An exploratory study of community factors relevant for participatory malaria control on Rusinga Island, western Kenya

Background

Capacity strengthening of rural communities, and the various actors that support them, is needed to enable them to lead their own malaria control programmes. Here the existing capacity of a rural community in western Kenya was evaluated in preparation for a larger intervention.

Methods

Focus group discussions and semi-structured individual interviews were carried out in 1,451 households to determine (1) demographics of respondent and household; (2) socio-economic status of the household; (3) knowledge and beliefs about malaria (symptoms, prevention methods, mosquito life cycle); (4) typical practices used for malaria prevention; (5) the treatment-seeking behaviour and household expenditure for malaria treatment; and (6) the willingness to prepare and implement community-based vector control.

Results

Malaria was considered a major threat to life but relevant knowledge was a chimera of scientific knowledge and traditional beliefs, which combined with socio-economic circumstances, leads to ineffective malaria prevention. The actual malaria prevention behaviour practiced by community members differed significantly from methods known to the respondents. Beside bednet use, the major interventions implemented were bush clearing and various hygienic measures, even though these are ineffective for malaria prevention. Encouragingly, most respondents believed malaria could be controlled and were willing to contribute to a community-based malaria control program but felt they needed outside assistance.

Conclusion

Culturally sensitive but evidence-based education interventions, utilizing participatory tools, are urgently required which consider traditional beliefs and enable understanding of causal connections between mosquito ecology, parasite transmission and the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Community-based organizations and schools need to be equipped with knowledge through partnerships with national and international research and tertiary education institutions so that evidence-based research can be applied at the grassroots level.     

The development of appropriate ecological criteria and indicators for community forest conservation using participatory methods: A case study in northeastern Thailand

The paper reports the development and evaluation of relevant local ecological criteria and indicators for participatory resource management of community forest. The study site, the Nong Meg-Nong Hee community forest, Maha Sarakham Province, is in northeastern Thailand. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) was adopted as a decision-making tool to evaluate criteria and indicators, using coarse and fine screening, based on local community participation. The criteria and indicators set consisted of 3 principles, 7 criteria, and 41 indicators covering the main attributes of forest ecosystem conservation. Relevant data were processed in a hierarchical framework and used as a template for further assessment, i.e., Principle 1 (forest ecosystem structure and composition), Principle 2 (forest ecosystem function), and Principle 3 (disturbance signs). The two selection phases comprised (1) the coarse screening based on scoring and ranking, and (2) fine screening, using a pair-wise comparison analysis to classify the order of relative weights of the indicators (importance value) and the consistency index (CI) of each criterion. As a result of coarse screening one criterion and 16 indicators were eliminated from the analysis, while the remaining 3 principles, 6 criteria, and 25 indicators were retained for fine screening. Most criteria showed an acceptance value of less than 10% (tolerance consistency index threshold level). The final set of criteria and indicators, based on locally understandable ecological concepts of forest conservation, was ranked in order of importance under each criterion and applied to the study area. We conclude that these techniques are appropriate for selecting criteria and indicators, as they are relatively transparent, understandable and offer an input to participatory decision-making.     

The implications of improved communications for participatory forest management in Tanzania

Following the 1998 National Forest Policy and Forest Act of 2002, participatory forest management (PFM) is being introduced in Tanzania. PFM has two key objectives: to reduce forest degradation thereby increasing ecosystem services, and to improve the livelihoods of local villagers. A unique data set collected in 2006 suggests that significant challenges remain with respect to communicating the new forest policies if the objectives of PFM are to be achieved. First, villagers as a group are much less well informed than other stakeholders, and their knowledge is often inaccurate. Second, women are less likely than men to have heard of the changes. Third, how PFM will contribute to poverty reduction (a key objective of PFM) is not always clear. Fourth, environmental degradation may not be reduced as much as anticipated – without alternatives sources, villagers often continue to cut trees for charcoal and firewood in the protected forests. Finally, several mismatches in perceptions are identified that could lead to difficulties in implementing PFM.     

Comparing survey methods to assess the conservation value of a community‐managed protected area in western Tanzania

The ability of low‐status protected areas under community management to achieve a conservation objective is frequently questioned, particularly in developing countries. The lack of sound, scientific‐based biodiversity monitoring frequently undermines attempts to evaluate the extent to which these areas are contributing to biodiversity conservation. Based on data collected between 2008 and 2010 in a Forest Reserve under community management in western Tanzania, our study tested fives methods: camera trapping, walking line transects, vehicle transects, opportunistic encounters and indirect signs, to find the most appropriate for future monitoring. Method comparisons confirmed a higher performance of camera trapping compared to other methods for the ability to detect species. However, our results identified the need of a better survey design to ensure a sound monitoring in the future. Besides method comparisons, our study provides the first fine‐scale data on mammal communities in such a low‐status protected area. Combined methods allow the identification of 49 species of medium and large mammals, a surprisingly high diversity for such area. These findings outline the potential conservation value of this type of protected area and call for better biodiversity monitoring throughout complexes of protected areas of different statuses and management regimes.     

