star Canopus

and the constellations Southern

Cross and Centaur cant be seen

in northern countries such as

Europe.

In the north we see stars

of the northern hemisphere.

The brilliant star Arcturus,

sparkling orange in colour, is in

the northeast, below and beyond

Mars.

The famous constellation of the

Plough, also called Ursa Major orthe Big Dipper, lies across the

northern sky. Look for a pattern

of four stars forming the bowl

of the dipper, and three stars

forming the handle.

Moon, May 2012The full moon of May 6 is the

largest full moon of the year.

(The moons distance from

Earth varies from month to

month; when it is near it appears

larger.) May 12: last quarter.

May 20: new moon; there will be

an annular eclipse of the sun,

but not visible from Kenya. May

28: first quarter.

Fleur Ngweno

Brightplanets

2

stars of

hemispheres

Lake Nakuru Trip24 - 25 March 2012

SnapShot!!

Birding at Lake Elementaita. ..

Scopusis the ornithological journal for eastern Africa, published onceor twice a year by the Bird Committee of the East Africa Natural History

Society. Volume 31, dated November 2011, has now been published

as a PDF. To see the Table of Contents, or to subscribe to Scopus

and receive your copy, visit the Nature Kenya office or enquire at

[email protected]

the ornithological journal of the BirdCommittee, now available as a pdf

Scopus

The Raptor Working Group of NatureKenya is now on Facebook. Pleasecheck out our site (even if youre noton Facebook). In addition to keepinginformed about Raptor Working Groupactivities, you can get the latestinformation on issues affecting raptorsin the region and also contribute your

raptor sightings to our citizen scienceefforts. You can also contact us [email protected]


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Wednesday Morning Birdwalks meet EVERY WEEK at 8:45am at the back of the main museum. The entrance is onKipande Road.

Sunday Birdwatch (also called Pot-luck Outings) meetthe THIRD Sunday of each month at 9:00 am at the samelocation. Bring lunch.

Mombasa Birdwalks Contact Marlene Reid throughor call 0720-949195 for more information.

Contact the office for information on other birdwalks inKakamega, Kisumu, and other sites

Ngong Forest walks - 1st and 3rd Saturday at 9.00 a.m.Contact Simon 0729-840715

Yes! Start my Nature Kenya membershipSurname

First Name

Ms/Mr/Title

Address

Tel

Mobile

Email

in the field

MEMBERSHIP TYPEsKsh Per Year

Full 2,000

Sponsor 6,000Family 2,800

Student 1,200

Schools, Clubs 1,500

Corporate 10,000

Corporate Plus 30,000

ednesday Morning Birdwalks meet EVERY WEEK at 8:45am at the back of the main museum. The entrance is onKipande Road.

Sunday Birdwatch (also called Pot-luck Outings) meetthe THIRD Sunday of each month at 9:00 am at the samelocation. Bring lunch.

MAY.2012ATAGLIMPSE

May2 MorningBirdwalk

May5FriendsofCityParkBirdwalk

May8 LaunchofFONAguidebook(3

p.m.)


May12FONANaturewalk


May20Sundaybirdwatch

May23Morningbirdwalk

May28FONANatureWalk

May30Morningbirdwalk

May31FONANaturewalk

BirdringingeveryTuesdaymorning

(checkwithOrnithologysection,National

Museums)

Discover how BBC Wildlife Magazines

Camera-trap Photo of the Year competition

is helping to advance scientific knowledge

and support world-wide conservation

Do you work on a conservation project

that uses remote camera technology? Then

enter your photographs in BBC Wildlife

Magazines Camera-trap Photo of the Year

competition 2012, sponsored by World Land

Trust (WLT) and Paramo and you could win

a research grant of up to 3,000 for your

project. For more information, log on to

http://www.discoverwildlife.com/webform/camera-trap-photo-year-2012-call-entries

EnterBBC Wildlife

Camera-trapPhoto of theYear

Magazinethe

Award12

A talk by Dr. Patrick Malonza, a senior research scientist at

National Museums of Kenya, Herpetology section

Ford Hall, National Museums,Friday May 11th 2012, 2.30 p.m.

The talk will touch on issues such as causes of amphibian

declines, threatened species and conservation. Dr. Malonza has

been working as a researcher on amphibians and reptiles since

1996 and did his Phd on amphibians of Taita Hills.

THREATENED AMPHIBIAN SPECIES OF KENYA

may 2012 nature net

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