NIASSA CARNIVORE PROJECT NIASSA NATIONAL RESERVE, MOZAMBIQUE

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1 NIASSA CARNIVORE PROJECT NIASSA NATIONAL RESERVE, MOZAMBIQUE ANNUAL REPORT 2014

2 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 MISSION STATEMENT The Niassa Carnivore Project serves to secure and conserve lions and other large carnivores (leopard, spotted hyaena and African wild dog) in Niassa National Reserve, northern Mozambique by promoting coexistence between carnivores and people and directly mitigating threats. We acknowledge the costs to Niassa communities who live with carnivores while recognizing the potential of these carnivores to provide substantial ecological, cultural and economic benefits to Niassa Reserve and Mozambique. In collaboration with Niassa Reserve Management Team 2

3 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 EXTENDED SUMMARY Niassa National Reserve (NNR) is located in northern Mozambique on the border with Tanzania. It is both one of the largest protected areas ( km 2 ; ml 2 ) and most undeveloped places in Africa. The protected area supports the largest concentrations of wildlife remaining in Mozambique including at least a third of the national lion population ( individuals out of a National population estimated at 2700 lions) and more than 350 African wild dogs. Lion populations have declined across their range with less than 30,000 lions remaining in the wild today (Riggio et al 2012). Lions are currently spread across 67 lion areas with ten lion strongholds. These strongholds have been identified as any area with at least 500 lions, within protected areas or designated hunting areas and with a stable or increasing population. Niassa Reserve is one of these ten strongholds (Riggio et al. 2012) and one of only seven places with more than 1000 lions. Securing this population is of local, national and international importance and will go a long way to securing Niassa Reserve itself as many of the threats facing lions and other carnivores are also the threats facing much of the wildlife in this area. Recent research has reaffirmed the important role that large carnivores play in ecosystems (Ripple et al, 2014) and the cascading negative ecological effects when they are lost. The large carnivores really are indicators of ecosystem health. The challenges are immense as Niassa Reserve also supports a growing population of more than 40,000 people resident in more than 42 villages inside the protected area. This is a lion population at significant risk and the long term prospects are uncertain given the growing number of people living inside the protected area. Loss of the large carnivores and particularly the lion population will be a blow to regional conservation efforts and will also have severe consequences for Niassa Reserve s potential to develop tourism and generate revenues and employment for communities inside the protected area. This will be critical if wildlife is to be a valid form of land use in the area. Major threats to the lion population in NNR are habitat transformation from a growing human population and bushmeat snaring where lions and leopards and their prey are caught in snares set to catch wild meat. Bushmeat consumption is of increasing concern not only due to the conservation importance of all species but also because it will lead to an empty savanna and this will limit the potential for revenue to be generated through tourism for local communities. Without revenue, employment and other benefits from conservation projects and tourism businesses there is no incentive for communities to conserve wildlife rather than convert the bush to agricultural fields, or kill animals to protect livestock, for food or income. Other threats include retaliatory killing in response to attacks on livestock and people and unsustainable sport hunting of underage lions and leopards. Potential threats include disease outbreaks (rabies and canine distemper) spread from domestic dogs and an increasing demand for lion bones to satisfy the growing Asian demand. The Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) has been working in NNR since 2003 in close collaboration with the Mozambican Niassa Reserve management authority, Niassa communities and tourism operators. In 2006, based on Niassa Carnivore Project research, NNR and surrounding areas were identified as globally important areas for lion and African wild dog conservation. In 2009 and 2010, we contributed towards development of the Mozambican National Conservation Strategy and Action plan for the African lion and the National Conservation Strategy for the African Wild dog and Cheetah. These form the guiding documents for our work in Mozambique. The goal of the project is to secure and conserve the large carnivore populations (lion, leopard, spotted hyaena and African wild dog) in NNR in partnership with the NNR management team and promote coexistence between these large carnivores and the people who live inside the protected area. The Reserve is currently managed through a co-management agreement between the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Conservation Society. 3

4 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 For conservation actions to be sustainable, we believe they need to be culturally appropriate, locally derived and empowering for local communities. All our actions are accompanied by environmental education and community outreach. We base our conservation actions on targeted ecological and socio ecological research to provide baselines against which actions can be measured, to understand threats and then to find and test locally based solutions for each threat in turn before scaling up successful programs in partnership with the Reserve management authority. With this in mind we continue to strive to develop a strong collaborative partnership with the NNR management team to ensure that we complement their activities not repeat them. We only hire Mozambicans, with 98% our staff from villages within Niassa Reserve and training is provided on the project recognising that employment provides one of the most significant incentives for conservation in the area. We are strongly committed to mentoring Mozambican conservationists and recognize that cconservation is a process and not an end goal and we therefore have a long term view (more than 25 years). Summary of key achievement and activities in 2014 We know that the current trend is to write very short annual reports (10-20 pages). We do not support this trend as we believe that more transparency in conservation is needed not less and feel it is essential to detail successes and failures. In addition, our annual reports form a critical part of our own group assessment of our progress and provide a holistic overview for our staff of what we have achieved together. Only once all the data is together can we assess how we need to move forward and were the gaps are. Many of our programs are experimental and the details are important if these programs are to be scaled up in Niassa or elsewhere. We hope you will find the time to look through our detailed report and the progress we have made towards achieving our goals. A summary of our key achievements and activities in 2014 are presented here. Overall, we achieved over 74% of our activities set out in our 2014 work plan and are pleased with our progress particularly in implementing SMART as a new trial site, reducing elephant poaching and bushmeat snaring in our concession, stabilization of the reserve wide community wildlife guardian program, and the scaling up of our community and education programs. Most importantly we are excited to have finished the building of the Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre and looking forward to opening the Centre in mid Improving management of NCP and building capacity The third and final phase of building the Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre and Niassa Carnivore Project Headquarters was completed and will be opened officially in The Environmental Centre consists of an office and storeroom, fully functional workshop, kitchen and refectory capable of feeding 45 people, five cottages to sleep 19 people, ablution facilities, and a library / museum. In addition we have a 900m airstrip with an aircraft hangar and will have a plane (Christen Husky A-1) operational in L5-South towards the end of We continued to complete our staff housing with three manager houses complete with living area and bathroom, and a 12 room junior staff camp. Ablution facilities and a central cooking area will be completed in Our permanent staff complement stabilized in 2014 with the hiring of an Environmental Education Manager (Andrew Mkanange) to join our Conservation Manager (Agostinho Jorge) and Community Manager (Mbumba Marufo). We have 19 field staff and 20 antipoaching scouts (increased from 14 in 2013) as well as at least 50 seasonal workers involved in conservation services and construction. In 2014 staff training included training in human resources and accounting, mechanics, computer data entry, driver s licenses, game guiding, and tourism services. We continue to improve our systems for financial, workshop and data management. Long term monitoring of lions and other carnivores to assess their status and our effectiveness. We currently have nine female lions from five prides and two adult males collared in the intensive study area. Over the past ten years since (since 2005), we have collared 36 lions (15 females and 21 males). Of these radio collared lions, ten (28%) have died in snares, with 50% of the deaths occurring inside the intensive study area 4

5 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 between 2005 and This is by far the most common cause of mortality in Niassa Reserve. No known lions have been snared in the intensive study area since 2012 indicating some success with our antipoaching and community programs. The number of prides in the intensive study area has increased from two in 2010 to 5 in 2014 but all prides are small, generally consisting of 2-4 individuals and cub recruitment is still low. The mortality of male lions outside the intensive study area remains high. Four male lions were collared with satellite collars in the past 4 years and three of these have been killed (2 snares, 1 sport hunting) outside of the study area showing the continued high risk to male lions in NNR and need to expand our programs. In 2015 we will be doing the next NNR wide call up survey for lions and hyaenas using exactly the same technique as was used in 2005, 2008 and 2012 to monitor the trend in lion density across the entire NNR. Leopards are monitored though camera trap surveys in key study sites (2008, 2009, and 2010). A leopard survey was conducted in 2014; data are still being analysed. The trade in leopard skins is still of significant concern with 3-4 skins moving through one village in 2014 and 44 leopards recorded as dead by the community wildlife guardians. We continue to monitor African wild dog pack sizes across NNR through opportunistic sightings made by the community wildlife guardians. In 2014, 20 dogs were recorded dead with 11 killed in one village. This sounds like a poisoning incident and requires more detailed investigation. More than 30 individual African wild dogs have been identified in the intensive study area representing 3-4 packs. Involving communities in monitoring and conservation through development of the MOMS community wildlife guardian program in villages throughout NNR NCP initiated the NNR community monitoring program, MOMS (Management Orientated Monitoring System, based on the Namibian model) in 2006 in partnership with the Reserve Management Authority. Guardians are paid monthly subsidies for part time work and collect information on fishing activities, human wildlife conflict and special species sightings as well as convey important information to their communities on rabies, ways to reduce human-wildlife conflict, safe behaviours and conservation. In 2014, NCP temporarily took over day to day management and of this program while continuing to provide all funding. This program is managed in close partnership with NNR warden. Currently there are 24 wildlife guardians that collect information covering 23 villages inside Niassa National Reserve. A new coordinator was hired in September 2014 based on interviews conducted by Agostinho Jorge and NNR warden Cornelio Miguel. Two new wildlife guardians from Nkalapa and Chilolo village were successfully recruited and trained. The MOMS coordinator and Head Guardian were trained in computer skills and all the 2014 data was entered into the computer for the first time. The 8 th annual MOMS workshop was held at Mariri Environment Center in November over three days. All the wildlife guardians were present as well as representatives from the District Department of Agriculture from Mecula and Mavago and one representative of District Director of Health. THREAT 1: REDUCE BUSHMEAT SNARING Bushmeat snaring (the trapping of wild animals for meat) is the most significant threat to large carnivores in NNR at present. NCP aims to address snaring through a holistic approach of providing alternative income generating opportunities for hunters through skills training and employment of local people, providing an alternative protein source through small livestock breeding, increasing food security and developing effective anti-poaching that involves resident communities. We believe that similar amounts of funding should be spent on the guns and boots and community engagement approaches to conservation. Providing alternative protein sources -Livestock Breeding Programs (lead by A.Jorge, Conservation Manager) The livestock husbandry program aims to increase the quantity and diversity of meat protein available in the villages which we hope will increase food security, decrease reliance on bushmeat and provide an alternative income for local households. After two years this program is active in three villages in 70 households and 5