Co-existence between the traditional societies and wildlife in western Serengeti, Tanzania: its relevancy in contemporary wildlife conservation efforts

This paper seeks to show how the traditional societies in western Serengeti have coexisted and continue to coexist with wildlife. It also recognizes the relevancy of this coexistence in furthering contemporary conservation efforts although there are practical constraints to putting this into practice. The following questions are examined: (1) How did/do traditional societies in Serengeti interact with their nature? (2) Which traditional management institutions governed/govern interaction between people and wildlife species, resources and ecosystems and, how do they operate? (3) Which factors were (or are) responsible for erosion of traditional management institutions? (4) What can the traditional practices offer to contemporary conservation efforts and what are the limitations? The paper identifies four ways in which traditional institutions and practices can contribute to current conservation efforts: regulating the overexploitation of resources; complementing the current incentives aiming at diffusing prevailing conflicts between conservation authorities and communities; minimising the costs of law enforcement and; complementing the modern scientific knowledge in monitoring and responding to ecosystem processes and functions. The practical constraints likely to limit adoption of these practices are presented as: methodological complications of acquiring indigenous knowledge; prevailing historical conflicts; human population growth; poverty and lack of appreciation among the conservation planners and managers. In conclusion the need to address the current constraints in order to achieve effective taping of the existing potentials is emphasized.     

The chimpanzee of Filabanga,western Tanzania

The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) of western Tanzania is found in one of the driest habitats of this species where openland vegetation, especially theBrachystegia, Julbernardia, andIsoberlinia woodlands, is dominant, while the evergreen or semi-evergreen rain forests (the riverine forests) are less developed, being confined to river basins. The chimpanzee seems to adapt to this dry country better than any of the other forest primates living there. The results of the study in Filabanga indicate that there are some methods of adaptation which enable the chimpanzee to survive in this harsh environment.

1. The chimpanzee uses openland vegetation to a comparatively large extent. TheBrachystegia bussei woodland especially, is utilized as a habitual nesting place and doubtless as an important feeding place.
2. In the Masito Hills, which comprises Filabanga, the localities where food is abundant change seasonally. The chimpanzees migrate over a wide range, estimated to be between 200 and 400 square kilometers, from an area where food has become scarce to an area where food is plentiful.
3. Areas where food is plentiful are shared by two or more unit groups of chimpanzee.
4. The grouping patterns of the chimpanzee enable it to utilize both the areas where food is scarce and those where it is abundant.

     

Participatory land-use planning and conservation in northern Tanzania rangelands

In developing countries, participatory land-use planning is seen as a panacea to mitigate land-use conflicts and enhance land productivity. This assumption has not been thoroughly tested in wildlife corridors. Three villages were selected for this study. Several methods were used to provide indication of the performance of the plans against their stated objectives of mitigating conflicts and conserving wildlife corridors. Three hundred and fifty-eight households and eight park and extension workers were interviewed. In addition, focus group discussion with the nomadic Barabeig, field assessment and review of land-use plan/general management plan reports were carried out. Results reveal that land-use plans failed to achieve their set objectives. For example, 75% of the households held this view. Major causes of failure were insufficient participation by stakeholders in the planning process, lack of robust, transparent and accountable implementation strategies, inadequacy of qualified staff and lack of 'holistic approach' to the planning process. Taking these findings into account, an improved buffer zone land-use planning framework is suggested. For the framework to enhance both conservation and development and to enable policies and legislation, equitable benefit sharing and conservation education, initiation of compensation schemes for depredation caused by wild animals and intensification of patrols are required.     

A bioeconomic analysis of community wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe

This paper uses a bio-economic model to analyze wildlife conservation in two habitats adjacent to a national park by two types of communities in Zimbabwe. One community is made up of peasant farmers operating under a benefit-sharing scheme such as CAMPFIRE, while the other is made up of commercial farmers practicing game farming in a conservancy. Both communities exploit wildlife by selling hunting licenses to foreign hunters but with different levels of success. The park agency plays a central role by authorizing the harvest quota for each community. We formulate a bio-economic model for the three agents, optimize the market problem for each agent and compare the outcomes with the social planner’s solution. Our results show that the level of anti-poaching enforcement by the park agency is suboptimal, while anti-poaching effort exerted by the conservancy community achieves social optimality. CAMPFIRE communities exert more poaching effort than what the social planner would recommend. Our model shows that institutional reforms in benefit-sharing schemes could result in the decisions of CAMPFIRE communities gravitating towards the social optimum.     