6 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 primarily involves rabbits, ducks, and domesticated guineafowl. None of the people involved have other employment and 40% had no livestock before starting the program. It is a voluntary program similar to a micro credit scheme with peer groups who develop and maintain the rules and pay back loans. Each house is seeded with breeding stock of ducks and/or rabbits that have to be paid back once they breed to provide the starting stock for new households. In total more than 425 ducks and rabbits have been bred from 40 individuals. Initial mortality of young rabbits and ducks has been high but is being resolved through better management. In 2014 households started to eat and sell livestock and this will be closely monitored in future. More than 70 people are either on a list or have expressed an interest in being part of this program. A feature of this program is strong collaboration and support from Mecula District Government and Mecula Department of Agriculture. This program has a significant potential to be scaled up as it is community managed, requires little investment and is strongly supported in local communities. Improving Food Security through Conservation Agriculture (lead by Mbumba Marufo, Community Manager) Improving food security is essential if conservation is to be successful in NNR. It is impossible to have a conversation about conservation when people are worrying about where their next meal is coming from. Increasing food security is a critical need that lessens the need for income from extractive use of wildlife resources (ivory, skins and bushmeat) and will decrease the rate of habitat transformation through slash and burn agriculture. The conservation agriculture program is a community based approach to increase productivity of Niassa fields in a sustainable way. It relies on the farmers to test, manage and maintain the conservation agriculture plots through a Farmer Field School (FFS) approach as developed by CARE International. The 2013/ 2014 wet season was the second year of the Mbamba FFS program. The fallow land plot from the previous year that used the sea bean crop to improve soil fertility had almost double the amount of maize harvested compared with the plot with only mulching treatment. This yield is equivalent to 1,236kg/ha in contrast with the majority of the farms in Mbamba that have an average yield of 700 to 800kg/ha. Given this success, the 25 members of FFS will start to produce seeds of jack bean, sea bean and lab during the 2014/2015 crop season. Mariri will then buy the seeds and resell them at subsidized price to other interested farmers during the next two years. The interested farmers that buy the seeds, will be trained about conservation agriculture at Mariri Environmental Center before the crop season starts. A second farmer field school will also be started to train a new group of interested farmers. Reducing human elephant conflict: Elephant-Beehive Fences Crop raids by elephants are a major challenge for many farmers during the wet season. This not only leads to severe food stress but reduces support for conservation. Elephants do not like bees and avoid beehives. Dr. Lucy King from Save the Elephants developed and tested the use of elephant-beehive fences in Kenya to reduce crop raiding by elephants. We are testing the potential use of this fence in NNR to reduce human-elephant conflict. The aims are to reduce elephant crop raids in Mbamba village (and if successful, Niassa Reserve) and reduce the loss of yield due to elephant crop raiding. In 2014 alone, elephants represented 87% of the human wildlife conflict cases recorded in Mbamba Village with 260 cases of crop raiding and 78 cases of destruction of mango trees. The honey produced from these fences can also help community members improve their diet and earn revenue. In 2014 four beehive fences were erected in Mbamba and Macalange village. In total there are now six experimental beehive fences in two villages. These fences cover 1,122m have 72 beehives with 24 currently occupied by bees with an additional 69 dummies hives. 26 local farmers are involved in this program. Elephants raided fields protected by beehive fences on 10 occasions in the past two years. In comparison in the neighbouring control farms, there were 33 successful crop raids by elephants and all these raids resulted in significant crop loss. The majority of the crop raiding in the experimental farms was recorded when the beehive occupancy was very low. In 2014, 3.5lt of honey were harvested and bottled in Unfortunately more than 30lt of honey was stolen from the beehives leading to a significant loss of income for the beekeeping group. The honey is bottled under a 6

7 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 specially developed Elephant friendly label and sold in Pemba for 300Mt ($10) for a 300g bottle. At present demand outstrips supply and there is high potential for growth. We believe this program has significant potential to not only help people develop and an alternative livelihood in honey but also help farmers reduce elephant crop raids in their fields with a low cost, sustainable elephant beehive fence. Reducing snaring, mining and armed poaching through community supported antipoaching Lead by Agostinho Jorge and Keith Begg Anti-poaching is needed to remove snares and increase the opportunity costs for bush-meat and ivory poachers. In addition this forms a valuable form of employment and engages communities in the responsibilities of conserving their wildlife. The aim of the antipoaching activities of NCP is to secure the L5-South concession using men from the local community to protect the area. This is the only area inside NNR using a community based and supported approach for anti-poaching. While elephant poaching and mining are not directly related to lion conservation reducing elephant poaching is also part of our holistic approach and data on elephant poaching is presented here. Illegal activities and the influx of non-residents into the area has destabilized the villages and has the potential to destroy all progress made from partnering with communities. For partnering, performance payments and revenue sharing to be effective there must be a clearly defined community to receive these benefits in return for achieving certain conservation targets. In 2014, NCP implemented SMART in L5-South as a trial site for NNR, developed the SMART model for NNR in collaboration with the NNR management team and trained our scouts to enter data on digital Trimble devices. SMART is a combination of software and training materials that are designed to increase efficiency, boost morale, empower local staff and promote effective, transparent monitoring of antipoaching methods. We increased our antipoaching scout force from 14 to 20 with two scout leaders, four patrol teams (12 patrol scouts) and 6 control gate scouts. Thirteen scouts completed and passed the government approved 45 day Basic Training Course. The scouts completed 84 patrols covering more than 7005 km. One bushmeat hunter, 3 suspected elephant poachers and more than 218 illegal miners were arrested. 28 tusks were recovered with 151 rounds of ammunition and 45 wire snares were removed. Additional joint operations were completed with L7 and NNR scouts which resulted in the arrest of additional suspected elephant poachers. Since early 2010, a minimum of 98 elephants have been killed by poachers in L5-South. In 2014, 13 elephants were killed compared to 15 in 2013, and 22 in In 2010 and 2011 it is estimated that 25 elephants were being shot each year in the concession. No elephants were killed in L5-South between July 2014 and end January Elephant poaching appears to have decreased in L5-South in the past year although the risks remain high. However, illegal gold mining has increased exponentially and is logistically very challenging to control. Despite a dramatic decrease in snaring, data show that still at least 262 animals ranging from birds to leopards were killed by Mbamba village hunters in one year (between September 2013 and September 2014). The bushmeat generated at least US$80,000 for the bushmeat hunters in Mbamba. The price of bushmeat is three times higher in Lichinga than Mbamba illustrating the financial incentives for bushmeat hunters. Bushmeat remains a serious threat to all wildlife in Niassa Reserve as Mbamba village is unlikely to be different to any of the other 40 villages. Data show that bushmeat hunters that have been employed by NCP are no longing hunting. THREAT 2: RETALIATORY KILLING IN RESPONSE TO ATTACKS BY CARNIVORES ON PEOPLE AND LIVESTOCK Reducing attacks through living fences, safe shelters, safe behaviours and effective corrals Human-carnivore conflict results in retaliatory killing of lions and leopards. Research in previous years has shown that lion and leopard attacks can be reduced through behavior changes, specifically sleeping inside a shelter during the wet season, never walking alone and improving goat corrals etc. We continue to include information on ways to reduce conflict in educational materials (comic book, storybook, poster, plays). We are trialing visual deterrent 7

8 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 lights and reflective tape on goat corrals and small livestock corrals and an incentive based scheme to reward goat owners that improve their corrals. We are also collaborating on the development of a new deterrent that includes sound and light. Monitoring of carnivore lion attacks across NNR has been ongoing since 2003 but needs to be improved with a central database managed by NNR team. We are constrained by high NNR staff turnover in past 4 years. There were no reports of people killed by lions in Niassa Reserve in 2014; but one person was injured. Data suggest that lion attacks are not increasing despite both an increasing human lion population and are stable at 1-2 lion attacks per year. Human carnivore conflict is relatively rare in NNR compared to other areas largely due to the low densities of lion, availability of natural prey and lack of cattle. Wild dogs were not recorded to cause any problems however 19 goats were killed by lion, leopard and hyaena in 2014 from these 25 villages. Given that more than 649 goats were count in 11 of the community guardian villages (they were not counted in the remaining 14 villages). This suggests that attacks on livestock are relatively low. THREAT 3: UNSUSTAINABLE SPORT HUNTING OF LIONS AND LEOPARDS Reduce unsustainable sport hunting of lions and leopards In NNR sport hunting is allowed across nine hunting concessions covering 27,989 km 2 (66.32%) of the protected area estate (42, 200 km2). The sport hunting operators provide a concession fee (used for conservation management) and are expected to provide anti-poaching and infrastructure support in addition to their sport hunting activities. The decision to allow sport hunting inside Niassa Reserve rests entirely with the Ministry of Tourism and the NNR management team. Sport hunting was identified as a potential threat to lion and leopard populations in 2003 by NCP due to the large number of young lions and leopard trophies being taken as trophies and the lack of consistent and science based quota setting procedures. The Lion regulations were developed by NCP and implemented in 2006 by the Reserve Management Authority with consultation of the operators and updated by WCS / MITUR in 2013, while the leopard regulations were implemented in 2010 by SRN and updated by WCS / MITUR in Overall the number of lions taken as trophies across NNR in any given year is very low given the large area managed as sport hunting concessions. In 2014 four lions were killed representing 1 lion per 5263km 2 hunted. The percentage of lions taken as trophies that are over 6 years of age has increased from only 25% in 2004 to 100% in While off-take has declined hunt success has increased from 36% in 2006 to 67% in 2014 even though the 6 year age regulations are in place. Data suggest that the decline in off-take is due to less lion hunts being sold not to less lions being available. The NNR lion regulations and Points system has clearly been successful at reducing the unsustainable sport hunting of lions. Given the low number of lions taken as trophies, the large area over which they are hunted and the increased age of the lions, sport hunting of lions is unlikely to be having any negative effects on the NNR lion population at present. The same is not true of leopards. The high levels of illegal off-take particularly for the skin trade and in retaliation for killing goats is additive to the leopard off-take. In 2014, 21 leopards were taken across all 7 operational concessions. Of these 16 were 4 years or younger and only 4 (20%) showed significant wear on their teeth. For all concession operators, the need for effective antipoaching has to be enforced. Snaring is the main threat to lions, leopards and other carnivores in Niassa Reserve and sport hunting off-take is simply additive to illegal off-take. THREAT 4: DISEASE SPREAD FROM DOMESTIC DOGS Reducing the disease risk to carnivores The presence of a growing, unvaccinated population of domestic dogs inside villages in NNR is of concern. Domestic dogs are known to be the reservoirs of disease and the spread of canine distemper and rabies to carnivores poses a potential risk to lions and African wild dogs in particular. The domestic dog populations in Mbamba Village inside L5-South continued to increase from zero prior to 2008 to more than 40 in There 8

9 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 have been substantial increases in the domestic dog population in 11 out of 12 villages where domestic dogs were counted in 2014 compared to The average number of dogs owned by a single owner is 4.2 with a range of 1 to 26 dogs suggesting these dogs are used for hunting. There was no progress on conducting a vaccination campaign for all domestic cats and dogs in NNR, despite NCP providing $2000 for this to NNR management team and Department of Agriculture in The funds appear to have disappeared. We have reinitiated discussions about the domestic dog issue with the WCS / MITUR team and will be developing a simple proposal for vaccination and management of domestic dogs in ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND OUTREACH Environmental education and outreach is part of all our programs as we share what we have learned with communities to increase tolerance, provide practical solutions and provide skills training. Our most important achievement in 2014 was the completion of the Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre which will open in 2015 dry season with the training of more than 40 local men in construction skills during building. The aims are to build a relationship between Niassa children and adults and wildlife to increase tolerance and foster an understanding of conservation and provide skills training for ongoing community training workshops. We continued to develop educational materials including a comic book on ecotourism and lion conservation, second edition of the Niassa Storybook, distribution of the ABC conservation capulana (traditional cloth) and translation of various conservation texts for the library. In 2014 we supported nine full secondary school scholarships with an additional seven awarded for The 6 th Annual lion fun days reached 300 children and many adults with two days of fun and games with a conservation theme that were also attended by outside journalists, District government and NNR warden. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP NCP considers effective community engagement the key to conservation success in NNR. We are partnering with the Mbamba Village community (500 households; > 2000 households) to manage L5-South, our concession. The aim is to develop a model of community engagement that works, with revenue sharing and sustainable social, economic and community development. This is currently the only concession in NNR partnering with a community. The Mbamba Village community is involved in all aspects of conservation and social development of L5-South. Substantial investment into local communities was made in 2014 to follow our investment in More than US$180,000 was paid directly to local people in three villages in salaries, stipends, and purchase of goods. More than 600 people benefited directly from NCP conservation, education, skill training and employment programs excluding the 200 children in the Mbamba School. In total 117 people from local communities were employed as permanent or seasonal staff. The total amount paid directly to local staff (permanent and seasonal) from Mbamba village in salaries in 2014 was US$ Over 100 women from Mbamba and Macalange received payment for grass for thatching and $ was paid to various local residents for baskets, grass, maize, goats, beans and rabbits. We pride ourselves on sourcing as many of our food needs from the local communities and purchase beans, maize, rabbits, chickens, goats from the Mbamba community. Aside from these individual benefits, as has been the case since 2012, NCP provided a community conservation fund to Mbamba village of $6900 as a performance payment for honouring a landuse limit and reducing snaring and elephant poaching. The Mbamba Community guided by their Committee used these funds to put up their own polywire electric fence to reduce elephant crop raids. This fence is community owned and managed with growing skills. SKILLS TRAINING Skills training for staff and Mozambican conservationists is a core part of our programs and our staff continue to grow in skills and confidence. Two NCP staff members completed their driver s licenses in 2014 with three 9