A food web perspective on large herbivore community limitation

The exceptional diversity of large mammals in African savannas provides an ideal opportunity to explore the relative importance of top‐down and bottom‐up controls of large terrestrial herbivore communities. Recent work has emphasized the role of herbivore and carnivore body size in shaping these trophic relationships. However, the lack of across‐ecosystem comparisons using a common methodology prohibits general conclusions. Here we used published data on primary production, herbivore and carnivore densities and diets to estimate the consumption fluxes between three trophic levels in four African savanna ecosystems. Our food web approach suggests that the body size distribution within and across trophic levels has a strong influence on the strength of top‐down control of herbivores by carnivores and on consumption fluxes within ecosystems, as predicted by theoretical food web models. We generalize findings from the Serengeti ecosystem that suggest herbivore species below 150 kg are more likely to be limited by predation. We also emphasize the key functional role played by the largest species at each trophic level. The abundance of the largest herbivore species largely governs the consumption of primary production in resident communities. Similarly, predator guilds in which the largest carnivore species represent a larger share of carnivore biomass are likely to exert a stronger top‐down impact on herbivores. Our study shows how a food web approach allows integrating current knowledge and offers a powerful framework to better understand the functioning of ecosystems.     

A perspective on match/mismatch of phenology in community contexts

Climate change has significant impacts on phenology of various organisms in a species‐specific manner. Facing this problem, the match/mismatch hypothesis that phenological (a)synchrony with resource availability strongly influences recruitment success of a consumer population has recently received much attention. In this article, we discuss extending the conventional pairwise concept and demonstrate a community module‐based approach as an initial step for exploring community consequences of species‐specific phenological shifts caused by climate change. Our multispecies match/mismatch perspective leads to the prediction that phenological (a)synchrony among interacting species critically affects not only population recruitment of species but also key dynamical features of ecological communities such as trophic cascades, competitive hierarchies, and species coexistence. Explicit identification and consideration of species relationships is therefore desirable for a better understanding of seasonal community dynamics and thus community consequences of climate change‐induced phenological shifts.     

The distribution and conservation status of colobus monkeys in Tanzania

Some problems of the subspecific taxonomy of both the black and white and the red colobus are discussed. New distribution data are given which effectively close the gap betweenC. angolensis sharpei andC. angolensis palliatus ranges. The distribution ofC. badius gordonorum is described. Brief details of the conservation status of 54 populations of colobus are given and a call made for the increased protection ofC. a. adolfi-friederici,C. a. palliatus (s.1.) andC. b. gordonorum populations.     

A butterfly hotspot in western China,its environmental threats and conservation

A butterfly species inventory of the Bifeng Valley within the Baishuijiang Natural Reserve in Gansu Province in China was conducted and several aspects of biodiversity were analyzed in a biogeographical context. One hundred and eighty-four species have been encountered belonging to 12 families and 99 genera. According to the total area of the Bifeng Valley of 30 km2, an estimated density of six butterfly species per km2 can be regarded as particularly high. A transect study in Bifeng Valley, aimed to quantify anthropogenic impact and the influence of remaining natural habitat on the occurrence of butterfly species and individuals. With higher levels of human disturbance and corresponding decreasing amount of natural habitat species numbers and overall butterfly abundance decreased. First suggestions on the inclusion of the rarest species in the area into certain conservation categories are provided. This is intended as a starting point to highlight conservation necessities and deficiencies in areas which are easily ignored as these are only rarely highlighted in an national and even more so in an international context.     

Effects of fire on sward structure and grazing in western Serengeti, Tanzania

In Serengeti fire is used as a management tool to improve the forage quality for large herbivores. However, little is known of the effects of fire on grazing resources particularly sward structure, its influence on herbivore forage patch selection and utilization to the relative amount of phytomass consumed in burnt and nonburnt patches. From September 2003 to July 2004, consumption of phytomass by large herbivores was assessed with eight samplings in six grassland sites in the Western Corridor in Serengeti National Park. Each site had burnt and nonburnt plots. Movable cages were used to exclude grazing between samplings and plant material harvests were used to assess phytomass and sward structure changes in time. Nonburnt grasslands had consistently larger phytomass at all sampling events whereas the ratio for live leaf/total phytomass was higher in burnt grassland at early postfire stages, but declined later in the season. Moreover, periodic consumption of both total phytomass and different phytomass components shifted between burnt and nonburnt grasslands, but there were also large site-specific responses. The shift appears to be related to the balance between the amount of phytomass available and the quality of the forage in terms of the ratio between live and total phytomass. The study highlights the significance of maintaining mosaics of burnt and nonburnt areas with an adequate provision of forage amount and quality all year round.     