10 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 additional staff members currently getting their drivers licenses. Two of the NCP Management staff attended a SMART training course in South Africa (Operations Director and Conservation Manager). One permanent staff member completed 3 month training in Human resources in Lichinga as part of our process to streamline financial managements. Three permanent staff completed a 10 day on site game guiding course and were in animal identification, safety, taking a game drive and walk, guest services and basic ecological principles. Two Mozambican upper management staff, our conservation manager and community manager continue to be supported and mentored while completing their postgraduate degrees in conservation (1 Master s Degree and 1 PhD). Two local mechanics were trained on site in Mechanics and workshop management. 12 Antipoaching scouts completed a 45 day Niassa Reserve / Conservation Outcomes Basic training program, 8 permanent staff received training in computers, and two permanent staff went to Nkwichi Lodge on Lake Niassa for two weeks on an apprenticeship to gain experience in tourism services (cooking, guest services, and housekeeping). THE WAY FORWARD 2014 was our 12 th year in Niassa Reserve. While substantial progress was made on our conservation programs, we continue to be constrained by high turnover in the NNR field staff which impacts on long term monitoring and scaling up of our programs. We are also constrained by the lack of clear Reserve-wide policies for dealing with problem animals, domestic dogs, gold mining etc. In 2014, alluvial gold mining became a major new threat in Niassa Reserve. Not only is this destroying river catchments through digging and the use of mercury, but it is also increasing the movement of people into the reserve, destabilizing villages in which we work and local governance structures and is linked to increased bushmeat snaring and elephant poaching. The current insecurity of ongoing elephant poaching and mining limits our potential to develop eco-tourism in the area we manage. Without eco-tourism the potential to increase the benefits flowing to the communities in the area are limited unless we can rely on philanthropy in the long term. We believe our combined approach of monitoring, direct mitigation of threats, antipoaching, skills training, community engagement and environmental education and outreach provides the only practical and feasible model for securing carnivores in NNR. We are having some success that we will build on in 2015 particularly with the community engagement through performance payments, programs to provide alternative livelihoods and increase food security, the community wildlife guardian program (MOMS) and antipoaching. We hope that our results will allow us to scale up our programs into more villages in partnership with the NNR management team. We remain deeply committed to Niassa Reserve, its conservation and communities for the long term and look forward to collaborating and working together further is going to be both a challenging and exciting year as our team stabilises and we open the Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre which will form the base of all our activities. None of this would have been possible without the tremendous support of our amazing team, our partners and our donors. 10

11 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS MISSION STATEMENT...2 EXTENDED SUMMARY...3 TABLE OF CONTENTS LONG TERM GOALS (25 YEARS) MEDIUM TERM GOALS ( ) MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND APPROACH PROGRAM OVERVIEW PROGRESS TOWARDS REACHING OBJECTIVES Objective 1: To improve and streamline the business and logistical management of NCP and its Mozambican Entity, mariri investimentos Objective 2: To provide long term monitoring of the status and threats to lions and other carnivores to assess our effectiveness and allow us to adaptively manage change Objective 3: To involve communities in monitoring and conservation THROUGH DEVELOPMENT of the MOMS community wildlife guardian program in villages throughout NNR THREAT 1: BUSHMEAT SNARING Objective 4: To develop alternative protein sources to reduce reliance on bushmeat and snaring Objective 5: To reduce bushmeat snaring by finding ways to improve Food Security and reduce humanwildlife conflict Objective 6: To reduce bushmeat snaring and other illegal activities by effective antipoaching activities with community support and through providing alternative livelihoods to local hunters THREAT 2: RETALIATORY KILLING DUE TO ATTACKS ON PEOPLE OR LIVESTOCK Objective 7: To reduce human-carnivore Conflict through living fences, safe shelters and safe behaviours 66 Objective 8: To ensure sport hunting of lions and leopards in NNR is sustainable and meets conservation objectives THREAT 4: DISEASES SPREAD FROM DOMESTIC DOGS Objective 9: Reduce disease risk to Carnivores in NNR Objective 10: To develop a community outreach and environmental education program in NNR that increases tolerance and reduces conflict and provides niassa residents with locally relevant conservation material Objective 11: develop community based model of conservation Management IN l5-south through partnership wiith Mbamba Village community

12 Niassa Carnivore Project- Annual report 2014 Objective 12: Mentor, guide and train Mozambican conservationists and staff and encourage staff participation in the project Objective 13: Increase awareness of NCP work and importance of Niassa National Reserve to a broader audience both nationally and internationally ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SUMMARY FINANCIAL REPORT

13 LONG TERM GOALS (25 YEARS) All NCP activities are achieved in collaboration with local communities, Niassa Reserve Management Authority and tourism operators. Our vision is a unique wilderness of Niassa National Reserve where lions and other carnivores continue to persist with the full participation and support of Niassa s local people. Goal A: To secure ecologically stable leopard. spotted hyaena, wild dog and lion population in Niassa Reserve, with at least lion with no concomitant increase in carnivore attacks on livestock and no unprovoked attacks on people from lions or other large carnivores. This will require reducing all current threats to carnivores in Niassa Reserve-bushmeat snaring, attacks, disease and underage sport hunting and increasing community engagement. Goal B: To develop a legally binding, sustainable partnership between the Mbamba Village and Niassa Carnivore Project to manage the Mariri- L5- South concession, (600km2) inside Niassa National Reserve as the first community based conservation area in Niassa Reserve, with stable wildlife populations, decreased illegal activities and increasing income and benefits for the Mbamba Village community to support conservation friendly development. Goal C: To develop a locally relevant, sustainable environmental education and skills training program for Niassa residents centered around the Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre to promote conservation and ways to coexist with large carnivores and provide alternative livelihoods; with at least people visiting or attending courses at the Mariri Environmental Centre per year and a measurable increase in tolerance towards large carnivores and knowledge of conservation. J. Knox 13

14 MEDIUM TERM GOALS ( ) Our 6 medium term goals ( ) are listed below. For each goal we have identified targets and indicators where possible and these are listed in our annual work plan (available on request). It is important to bear in mind that this is a rapidly changing environment and these are moving targets as more information is collected and priorities change. In addition in many cases it is difficult to specify a specific target as there is no clear meaningful threshold for what can or should be achieved. For example we don t know what lion population Niassa can support as there is a growing human population and prey populations are still recovering. There is also no historical data. In most cases what we are looking for is a trend in the right direction i.e. an increasing population of lions, decreasing trend in human-wildlife conflict, decreasing trend in bushmeat snaring. 14

15 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND APPROACH Ten years ago (2004) Colleen and Keith Begg founded The Ratel Trust (TRT) a South African not for profit conservation trust to support their conservation work in Africa. TRT is managed by three trustees, Colleen and Keith Begg and Stephen Clark. The Niassa Carnivore Project is a project of TRT that aims to secure large carnivore populations in Niassa National Reserve. In addition to our monitoring and conservation work across NNR in 2012, TRT won the tender for the management of concession L5-South (580km2) in south eastern Niassa Reserve. The headquarters of NCP and the Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre are based in this concession. This area has also been our long term intensive study area since Our work across NNR is governed by a 5 year MOU with the Ministry of Tourism while we have a 25 year lease for the management of the L5-South concession. We have set up a Mozambican company, Mariri Investimentos to govern our conservation work, fulfil all legal requirements and provide long term security for our permanent staff. FSG Consulting, South Africa provides annual financial reporting for TRT while Armandio Obadias, an accountant based in Lichinga assists with labour, tax, accounting and HR requirements for Mariri Investimentos. We only hire Mozambicans, with the majority of our staff from villages within Niassa Reserve and training is provided on the project recognising that employment provides one of the most significant incentives for conservation in an area. We have three Mozambican Managers, Agostinho Jorge (Conservation Manager); Mbumba Marufo (Community Manager) and Andrew Mkanage (Environmental Education Manager). Our permanent staff complement stabilized in 2014 with 2 directors (Colleen and Keith Begg) 3 Managers, 19 conservation/ education/ tourism staff and 20 anti-poaching scouts with more than 80 seasonal staff who are employed in conservation services (roads, airstrip, construction, monitoring etc.). Staff development, training and involvement in our conservation program are considered a priority and a critical part our capacity building approach. We work with Mozambican partners, particularly the Niassa Reserve management authority (a co-management partnership between Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Conservation Society) to complement their activities and provide support and expertise wherever possible. We have to provide the conditions under which lions and people can coexist and this means providing real benefits from lions and other wildlife to people. Our long term strategy for lion conservation in Niassa Reserve is to develop a holistic model of community engagement with practical solutions to reduce threats and conflict and increase food security that can be sustainably implemented across NNR with local partners. One of our goals is to develop a community partnership model that works. The L5-South Concession is the first concession in NNR to be managed in partnership with the Mbamba village community who reside inside the area (2000 people) to engage them in conservation. Mbamba village receives payments for achieving agreed conservation goals (land use limits, reducing snaring, fixing corrals) as well as assistance with agriculture, education, and skills training. The Niassa communities are involved in every aspect of our work to provide feedback, address concerns, engage stakeholders and implement solutions that work. We base our conservation actions on sound targeted research to provide baselines against which actions can be measured and to find and implement locally based solutions for each threat in turn. We then work with the Reserve Management team and Reserve administrator to scale up successful programs one village at a time across Niassa Reserve Central to our long term strategy is the building of the Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre in concession L5 South. This will form the base and hub of our activities and allows us to effectively spread what we have learned to Niassa adults and children across Niassa Reserve. Further afield information is disseminated to wider conservation community through the social and scientific media, African Lion Working Group, Cat specialist Group and Canid Specialist Group and informal collaborations with other lion projects (Ewaso Lions, Lion Guardians, Ruaha Carnivore Project). 15

16 PROGRAM OVERVIEW 16

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20 2014 PROGRESS TOWARDS REACHING OBJECTIVES Linked to our medium term goals we identified specific objectives in our 2014 work plan. Here we present our progress in 2014, our failures and successes against these objectives and activities. We believe we made significant progress and have reported on this in detail. We recognize that this is a long report so a detailed executive summary and table of contents are provided to allow you to skip to those sections that are not of interest. The threats to Niassa Reserve wildlife in general and carnivores in particular continue to increase with logging and gold and ruby mining escalating dramatically over the past 2-3 years exacerbating habitat loss. Direct killing of elephant for ivory and wild animals for meat and skins (bushmeat snaring, and targeted snaring for skins) continue have also increased. The potential disease risk from an increasing populations of unvaccinated domestic dogs inside Niassa Reserve remains high. 20