Legal subsistence hunting trends in the Ugalla ecosystem of western Tanzania

Sustainable legal subsistence hunting has a place in conservation. Nonetheless, the long-term success of such schemes depends on them being well managed. We assessed the effectiveness of legal subsistence hunting in the Ugalla ecosystem of western Tanzania using data from the local legal hunting scheme. The hunting in the ecosystem is conducted within the partially protected areas around Ugalla Game Reserve. The Wildlife Division of Tanzania supervises hunting activities in the area via local conservation authorities. We analysed hunting success (animals shot per quota per licence) across species in the period from 1997 to 2004. Our results revealed that 10,511 and 5,991 animals were licenced and shot, respectively. There were considerable variations in hunting success across wildlife species. With the exception of common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), hunting success trends for most of the species were declining. The documented decline in wildlife off-take should be further investigated to ensure the sustainable management of this area.     

A network perspective on the topological importance of enzymes and their phylogenetic conservation

Background  

A metabolic network is the sum of all chemical transformations or reactions in the cell, with the metabolites being interconnected by enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Many enzymes exist in numerous species while others occur only in a few. We ask if there are relationships between the phylogenetic profile of an enzyme, or the number of different bacterial species that contain it, and its topological importance in the metabolic network. Our null hypothesis is that phylogenetic profile is independent of topological importance. To test our null hypothesis we constructed an enzyme network from the KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) database. We calculated three network indices of topological importance: the degree or the number of connections of a network node; closeness centrality, which measures how close a node is to others; and betweenness centrality measuring how frequently a node appears on all shortest paths between two other nodes.     

Recipe for success: A network perspective of partnership in nature conservation

Successful conservation initiatives require collaboration between stakeholders across a range of organisational foci and expertise. In Romania, the EU LIFE Nature programme is the most important financing instrument for nature conservation, and projects commonly involve partnerships between public authorities, NGOs, enterprises, and research institutions. To understand strengths and gaps in conservation partnerships for LIFE Nature projects implemented in Romania, we applied a Social Network Analysis approach to 85 partner organisations across 35 projects. We complemented this approach with a questionnaire directed to project managers to identify the criteria for selecting partners, and the role of partners in the project. The network included mostly public authorities (50%), yet the Romanian Ornithological Society (NGO) and the University of Bucharest were the most influent organisations in the network. Public authorities, park authorities, and enterprises were often selected as partners because of their financial contributions and local connections. In contrast, research institutions and NGOs were selected as partners because of their technical expertise and policy influence at the national level. Furthermore, research institutions, parks authorities and NGOs were involved in proposal writing, preparatory and management activities, while public authorities had no predefined roles in LIFE projects. The analysis also showed that the Romanian conservation system is polycentric, with influence shared between research organisations, NGOs, and public authorities. Interviews with project managers revealed that Romania submits relatively fewer projects compared to Western EU countries because public agencies have low technical and logistic capacity. We recommend a national level strategy for increasing project submission rates and quality of proposals that addresses the need for strengthening ties between core organisations and public authorities, especially at the local level. These findings are likely to be applicable to other EU member states that are currently struggling to get funding for conservation projects, ultimately moving the EU closer to achieving the European Union Biodiversity Strategy 2020 targets.     

Mangrove conservation: a global perspective

Mangroves are of great ecological importance and socio-economic significance as a hub for tropical marine biotope. The mangroves are also one of the world’s richest storehouses of biological and genetic diversity. Furthermore, 90?% of the marine organisms spend part of their life in this ecosystem and 80?% of the global fish catches are dependent on mangroves. In addition, mangroves and their associated biota are identified as a promising source of natural and novel drugs. On the other hand, scientific community finds such an ecosystem as one among the world’s most threatened biome due to human intervention in the long past and on-going climate change. Already many countries lost their huge mangrove wealth within the last two decades. Further, decline of the mangrove cover may cause an irreparable damage of ecosystem service to mankind. Now it is high time to conserve the precious ecosystem in order to maintain a stable and healthy coastal environment.     

Effect of selective logging on tree and understory regeneration in miombo woodland in western Tanzania

Tree regeneration and understory response to selective cutting of Pterocarpus angolensis DC, and Sterculia quinqueloba Sim, was measured outside Katavi National Park, Tanzania. Contrary to expectations, a selective harvest had no effect on tree recruitment for either species in this miombo woodland. In unlogged plots along transects taken at increasing distance from a main road, the stand densities of young trees declined away from the road. Since anthropogenic activity along the road results in a high fire frequency but low native ungulate densities, the increased rate of tree regeneration near the road may result from either reduced grazing and browsing pressure by native ungulates, or reduced fire intensity and severity along roads. These effects appear to mask any possible effect of selective harvest on tree recruitment. Currently, there is no evidence of compensatory recruitment of trees of any species into the canopy to replace logged trees and this will lead to a gradual thinning in overstory stand density.