21 OBJECTIVE 1: TO IMPROVE AND STREAMLINE THE BUSINESS AND LOGISTICAL MANAGEMENT OF NCP AND ITS MOZAMBICAN ENTITY, MARIRI INVESTIMENTOS We believe that long term projects are the most effective, particularly because of the levels of trust and respect that are needed to work effectively with local communities and local Government, the need to develop the capacity and skills of our staff and the need to provide ongoing assessment of our actions to minimize unforeseen consequences. We are committed to building a motivated and capable Mozambican team with the leadership, management and conservation tools they need to be effective Activities and outputs We continued with our monthly meetings for all permanent staff to create a team with a shared identify and sense of purpose. We discuss challenges, conduct, labour law, conservation law, project goals and successes. These meetings have proven to be a very positive part of project and looked forward to by all our staff. We identified accounts and human resources as an area where we needed additional staff. We identified a young man who had completed Grade 12, originally from Mbamba and send him on three month course in accounting and human Resources in Lichinga. He then joined a team to assist with payment of salaries, entering of receipts, contracts etc. He requires additional training that will be provided on site in A volunteer, Ken Harman spent two months at Mariri training our two local mechanics in vehicle maintenance and workshop management. Registration of the Mariri airstrip is currently being handled by the Reserve warden through Lichinga and will be completed in Detailed plans have been drawn up and concrete markers will be put in place in An airstrip hangar has been built (12m x 10m). We successfully sourced funding for a plane (Christen Husky A-1) to assist with management, monitoring and anti-poaching efforts. Keith is currently completing his pilot s license and the plane should be operational in late The 5 year MOU to govern our partnership with MITUR/ WCS was completed. While all roads were maintained, stumps removed and mitre drains added, wet season access remains difficult. Mariri Airstrip Eastern approach = S E Western approach = S E Elevation 253 meters 21

22 A Christen Husky A-1 aircraft has been purchased and will be operational in L5-South in late Almost complete 12m x 10 hangar on airstrip- December 2014 Husky-Plane purchased by Mariri operational in NNR in Map of NCPs concession L5-South (580 km 2 ) showing the position of Mbamba Village, Mariri Environmental Centre and HQ of NCP, proposed site for ecotourism lodge and roads 22

23 OBJECTIVE 2: TO PROVIDE LONG TERM MONITORING OF THE STATUS AND THREATS TO LIONS AND OTHER CARNIVORES TO ASSESS OUR EFFECTIVENESS AND ALLOW US TO ADAPTIVELY MANAGE CHANGE. We continued to provide long term; broad based monitoring of lion, hyaena, leopard and African wild dog populations across Niassa Reserve. We monitor the trend in the population size and density of lions, and spotted hyaenas through call up surveys every 3-4 years (next survey this year; 2015) validated through individual identification of lions in an intensive study area. Leopards are monitored though camera trap surveys in key study sites (2008, 2009, 2010, 2014) while wild dogs are monitored through opportunistic sightings by community wildlife guardians (MOMS), as well as tourism operators and monitoring of pack size. We also conduct regular surveys to monitor human-carnivore conflict, domestic dog numbers, and bushmeat consumption. For more detailed monitoring we focus on an intensive study area of 580 km2 (Concession L5-South). We have been collecting baseline data in this area since This is one of the most heavily utilized areas in Niassa Reserve. It supports a community of more than 2000 people (Mbamba Village), more than 30 fishing camps and regular pedestrian traffic. In 2012 it was identified as one of the areas with the highest levels of elephant poaching. We implement our community programs in Mbamba village first to test their effectiveness as we can monitor results before we scale up to villages in other areas where baseline data in not available. The lions in the intensive study area have been monitored since 2005 using individual recognition of individuals (scars, freckle patterns) and wherever possible radio collars. The aims of radio collaring are to assess density, mortality, turnover, cub recruitment, movement patterns around people and density. These data are used to ground truth and validate the reserve wide call up survey and to assess whether our community programs are having a positive effect. It was through these data that we were able to prove that bushmeat snaring is the major threat to lions in NNR causing direct mortality to lions, rapid turnover in pride males and infanticide in cubs. We also monitor leopard density in this area as well as other key indicators (impala, waterbuck, kudu, African skimmer, hippo) and indicators of human activities (poaching, fishing camps, mining, pedestrian traffic etc.). LIONS Lions are only collared in the intensive study area and their movements, mortality and turnover are assessed. In 2014, we immobilized four lions; two for collar replacements and two new lions. One new pride of two females moved into the area. We currently have nine females from 5 prides and two adult males collared. Over the past ten years since (since 2005), we have collared 36 lions (15 females and 21 males). All but one were immobilised in the intensive study area. One male has been monitored since 2005 and two females have been monitored since birth in In total, we have immobilised lions on 63 occasions as many of these individuals have been immobilized multiple times to change collars or remove collars when batteries run out. By radio-marking individuals in each pride we are able to monitor mortality of other unknown animals, recruitment and turnover in pride members. Of these radio collared lions, ten (28%) have died in snares, with 50% of the deaths occurring inside the intensive study area between 2005 and This is by far the most common cause of mortality in Niassa Reserve and used to be the most common cause of mortality in our intensive study area. No radio collared lions and in fact no known lions have been snared in our intensive study area in 2013 and 2014 due to our antipoaching and community engagement activities. 23

24 As part of performance payment and benefit sharing scheme the community living inside the intensive study area has committed to a land use line (micro land use planning with area for wildlife and area for fields) and has committed to reducing snaring. Table 1: Status of lion radio collared between 2005 and 2014 (ten years) Females Males Subtotal Snared Trophy hunted Research Natural Dead unknown cause Unknown Alive Total Lion density is calculated each year as the total number of adult lions per 100 km 2 of the study area in November of that year. In November of 2014 there was a density of 0.04 lions / km2 in L5-South similar to 2013 and an increase from the lions /km 2 lion density found in The number of prides in the intensive study area has increased from two in 2010 to 5 in 2014 but all prides are small, generally consisting of 2-4 individuals. Only one Pride has 6 females in it. The number of females in the intensive study area has increased slightly to 18 females (9 are collared from all 5 prides) and there are currently 6 cubs, three born in During the 2013/ 2014 wet season one cub disappeared. One sub-adult male from F-Pride is now independent and has moved out of the study area and away from the Pride. These prides appear to be relatively stable although cub mortality is still high and recruitment is low. Home ranges of resident prides have shifted as new prides have moved into the area perhaps reflecting the increase in prey density in the area (shown in 2013 annual report). This will be monitored. Of concern is that no female in the study area has raised more than 2 cubs to more than 8 months of age and frequently only one cub is raised at a time. At present there are only 6 cubs and 3 sub-adult males associated with these 18 females in the study area. It is still not clear which adult male lions are associated with each pride. Four adult male lion are currently in the study area and have been seen with multiple prides. Males are seldom seen with females for more than 1-2 days. No know lions were snared in the study area in 2014 for the second year in a row. However mortality of male lions that move out of the intensive study area remains a major concern. Since 2010, four males have been fitted with satellite collars to monitor their movement patterns and mortality. Of these four lions, two have been snared (one in L8-Hunting concession) and one 280 km outside Niassa Reserve, one was shot as a sport hunting trophy and the fourth (LCM22) is still alive but his collar is giving problems (he was collared in November 2014; see map below). These results highlight the high mortality of male lions in Niassa Reserve that may be causing the low cub survival in the study area due to infanticide and constant adult male lion turnover. One male lion, Campo that was first collared in 2005 was seen again in Luwire near Lugenda Camp in He is now years old. He has an old collar on that is no longer working. His original home range was in 24

25 L5-South but he was evicted by two new males that came into the area in He appears to currently be resident in L7 opposite his original home range. Movements of four male lions fitted with satellite collars in Concession L5-South. Three of the four males have been killed; 2 inside Niassa Reserve (snare and sport hunter) and 1 outside Niassa Reserve. Of particular interest are the movements of the male lion (LICM20). Malimbo was followed for 17 months. He moved out of the intensive study area along the Lugenda River and eventually out of Niassa Reserve in June He spent more than 5 months outside the protected area and settled for 5 months 280 km south of Reserve boundary near Lichinga. In October 2014 he was killed in a snare. Euzebio and Samuel found his collar and say there were signs of impala and waterbuck in the area but no sign of human settlement. This illustrates the importance of having a large protected area and the lack of hard boundaries between Niassa Reserve and surrounding communal land. LICM20- Malimbo seen at Lugenda Camp in January 2014 on his way down the Lugenda River before leaving Niassa Reserve. He was snared October km south of NNR. 25

26 LICM21 Sam old adult male teeth showing significant wear and yellowing on all teeth. LICM21- Fabio just before he left F-pride and went off on his own. He was born in The second cub in the litter was killed by another incoming male when they were about 8 months old (E. Waiti) Cub (Florida) born to LICF08 (Fatima) during 2013/2014 wet season. Two cubs were seen in (J. Knox) Single cub seen with two females of the R-Pride in There are another 4 females in this pride but there were not seen when the small cub was around. (M. Lajas) Young male identified on camera traps Camera traps are set at drying up water holes where prey congregate at the end of the dry season Images of lions taken in

27 As part of our long term monitoring, in 2015 we will be conducting a call up survey (more than 150 call stations on available roads) to monitor the trend in lion and hyaena density across Niassa Reserve. This survey has been conducted in the same way in 2005, 2008 and 2012 which therefore allows comparison between years. Studies in other areas have shown that there is a threshold of human density above which coexistence between lions and people is difficult (above 25 people / km2; Riggio et al 2012). We would expect that some areas in Niassa Reserve where human population has been increasing and illegal activities have increased will show little lion activity e.g. north eastern section along Ruvuma River. In a study in Kenya which included commercial ranch land and pastoral land, lions avoided areas where people kill lions even when human population densities were low (Oriol-Cotterill et al. 2015). In L5-South there are high levels of pedestrian movement and fishing camps throughout the study area even away from the main village of 2000 people. This is likely to be affecting lion behaviour, reducing the actual amount of habitat available to them and possibly increasing their foraging costs. The high pedestrian traffic also impacts severely on the possibilities of conducting ecotourism in the area as the lions are secretive and move off the open floodplain into dense bush during the day due to people traffic. This will make game viewing difficult. Without ecotourism developing a sustainable revenue for communities will be difficult. In Oct-Nov 2014, we hosted a Masters veterinary student from Lisbon, Miguel Lajas. Miguel worked with Euzebio to collect 44 lion faecal samples. Preliminary data show that 66% of these samples tested positive for a variety of different parasites. Little work has been done previously on lion parasites. AFRICAN WILD DOGS African wild dog numbers are difficult to assess directly. We monitor their status and distribution through long term monitoring of pack size and through opportunistic sightings from operators, our team, camera traps and community wildlife guardians. Due to the difficulties in monitoring the wild dogs over the expanse of Niassa Reserve, we primarily focus on reducing the threats to their survival (disease, snaring and poisoning) and providing environmental education and awareness. In the intensive study area we monitor all packs through photo ID. The opportunistic data collected on special species by the Community wildlife guardians spread across 24 villages in all three districts is very important for monitoring the distribution and health of the wild dogs. (See Objective 7 for more information on the Community wildlife Guardian Program). These data are presented below. In addition in 2014, an intern Jillian Knox was tasked with creating ID cards for all the wild dogs that were being seen in L5-South. She identified more than 30 individuals spread across 3 possibly 4 packs. These ID cards will be printed out and used to identify and monitor wild dogs in future and for educational purposes at the Mariri Environmental Centre. One of the wild dog packs (C-Pack) was regularly seen close to the Mariri Environmental Centre and it consists of individuals. Wild dogs were regularly recorded on our camera traps. As we get to know the packs better we will start to map their movements through permanent camera traps and opportunistic sightings. A second pack near the western end of the concession were recorded on a camera trap with puppies confirming that the wild dogs are breeding in the area. 27

28 African Wild dogs were regularly seen in 2014 in our community conservation concession. Wild dog puppies drinking at a pool in the late dry season camera trapping monitoring. Local hunters like wild dogs as they can steal meat from their kills. We have been told that as a result if a wild dog is caught in a snare, they are released immediately and are never killed. We believe that Niassa Reserve should be focusing more on the importance of Niassa Reserve for the conservation of African wild dogs as this is one of the most important populations left in Africa with more than 350 Wild dogs. 28

29 ID cards of African Wild Dogs identified in the intensive study area LEOPARDS The Niassa Carnivore Project has been researching and monitoring leopards and their threats since Our work has included monitoring their main threats (sport hunting, targeted snaring for skins, bushmeat snaring, and retaliation in response to attacks on livestock). Eight leopards were radiomarked in concession L5-South to assess movement patterns, home range and mortality in 2009 and All three females were snared and killed in the first year of monitoring, and 3 males disappeared, one died naturally and the other collar was removed. This highlighted the risks to leopards and the need for more information and careful monitoring. Agostinho Jorge looked at the economic viability of leopard hunting, illegal and legal off take, and leopard densities in 4 sites across Niassa Reserve for his MSc thesis project (Jorge 2011; Jorge et al 2013). He showed that o o o o o Leopard had high value for sport hunters, however, the economic benefits from the legal hunting did not off-set the individual costs in local communities from livestock depredation by leopards. In addition illegal hunting benefits (from sale of skin) were much higher and accrued to individuals at the household level. Therefore legal hunting had no influence on reducing illegal hunting of leopards as there were poor links between sport hunting and communities (Jorge et al. 2013) Overall leopard population densities in Niassa Reserve were comparable with study sites in central and southern Africa with higher densities in riparian areas compared to watershed areas. However, there were reasons for concern as riparian study sites showed a decline in leopard population density over the three-year study period, and all leopard photocaptured in 2010 were new individuals, suggesting high turnover rates in this habitat. The mortality from illegal leopard hunting (0.375 leopard/100 km 2 ) was additive to the mortality from hunting operators (0.068 leopard/100 km 2 ), and resulted in an unsustainable off-take. There was also no significant correlation between leopard density and prey density contrary to other studies where the density of large carnivore populations was positively 29

30 correlated with prey abundance in areas with low poaching incidence. This may suggest that leopard densities in NNR are currently constrained by the high levels of poaching offtake rather than prey. In 2014 we conducted a leopard camera trapping survey following the same methods as in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the intensive study area to monitor density and turnover of leopards and prey density. We were driven by concern that our opportunistic sightings of leopards in the area had declined. These data are still being analysed. The survey was conducted within 10km of the Lugenda River where leopard densities are expected to be highest. A grid of 15 camera stations each with two cameras was set up following the same methods as in previous surveys. The camera traps were in place for three months but regularly checked by Euzebio and Samuel to replace batteries and SD cards and any cameras that were damaged. We are still processing 1000s of camera trapping images and will report on the results as soon as possible. OBJECTIVE 3: TO INVOLVE COMMUNITIES IN MONITORING AND CONSERVATION THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOMS COMMUNITY WILDLIFE GUARDIAN PROGRAM IN VILLAGES THROUGHOUT NNR The program is managed by Mbumba Marufo, Mariri Community Manager in partnership with Reserve Administrator. Data is owned and provided by the MOMS community guardians on paper and entered into the computer by MOMS coordinator for broader management use. Since 2006, Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) has been financially supporting and mentoring the community monitoring program, MOMS. In 2009, the program was handed over to be managed on a day to day basis by NNR management team but with continued financial support from NCP. Guardians are paid monthly subsidies for part time work, provided with caps and T-shirts and all materials needed) as well as provide ongoing mentorship and support, and we provide skills training for coordinator. The community monitors not only collect information on fishing activities, human wildlife conflict and special species sightings but they also convey important information to their communication on rabies, ways to reduce human-wildlife conflict, safe behaviours and conservation. 30

31 Activities in 2014 It was agreed with the NNR warden that NCP/ Mariri would take over the day to day management of this program in 2014 as well as provide full financial support given the poor performance of the program in 2013 and problems with past coordinator who had been dismissed. Monthly reports are provided to the warden. This will be reassessed annually. Currently there are 24 wildlife guardians that collect information covering 23 villages inside Niassa National Reserve, three (3) in Negomano District, 11 in Mecula District and 9 in Mavago district. A new MOMS/SMOG coordinator was hired in September 2014 based on interviews conducted by Agostinho Jorge and Cornelio Miguel. From January to early September 2014 the program didn t have a full time coordinator but was managed by Mbumba Marufo. Guardians from Mecula visited Mariri and were taken to see all the conservation and community programs to broaden their knowledge of conservation and share with their communities. A group of Guardians also came to Mariri to meet with the Ewaso Lions team to learn about community conservation in another area. Two new wildlife guardians from Nkalapa and Chilolo village were successful recruited and trained. One of the MOMS guardians was promoted to head guardian and hired permanently by Mariri / NCP to assist the coordinator. Celestino Dauda has been a MOMS guardians from Macalange since 2006 and has shown leadership skills and commitment. The MOMS coordinator, and Head Guardian were trained in computer skills and all the 2014 data was entered into the computer for the first time. In 2015, data entry will be kept up to date and 2013 and earlier data will be entered. The 8 th annual MOMS workshop was held at Mariri Environment Center in November. All 24 wildlife guardians were present as well as Dir. SDAE from Mecula, representative of Dir. SDAE from Mavago and one representative of district Direction of Health. This was a milestone as it was the first community workshop held at Mariri, even though the Environmental Centre was not complete. 31

32 DATA ON SPECIAL SPECIES AND MORTALITY In 2014, 8988 different animals were seen in surrounds of 24 villages and reported to the community wildlife guardians of which 4017 were buffalo (45%). Hippo and African wild dogs had 16% and 12% of the records respectively. In 2014, 1104 wild dog sightings were recorded. In contrast there were only 256 sightings of leopard, 299 of hyaena and 632 of lion. Lichengue, Mbamba and Chilolo were the villages with the highest number of buffalo recorded. Mbamba, Mucoria village and Negomano-center together recorded 43% of the lions seen. These records of lions around Negomano sede are important as this area has experienced heavy bushmeat poaching lion attacks on people in the past ( ) Mbamba, Mucoria, Chilolo and Negomano-center recorded more than 66% of the wild dog sightings. Table 1- Summary of the number of animal recorded in 2014 Buffalo Wild. Hippo Croc Lion Leopard Wild dog Hyena Tot Mavago Mecula Negomano Total Of particular conservation importance are the data collected on the number of dead animals see in the villages. At present the MOMS guardians do not record why the animal has died to ensure that all data is written down even that from illegal activities. However, it is likely that none of these deaths in the villages were natural but were the result of retaliatory killing, bushmeat or for skins are all recorded. In 2014 about 303 animals were recorded as dead in the villages by the Community wildlife guardians. It is likely that the majority of these deaths were due to bushmeat snaring and retaliatory killing in response to human wildlife conflict. It is unlikely these were natural deaths. Of the total number of dead animals recorded 37% were buffalo, 15% were leopard and wildebeest, 14% were hippo and lion and 7% were wild dog. Large carnivores represented 30% of the deaths recorded. The number of carnivores being killed illegally should be of concern particularly the 44 leopards and 17 wild dogs from 24 villages. It is likely that the carnivores were killed were killed for their skins (leopards), in snares or in retaliation for killing livestock. The highest percentage of the dead animals came from Negomano district even though only 3 villages have MOMS guardians in this district. The reasons for this are unclear. 32

33 More detailed information is needed on the 11 wild dogs that died in Negomano as this sounds like a poisoning incident, though difficult to know how this took place. This is an area with heavy pressures from illegal logging and little anti-poaching presence. The number of dead animals recorded by the wildlife guardians in Msawise (with 25%), Ninga (20%), Namacambale (15%) and Mecula-center (10%) are the villages with high mortality of buffalo. Negomano has the highest record of mortality for wildebeest 95%, crocodile 63%, lion 56%, leopard 61% and wild dog 95%. On the other hand Nahavara village recorded 95% of mortality of all wildebeest deaths. In 2015 we will continue to work on setting up a protocol for managing a set or permanent camera traps to monitor wildlife in the L5-South concession that can be replicated in other areas of Niassa Reserve through their research and monitoring program. On particular importance will be setting up a system for logging the 1000s of images that come in from the camera traps, possibly through a citizen science project in collaboration with other lion conservation projects in the region. COMMUNITY FISHING Monitoring of fishing activities have been a central part of the NCP since Fish form the most important source of meat protein in Niassa Reserve. Should the Fisheries collapse then bushmeat snaring will increase exponentially and food insecurity for all of Niassa s communities will increase. Since its inception in 2006, the MOMS Community wildlife guardian program has been collecting information of fish catches. About 205 fishing camps were registered by the wildlife guardians during year This is a minimum number as these data are limited by the movements of the MOMS guardians around their 24 villages. In total 69% of the fishing camps are located in Mecula district. In Mavago 40 fishing camps were recorded and in Negomano, there were 24 camps; 33

34 An estimation of 18,272kg of fish were weighed in The use of poison as a fishing method was recorded on about 34 occasions. About 300kg of fish were caught by this method; Poison was used in Mecula district, between June to October, in the following rivers: 1. Nandanda in Mecula-center 2. Ncuti Bairro Guebuza, 3. Ncalaue Ntimbo village 4. Nasato, Chiulessi, Lulanga, Mdimbila, Ataliani and Chapola- all in Naulala village; 5. And on the dam located at Bairro Guebuza; The majorities of fishing methods are well known to all fishermen in all camps and are used during the entire year depending on river conditions and materials available. THREAT 1: BUSHMEAT SNARING Snares are used to kill wild animals for meat and non-target species like carnivores are killed inadvertently. It is the major threat to lions, leopards, spotted hyaenas and African wild dogs in Niassa Reserve as it kills both their prey and them directly. The mortality of lions in the intensive study area in was 28% when natural mortality in other well protected areas was only 6 % of adults. Snaring causes rapid turnover in adult male lions and infanticide of cubs. Turnover in leopards is also high with no leopards camera trapped in 2009 being camera trapped in 2010 which suggests very high turnover (Jorge et al. 2013). Research has shown that the majority of meat protein eaten in Niassa Reserve is currently being provided by bushmeat (meat of wild species rather than domestic livestock). Domestic meat protein is scarce and expensive. It costs more to buy a chicken (US$3-4) than it costs to buy a guineafowl ($0.60) or portion of bushmeat (US$0.60 to $1.60). The main reasons for not keeping domestic livestock are a large die off of chickens due to disease and lack of money to buy initial stock. In addition domestic livestock are kept as a savings account for emergencies and with small numbers are seldom eaten. There is little knowledge of animal husbandry and no veterinary care. The majority of Niassa Residents are eating bushmeat at least 1-2 times a week (n = 1229 across; 34 villages). The wire snares set to catch wild animals for meat not only kill the carnivores directly but also kill their prey reducing all wildlife densities. The bushmeat trade not only provides meat but the sale of ivory, meat, and skins provide a lucrative source of income for local hunters who have limited skills and job opportunities. The increasing snaring and poaching in Niassa are therefore exacerbated by food insecurity, lack of alternative livelihoods and low skills levels of local people inside Niassa Reserve. NCP aims to address snaring through a holistic approach of providing alternative income generating opportunities for hunters through skills training and employment of local people, providing an alternative protein source through small livestock breeding, increasing food security and developing effective anti-poaching that involves resident communities. The continued need for community involvement is critical as we do not believe that antipoaching alone will solve the problem in Niassa given size of the area protected and high levels of movement of people inside the protected area. We believe that equal amounts of funding should be spent on the guns and boots and community 34

35 engagement approached. Conservation of wildlife in areas where people are resident needs to be an informed choice not a forced activity. OBJECTIVE 4: TO DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE PROTEIN SOURCES TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON BUSHMEAT AND SNARING LIVESTOCK BREEDING GROUPS Lead by and data collated by Agostinho Jorge, Mariri Conservation Manager The livestock husbandry program is part of the NCP program to reduce bushmeat snaring through antipoaching, alternative livelihoods and alternative protein. It aims to increase the quantity and diversity of meat protein available in the villages which we hope will increase food security, decrease reliance on bushmeat and will provide an alternative income for local households through sale (rabbits are currently sold for Mt 250 each in Mecula, doves at Mt25). It is important to note that domestic rabbits cannot breed with any wild rabbits, as there are no rabbits in Niassa bush only hares which are different family. There is no danger of interbreeding with wild rabbits. In addition, domestic rabbits that escape are quickly eaten by local predators. The program started in 2011 with data collected on snaring, bushmeat consumption and food needs of local households. We then initiated two domesticated guineafowl breeding programs with two local farmers, one in Mbamba village and one in Nkuti Village. The focus is on micro livestock that are already present in Niassa Reserve. The livestock husbandry program is part of the Mariri program to test ways to reduce bushmeat snaring. It aims to increase the quantity and diversity of meat protein available in the villages which we hope will increase food security, decrease reliance on bushmeat and will provide an alternative income for local households through sale This program has full community support and assistance with livestock breeding was identified as a priority for community. In 2013 and 2014, under Agostinho guidance the livestock breeding program was extended and formalized with livestock breeding groups, rules and includes other forms of livestock. These are voluntary groups and no payments for activities are provided. Each group decides on its own name, a leader and secretary as well as the rules to guide the functioning of the group. The NCP representative (Agostinho Jorge) provides advice but does not lead the process. T-shirts and caps are provided each year to all members of the original group with the name to develop a sense of identity. For the second generation, those that pay back their loans and graduate are provided with a T-shirt and certificate. Each person wishing to receive domestic livestock has to first show commitment by building a rabbit hutch and chicken coop before receiving animals. Guidance is provided on the elements needed in each coop (air, sunlight, safety, slated floor to keep clean, ease of access etc.). All animals (rabbits, ducks, guineafowl, doves, and guinea pigs) involved in the Mariri LBG already existed in the Niassa Reserve before Mariri distributed the specimens in each village. No animal has been introduced in the reserve by Mariri to implement the programs with the LBGs. Domesticated rabbits, guineafowl, guineapigs, ducks, doves, turkeys are the animals available for the group. The first members chose animals from the list of available animals. Each member of the group is seeded with two female rabbits or a pair of domesticated guineafowl, ducks or guinea 35

36 pigs as a micro loan. Other interested people can put their names on the waiting list kept by the secretario (secretary) of the group. The waiting list closes when double the number of names is on the list as each original member will pay back their loan in animals (barter micro credit scheme) to two new members supplemented with animals from Mariri to provide breeding stock. Eventually in the third or fourth generation it s expected that a considerable number of household in the village will have received animals, the group will become too big and difficult to manage. That might be the moment for Mariri to leave the LBG group moving on its own and stop providing animals as microloan or incentives. It is the intention that each member of the group will eventually have several different types of micro-livestock (rabbits, ducks, guineafowl, guineapig, goats and turkey) to spread risk and increase diversity. Detailed records are kept of breeding to ensure inbreeding does not become an issue and to monitor breeding and income generated to assess success. The mating dates are recorded in the calendar to allow the members to control the gestation period. Records have to be kept by the group. This approach also increases the interaction between LBG members where they visit each other and provide support and sharing of experiences Results and Activities The small livestock breeding programs are currently active in three villages and 70 households. One village, Mbamba is within L5-South, two villages are in L4 currently unoccupied by operators. All people involved in the Mariri LBGs program have no employment. Forty percent of people involved in the program did not have livestock when the program started in their villages. In total more than 425 ducks and rabbits have been bred by 40 households. Rabbits and ducks are breeding well in the three villages where the program is being implemented. This success together with the visit to three farmers in Mecula and Marrupa whose animal stocks exceeded 100 animals per farmer and who are able to feed their families and sell some of the animals from their stock clearly show that this program has significant potential to contribute towards increasing food security. There has been significant mortality in very young rabbits and ducks over the first two years of this program (> 300) and this is currently preventing the program from reaching its full potential. Most of these deaths were caused by management problems of animals such as animals not being separated from adults, animals being raised as free range, predators, dogs, neighbors killing animals because of jealousy, and diseases. The mortality rates observed in the Mariri LBGs are consistent with the mortality rate observed by farmers from similar and semicommercial production systems in Lichinga that have been collaborating with the Mariri LBG programs. However we believe that reducing the mortality rate is key for the success of the LBGs and are also confident that mortality can be reduced by improved hutch design and 36

37 management. We have been collaborating with other breeding programs and Houston Zoo to find solutions. Fig. Mortality of adult and young rabbits and ducks in Mbamba, Nkuti and Macalange LBGs In comparison, during the same period more than 420 chickens died from Newcastles disease in Macalange village alone highlighting the difficulties local people have in keeping domestic livestock. The rate of paying back their micro loans in the Mbamba, Macalange and Nkuti LBGs is already higher (> 40%) compared to the rate of paying back on other similar programs implemented across Niassa Province (including in districts of Mecula and Macalange) by other organizations (< 10%; A. Jorge unpublished data). This will improve still further as some people are still building up their stock before repayment. Reasons for the failure of the majority of other microloan programs in Niassa Province include: influence of local people telling people that the animals are being distributed as charity and nothing will happen to those who do not pay back the animals; local traditional chiefs, local government officials making deals with participants of the group to divide the animals amongst themselves without including other member from the community that were supposed to receive the animals; first beneficiaries selling the loaned animals or their meat to other people, giving animal to family members rather than repaying their loan by giving to people listed in the program, and finally a failure to provide learning opportunities for breeders to improve their breeding success. By learning from the failures of other programs and adaptively managing these first LBGs we have been able to create groups that take ownership of the initiative and monitor themselves. The groups are strong and have dynamic members who believe in the project and have community support and take action against members who break the rules. 37

38 After a year of activity, most members believe that the program is positive and has the potential to increase animal protein available. The leader from the Macalange LBG said that goats were distributed in the past in the village but no villager paid back the goats, all animals were sold and eaten and no goat was left in Macalange. Mr Dauda says that he firmly believes that there are good opportunities for Grupo John Issa in Macalange to achieving great things and help to increase the number of animals in the village because of the way the group was structured and the way it is monitored. This is an inexpensive program to run but has great potential to improve people s livelihoods and food security in the medium to long term. For example in 2014 Mariri spent ~ 1,500 USD on the purchase of animals as seed animals and as incentives for members in three villages and producing T-shirts for fifteen members from one village. This is a relatively small investment from financial point of view but can have big impacts at the household level particularly since it targets people that currently have no income. This program can be scaled up due to the design from the start as a community managed program. There are 40 people on the waiting list from Mbamba and 10 individuals from Nkuti. At least 20 individuals from other villagers, that are not part of the LBGs, contacted Mariri in different occasions to be included in the initiative. Collaboration with stakeholders is a key feature of our community programs. In 2014, regular contact was kept with NNR management team and Mecula District government officials particularly the Director from Mecula Department of Agriculture (SDAE) to update them on the program. SDAE and Mecula government have expressed particular interest in the program and SDAE have suggested they can share for free their stock of Newcastle vaccines with Mariri so that these vaccines can be issued in the villages were Mariri is implementing the LBGs. More contacts with SDAE Mecula will be needed to clarify various issues including, for how long SDAE will be able to source the Newcastle vaccine, how often they will be able to source per year, costs involved in the process that Mariri will have to face, etc. These issues will also be discussed with Reserve management team. We also collaborated with the Provincial Services of Veterinary from Lichinga and others. Through this collaboration: o Mariri received containers to conserve samples in glycerine and containers to conserve blood; o The samples sent in from dead animals to determine cause of death in 2013 were not suitable for analysis however with their help a further set of samples were sent in We are still waiting for results. o Mariri received datasheets to register information about the samples from dead animals. 38

39 Mariri conducted over 50 visits & meetings with members of three Livestock breeding programs in Mbamba, Macalange and Nkuti. Ten producers of rabbits, ducks, and turkeys were visited in Lichinga, Marrupa and Mecula. In general the producers showed interest to continue collaborating with Mariri; Grupo dja Kalunga, Grupo Songambele and Grupo Jonh Issa visited each other to exchange experience; Representatives from LBG from Mbamba, Macalange and Nkuti visited two breeders in Marrupa and one breeder in Mecula. Based on the comments and observations of the members the trip convinced the members that a) the LBGs can contribute substantially to diversifying the caril and provide some income to the household when animals are cared for properly; b) better control and management of the animals was needed to increase productivity, both in numbers of animals and weight of animals; c) there was a need to think big about the potential of LBG program and think ahead of a infrastructure that could accommodate the 6 species (rabbits, ducks, guineafowl, turkeys, guineapigs and doves) even if the members starts with one species. Table 1. Summary of information of Mbamba, Macalange and Nkuti LBG Item Village Mbamba Nkuti Macalange Total Number of Households: 1st generation a Number of Households: 2nd generation Paid back: 1st generation b Paid back: 2nd generation Sold: people/animals 01/02 c 0 01/01 d 03 Eaten: people/animals 01/03 e a Two individuals lost their animals and were excluded from the group b Two individuals paid back but one of the individual from the second generation was not prepared to receive the animals. The ducks from the pay back process are being kept by the Mbamba LBG member - Grupo Dja Kalunga c One woman sold two rabbits to Mariri d One man has sold one duck e One man has eaten three rabbits 39

40 Mbamba LBG group Hutch in Mbamba Village with separate areas for ducks and rabbits Member receiving a duck on repayment of loan One of the most successful duck breeders in Mbamba 40

41 Raised hutch for rabbits. Visit between livestock groups. Learning from each other/ Celestino Dauda showing livestock breeders how to use the predator lights to protect their hutches The best duck breeder in Macalange Visit by LBG members to visit rabbit breeder in Lichinga Rabbit breeder showing Mariri LBGs the potential for growth. 41

42 OBJECTIVE 5: TO REDUCE BUSHMEAT SNARING BY FINDING WAYS TO IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY AND REDUCE HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT Two of the main problems identified by communities that they would like help with are humanelephant conflict and food insecurity. It is impossible to have a conversation about conservation when people are concerned about where their next meal is coming from. Responding directly to the community s needs (not our needs) shows commitment as partners. In addition, improving food security will lessen the need for income from extractive use of wildlife resources (ivory, skins and bushmeat) and will decrease the rate of habitat transformation into fields through slash and burn agriculture. The aim is to find ways to increase food security in Mbamba village by decreasing humanwildlife conflict, increasing productivity, increases alternative livelihoods and increase skills and in so doing provide a model that can be put in place in other Niassa villages. Our living fence / Pao Piku program to reduce crop pests (bushpigs and warthogs), our program to assist farmers with building effective goat and small livestock corrals to reduce attacks and the alternative protein programs all also contribute to increasing food security as does employment and skills training. CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE PROJECT: FARMER FIELD SCHOOLS Data compiled and program lead by Mbumba Marufo (NCP Community Manager) Food security is a serious threat to people living inside Niassa Reserve. The majority of soils in Niassa Reserve particularly in the eastern section of the protected area have low fertility. The conservation agriculture program is a community based approach to increase productivity of Niassa fields in a sustainable way. It relies on the farmers to test, manage and maintain the conservation agriculture plots through a farmer field school (FFS). This program is independent but receives information, assistance and some training from CARE international. Mbumba Marufo acts as an advisor but does not implement this program himself and farmers are not paid. The aim of this project is bring new technology to Mbamba community that can improve soil fertility and can conserve the soil humidity. The FFS is testing the use of techniques to: Retain water in the soil through mulching because the low and irregular rainfall in Mbamba; Improve the soil fertility through the use of legumes intercropping with the main crops, namely maize and sorghum; Improve the soil fertility through the use of fallow land approach using legumes; Identify leguminous perennial crop that can still cover the soil until the next crop season and at the same time is not attacked by kudos, impalas and other small antelopes. The FFS also create an environment where the farmer can learn by experimentation as they are the ones who design and implement the crop rotation. They also take care of the crops and harvest them at the end of the season. They compare the conservation agriculture approach with their traditional 42

43 approach and take the decision themselves which approach better suits their needs. This approach is much more sustainable and results in higher adoption by other farmers. Some demonstrations are performed each weekly session like testing water infiltration of soil, transpiration of plants, comparison of water retention between the soils that are tilled and untilled and between soils that are mulched and uncovered. The Mbamba farm field school (FFS) started in 2012/2013 crop season, introduced by Mariri/ NCP. It has an area of 2397m 2 with 9 plots inside where different experiments are performed and compared. Eight plots have the same size, 225m 2, and the ninth plot covers 450m 2. The group is made up of a group of 25 local volunteer farmers (6 women and 19 men). The 2013/2014 crop was the second year of the farmer field school. During the 2013/2014 crop season the FFS cultivated the following crops: o o o local maize and local sorghum as the main crops cow pea, sea bean, pigeon pea, as intercropping jack bean (canavalia) and sea bean as relay cropping and fallow land cropping; Fig. A group of FFS members A scaling up plan was developed for the next two years. This plan aims to take the lessons learned during the past two years and spread this information to as many farmers as possible. The 25 members of FFS will start to produce seeds of jack bean, sea bean and lab during the 2014/2015 crop season. Mariri will then buy the seeds and resell them at subsidized price to other interested farmers during the next two years. The interested farms, that will buy the seeds, will be trained about conservation agriculture at Mariri Environmental Center before the crop season starts. In 2014/2015 crop season, the Mbamba FFS changed the approach of bringing mulching from outside the field because it is expensive and difficult to scale up to local farms. Instead, the FFS 43

44 introduced the concept of producing mulching in the field through cultivation of cover crop that produces a lot of biomass such as sea-bean and becomes mulching when it dries. During the 2013/2014 crop season, the fallow land plot from the previous year that used the sea bean crop to improve soil fertility had almost doubled the amount of maize harvested compared with the plot with mulching treatment (see the image below). This yield is equivalent to 1,236kg/ha in contrast with the majority of the farms in Mbamba that have an average yield of 700 to 800kg/ha. Although this is just result of two years it has encouraged us to test the fallow land approach on a larger scale. The problem of reduced soil fertility in Mbamba is widespread and this will help to reduce the need to continuously open new fields through slash and burn agriculture. A focus of 2015 and onwards is to set up a new farmer field school with the first group graduating with seeds to implement in their own fields and to encourage development of a local seed bank. Table. Maize harvested in the FFS during the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 crop season Maize harvested Test plots with treatment Local maize with mulching 21kg 15.3kg Local maize with fallow land sea-bean kg Local maize with fallow land Pigeon pea 0 4.8kg Local maize with local farm practices 2.4kg The fallow land method with sea bean can be used without shifting the farming to another area. This method uses a relay cropping approach. When the main crop is mature the farm can plant another crop such as sea bean, lab or jack bean to stay in the field after the main crop is harvested. These crops recover the soil fertility during the dry season to the next crop season. 44

45 Plot with mulching Plot fallow land with sea-beans Plot 2 with mulching Plottraditional methods Plot fallow land with Pigeon pea Maize harvested in 2014 from farmer field plots The FFS managed to harvest 10kg of sea bean and 12kg of jack bean. Mariri has bought 10kg of cow pea, 25kg of Lab lab, 32kg of sea bean, 15kg of jack bean, 12kg of peanut and 10kg of holoco bean, for seeds for the 2014/2015 crop season. The main challenge to the FFS is to find types of beans that can: o o o o Intercrop with maize and sorghum, provide green manure, cover the soil to suppress weeds and retain humidity, and that Can stay green in the field, covering the soil until November without rain visit by CARE Extension officers to the Mbamba Farmer field school to see the program and offer advice 2014 test of soil infiltration by farmer field school 45

46 ELEPHANT - BEEHIVE FENCE PROJECT Lead by Mbumba Marufo, Mariri Community Manager Elephants do not like bees and avoid beehives. Dr Lucy King from Save the Elephants developed and tested the use of elephant-beehive fences in Kenya to reduce crop raiding by elephants. We are testing the potential use of this fence in Niassa Reserve to reduce human-elephant conflict. The aims are to reduce human and elephant conflict incidents in Mbamba village (and if successful, Niassa Reserve) and reduce the loss of yield due to elephant crop raiding. At the same time, the honey produced from these fences can help the community members improve their diet and earn revenue from the sale of the honey. This project is funded by NCP, with an initial donation from Save the Elephants and Elephant Advocacy Alliance with additional support for 2013/ 2014 from Wildlife Conservation Network, Houston Zoo and a Taronga Field Conservation Grant Activities and Progress In 2014 four beehive fences were erected n Mbamba and Macalange village. In total there are now six experimental beehive fences with four fences in Mbamba village and another two fences are in Macalange village. Together these fences cover 1,122m with 72 beehives of which 24 are currently occupied by bees and an additional 69 dummies hives. These experimental beehive fences were constructed by the group of beekeepers and the farm field school members and are managed by them. In total there are 26 people involved of which 6 are women. Beehive occupancy ranges between 25% and 67%. There are at least 12 beehives and 12 dummy hives in each beehive fence. Elephant beehive fence 46

47 Effectiveness of the beehive fences The data presented, in the Table below were collected from December 2012 to May 2013 crop season and December 2013 to May 2014 crop season. In total elephants raided fields protected by beehive fences on 10 occasions: four during 2012/2013 crop season and six during 2013/ 2014 crop season. On two occasion, elephants did not eat crops. The majority of this crop raiding in the experimental farms was recorded when the beehive occupancy was very low. In comparison in the control farms, there were 33 successful crop raids were recorded, 11 during 2012/2013 crop season and 22 in the 2014 season. All cases resulted in significant crop loss. Crop raiding in the fenced and unfenced fields in the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 crop seasons Crop raiding events Beehive fences Experimental Farms Control farms Minache s fence (Mbamba village) 2 12 Uacondoa s fence (Mbamba village) 6 17 Namena s fence (Mbamba village) 2 4 Namango s (Mbamba village) 0 0 Mr. Victor s fence (Macalange village) 0 0 Mr. Mário s fence (Macalange village) 0 0 Total 8 33 The entire Macalange Village did not record any incident of crop raiding during the 2013/2014 crop season and it was therefore impossible to test the efficiency of the technique in this village to date; In Mbamba village, all farms have similar main crops, maize and sorghum but in Macalange village the farms have only maize. The farm field school is protected by beehive fence in the Minache area. Crop raiding in this area was severe, however the area protected by the bee hive fence was the only farm only raided once. This was even more encouraging given that this farm was the last farm to harvest maize and for a period of time was the only farm in the area still to have maize. 47

48 The image of the map below shows the movement of an elephant around the beehive fence looking for a point to break in. He went away without raiding the farm. These fences clearly work. The preliminary results suggest that the beehive fencing is significantly reducing elephant crop raiding by more than a third. Honey production and marketing: 3.5L of honey were harvested and bottled in Each bottle holds 500g. The honey was sold at the price of 300,00MT per bottle in Pemba. The beekeeper group earned 2,100.00MT revenue from just 3.5L of elephant friendly honey. This is equivalent to the revenue from selling 42L of honey locally. Marketing of elephant friendly honey clearly has high potential to earn revenue for local farmers The money was shared among the beekeeper group members. This income provided an incentive to the community members while providing the additional value of protecting the fields from elephants. While elephant crop raiding does not occur year round, honey production can. Labels were developed in English and Portuguese to assist with the marketing of the honey. 48

49 Elephant friendly honey Markets for the elephant friendly honey have already been found in Pemba. There is currently more demand than supply and high potential for growth More than 100 hives were made at Mariri by local carpenters for additional beehives in In 2014, a major constraint was the theft of the honey from nine beehives, with a minimum amount of 36 litres of honey lost and loss of income of MT ,00 (US$ 360) for the beekeeper group. This was a large loss to the group. In addition, the bees were killed and four beehives were burned, adding an additional loss of Mt 6.000, 00mt loss. There was also additional theft of 140m of the tyre rope that links the beehives. These were major setback in 2014 and represent huge treat to the project. These issues were addressed with the Village leadership. Unfortunately theft is a major problem in Mbamba Village. In 2015 we plan to help nine people who have expressed an interest in having beehive fences with materials and expertise. We will also present the results to Mbamba and Macalange and other interested villages. We believe this program has significant potential to not only help people develop and alternative livelihood but also help farmers reduce elephant crop raids in their fields with a low cost, sustainable elephant beehive fence. 49

50 OBJECTIVE 6: TO REDUCE BUSHMEAT SNARING AND OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES BY EFFECTIVE ANTIPOACHING ACTIVITIES WITH COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND THROUGH PROVIDING ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS TO LOCAL HUNTERS Lead by Agostinho Jorge and Keith Begg; data compiled by Agostinho Jorge Anti-poaching is needed to remove snares and increase the opportunity costs for bush-meat and ivory poachers. In addition this forms a valuable form of employment and engages communities in the responsibilities of conserving their wildlife. As one elder put it you don t steal from your own shop. Just like a goat is used as a saving account, so is the wildlife and natural resources in the area a bank of the community for the future as wildlife has the potential to generate revenue, employment, provide skills and continue to provide resources for building, medicinal use etc. into the future. The aim of the antipoaching activities of NCP is to secure the l5-south concession using men from the local community to protect their area. This is the only area inside NNR using a community based and supported approach for anti-poaching. Substantial progress was made in 2014 to improve the effectiveness of the NCP / Mariri antipoaching teams and secure the L5-South concession with full community support. Community engagement is critical. We believe that if the community is not included in antipoaching activities we will create a war with conservation on one side and communities on the other. While not all individuals in the community are involved in poaching, they provide support to poachers and a market for illegal goods. Communities have to believe that poachers are stealing from them for this to work. The benefits from conservation (employment, community projects, education) and the costs from getting cost must be high enough to make conservation a viable alternative to poaching. We need peer pressure and leadership to convince individual s poachers in the community that poaching is not worth their while because they the opportunity costs are too high. While elephant poaching and mining are not directly related to lion conservation reducing elephant poaching is also part of our holistic approach and data on elephant poaching is presented here. Illegal activities and the influx of non-residents into the area has destabilized the villages and has the potential to destroy all progress made with partnering with communities. For partnering, performance payments and revenue sharing to be effective there must be a clearly defined community to receive these benefits in return for achieving certain conservation targets. ANTIPOACHING TEAM STRUCTURE In 2014 Mariri scout force increased from 14 scouts to 20 scouts compared to 2013, which includes 12 patrol scouts, 6 gate guards or cancela scouts and two scout leaders. All are Niassa Residents and predominantly from Mbamba village as we are partnering with this village to secure the area. We have 4 patrol teams (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta) each comprising three patrol scouts with two scout leaders that alternate between patrol teams and with three control posts. The patrol schedule consists of 8 days of patrol, 4 days standby and 4 days off duty (folga). These scouts are managed by Agostinho Jorge (Conservation Manager) and Keith Begg (Operations Director). The Mbamba River control point monitors all pedestrian and vehicular traffic into the core game area. Of interest are the large number of people from outside NNR that are moving through the Block L5-South on foot. The Changawe Control post is shared entry point with L5-North management by the Chuilexi Conservancy. 50

51 The scout equipment includes: 3 Motorola radios, 03 Trimbles, 03 GPS (Garmin GPSmap 62), 04 cameras, 4 binoculars, one motorbike, and one Land Rover. Scouts are also assigned tents, pangas, backpacks, and uniforms. Mariri imported 4 rifles (2 x CZ.416, 1 x Mossberg shotgun, 1 x BRNO 7 x 57mm) from South Africa and bought 2 shotguns in Maputo, Mozambique Mariri lost two scouts in Treciano Junior, Mariri control gate scout, died of malaria. Gaibo Mustafa, patrol scout abandoned his post following conflict with gold miners; We monitor scout days, effort, area covered and illegal activities (snares recovered, ivory recovered). Monthly reports are produced comparing performance of different scout teams and patrol effort (hours, patrols, area). In 2014 we continued to be constrained by the poor radio communication network which made it difficult to coordinate antipoaching efforts. Collaboration with our neighbouring concessions is essential. While two of our neighbours L7 and L5-N have been strong partners in antipoaching, we have received no collaboration from L8 and Block L4 is currently unoccupied. Community engagement is essential and needs to be continued. Antipoaching activities and arrests are reported to the community at the first opportunity. Unique to NCP and L5-South is the strong community support we have for antipoaching activities from the Mbamba community. We believe that equal amounts of effort and funding should be put into antipoaching and community efforts if antipoaching is to be successful. In 2015, o We will have a Christen Husky A-1 aircraft operational in L5-South to assist with monitoring of lions and antipoaching activities. o We will continue to mentor and train our scouts on an ongoing basis. Refresher courses are needed. o We hope that there will be better communication across NNR and the problems with the radio system that have been ongoing for 3 years will be resolved. o We also hope that we will have better cooperation from all our neighbours L8 particularly and will be given permission to work in a portion of L4. Names and photos of Control Gate Scouts. 51

52 Photos and names of NCP Patrol scouts. System of rotation of patrol scouts. 52

53 IMPLEMENTATION OF SMART IN L5-SOUTH AS A NNR TRIAL SITE SMART is a combination of software and training materials that are designed to increase efficiency, boost morale, empower local staff and promote effective, transparent monitoring of antipoaching methods. In collaboration with the Niassa Reserve management team (MITUR-WCS) it was agreed that L5-South would be used as a trial site for SMART in Our scouts were already using datasheets, GPS track logs and cameras and this seemed like the logical next step. This was successfully achieved with funding from the Elephant Crisis Fund. In 2015 we hope to assist the Reserve management team with scaling up SMART across Niassa Reserve. Summary of activities completed in A detailed report has been provided to NNR management team. June 2014: Two Mariri staff, Keith Begg and Agostinho Jorge, supported by Wildlife Conservation Network, attended a five day training course on SMART offered by the SMART partnership. The course was held at the South Africa Wildlife College at Kruger National Park, South Africa. September 2014: Dr Peter Lindsey, Panthera came to Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre for two weeks assisted Mariri/ NCP with developing and adjusting the standard SMART data model to reflect the reality and needs of Niassa Reserve. Peter had recently conducted similar exercises in Kafue National Park, Zambia and Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe where SMART is also being trialed. Several drafts were produced in the process of refining the Niassa data model. Problems encountered during the refining stage were corrected with assistance of Richard Bergl (North Carolina Zoo), Michel Mooler (Panthera), Alexa Montefiore (SMART Partnership Program) and Tony Lynam (WCS). The levels of threats from the Niassa Reserve prepared by the Niassa Reserve administration, MITUR / WCS, were incorporated into SMART model as were MIKE requirements and initial datasheets developed by Thomas Prin (Research and Monitoring Manager) for Niassa SMART. September 2014: Tapera Chimuti from the CITES / MIKE Program visited Mariri Environmental Centre during a visit to Niassa Reserve and had the opportunity to review / discuss the Niassa Data Model. September 2014: The data model was shared with Wim Ebersohn, Chiulexi Conservancy (Niassa Reserve concessionaire). Wim was introduced to SMART and spent an afternoon reviewing the final draft model at the Mariri Environmental Center. October 2014: Derek Littleton, LUWIRE concession, met Peter Lindsey in Zimbabwe and had a look at the SMART data model developed for Niassa. Derek showed interest in setting up SMART in the L7 concession. October and November 2014: a five day training course was run with 10 Mariri antipoaching scouts and two antipoaching control gate scouts, to explain in more detail what SMART was and how to use it. Further practical training was provided to five literate Mariri scouts on the use of Trimbles and Samsung phones to collect data. 53

54 Initial workshop to introduce SMART to Mariri Scouts in July 2014 Training of five Mariri Scouts on use of SMART and Trimbles. 54

55 October 2014: The final version of the Niassa Data Model was created. It has specific forms for the antipoaching patrol scouts and elephant carcass (MIKE) data. There is also a specific form for control gate scouts to monitor pedestrian and vehicle traffic (Figure 2). Fig. (a) Niassa SMART data model can be used to record information on many different types of anti-poaching activity depending on what the need is; (b) Information was added to allow for data collected by gate guards at control gates. The digital devices can be adjusted so that only certain parts of the model are visible (c) The MIKE form was added to the SMART data model. October 2014: The data model was presented to the WCS-MITUR via to get their inputs and ensure the relevant aspects for monitoring antipoaching activities and human traffic in Niassa are included in the Niassa data model presented by the NLP. No suggestions or changes were received. October 2014: The Niassa data model was translated into Portuguese. The translation took into consideration the inputs from the anti-poaching patrol and control gate scouts from L5-S. In some cases we had to use local language names, for example for local species of trees to ensure that scouts understand what data needs to be collected. November 2014: Queries and reports were developed in the SMART software to generate standardized monthly and annual reports and to give immediate feedback to the anti-poaching and control gate scouts. 55

56 In future this reporting will also assist with quick feedback and data sharing with the MITUR / WCS and other partners in Niassa and beyond. Ongoing collaboration with Thomas Prin, Niassa Reserve Research and Monitoring Manager to refine model and implement at Reserve HQ.. Additional training and implementation in collaboration with NNR team will take place in Figure 3: Example of the report format that can be generated through SMART software. The data are analyzed and GIS maps created over a background map (which can be uploaded for each concession) in one software at the click on one button. This is a major time saving advantage of SMART. Equipment purchased Five digital devices, Thimbles Juno T41CG were purchased; three Trimbles to be used by the 4 Mariri antipoaching patrol scouts teams and two Trimbles were donated to the Reserve Administration (MITUR) in Mbatamila. Two Trimble battery packs were purchased to supply the Trimbles with additional power while scouts are on patrols in L5S. Unfortunately these did not arrive in time and have not yet been tested in these trials. Three entry level Samsung smartphones (GTS-5280) were purchased and SMART was loaded. These are being used to collect information on pedestrian and vehicle traffic through the two control gates at Mbamba and Changawe. One Samsung will be used to collect ecological data. ANTIPOACHING RESULTS Overview of Anti-poaching results (a detailed antipoaching report is available on request; Data compiled by A. Jorge, Conservation Manager) A total of 84 patrols (83 foot patrols and one aerial patrol) were conducted in the concession through the The foot patrols covered 7005km. In 2014 the NCP patrol strategy was a combination of concentrating the patrol effort in areas with highest elephant concentration, areas with high concentration of elephant carcass, informer information and at the same time trying to ensure that almost all grids across the concession are visited. 56

57 NCP followed up the cases of the four individuals caught in operations lead by NCP scouts with the Mecula police and the prosecutor. One individual, bushmeat poacher was condemned to 16 months of jail the rest of the individuals were released. Three meetings were held with Mbamba village chiefs of the villagers to ask for their help and to update them on the situation of elephant poaching in L5S. Three meetings were conducted with the Marrupa prosecutor, one meeting with the Mecula Magistrate and three meetings with the Marrupa magistrate and one meeting with the senior officer at the prosecutor offices in Lichinga. NCP scouts conducted their own operations and were also part of joint operations with Luwire (L7) scouts and NNR scouts during which additional arrests were made of suspected elephant poachers. 13 Mariri Scouts completed the two NNR / Conservation Outcomes training courses for approximately 45 days each. On site at Mariri, scouts were trained in SMART and use of Trimbles. Cancela scouts were all trained on data entry into the computer for the period of time they spend at Mariri HQ. One firearm training session of 20 days was held on the airstrip to improve their skills with rifles (pellet gun, shot gun and 5 x 57mm). Another session (01 day) was conducted with the.416 rifle with the two top shooters Matequenha Daimo and Muemede Waite. Four training sessions were held with Mariri scouts to increase their understanding of the Forestry and Wildlife law and labour law. These sessions will continue in 2015 and additional pieces of legislation to be included are the new conservation law and firearm regulation). These were basic sessions aimed to give the scouts a basic understanding of the law. Map of illegal activities ( red circles = elephants killed, red stars= mining sites; blue squares = snare lines) in L%S in

58 Summary of results achieved ( ) Item values Block areas km km 2 Number of scouts Control Posts 2 2 Area per scout km Scout per areaea 0.017/ km /km 2 total de patrulhas Total km worked per person Total distance patrolled 7,380 km 7005 Km Training courses 0 04 Total days on training Elephants killed a Suspected elephant poachers arrested Recovered ivory 7 28 Ammunition recovered Bushmeat hunters arrested Wire snares removed Rope snares removed 14 1 Guineafowl snares removed? 62 Miners arrested 6 > 218 Minerals confiscated 2 2 b Mining instruments confiscated < 20 >

59 ELEPHANT POACHING In 2014, 13 elephants were confirmed killed in L5-South. An additional two elephants were found dead but are believed to have died naturally. No elephants were killed in L5-South to the best of our knowledge between the end of July 2014 to end January 2015; 6 months). This is in strong contrast to previous 2 years where high poaching activity has been recorded in these months. Elephants were killed in neighbouring concessions during this period, elephants were regularly seen in the Mbamba village mashambas and concession during this period and intelligence suggests that poaching gangs have been in the area and in Nkuti and Mbamba Village. We remain on high alert. Fig. Elephants illegally killed per month in L5-South between 2012 and Jan Despite repeated requests we have not yet received the GPS coordinates for the elephant carcasses located in L5-South during the October 2014 aerial census. If we received these elephant carcass coordinates we could not only confirm whether we knew about these deaths or not and adjust our data but we would also be able to help validate the aging of these carcasses as we know the exact dates of most of the elephant carcasses in our block. We hope these data will be forthcoming once the aerial census results have been officially released. We have collated all available data on known elephant carcasses in L5-South (aerial census (not 2014), SRN, scouts) and walked to each point to confirm the GPS. If there was a carcass, the skull was removed to ensure this carcass was not double counted in future. We continued this activity in 2014 to monitor all elephant 59

60 carcasses. Since late 2009, a confirmed minimum of 98 elephants have been killed by poachers in L5-South (see map) over an area of only 580km 2. The data show that there has been a decrease in the number of elephants killed in L5-South since we took over management despite general increase in elephant poaching across Niassa Reserve. o Total number of elephants known to have been killed in L5-South between 2010 and 2014 o o o o L5-South together with L7, L8, L4 and L5-north in eastern Niassa Reserve along the Lugenda River remains an area of major concern both because of relatively high concentrations of elephants in the area along the Lugenda River and due the close proximity of two villages that are heavily involved in elephant poaching - Mbamba Village inside the concession and Ncuti Village just outside the concession. The large amount of pedestrian traffic to mining sites and fishing camps makes law enforcement complicated. In 2014 there were indications of a change in the dynamics of elephant poaching in L5S with more carcasses found close to the Mbamba village during the wet season. This may have been due to the high levels of elephant crop raiding in 2013/ Most of these elephants were shot with AK47. Towards the dry season bigger elephants were shot in the eastern section of the concession with bigger caliber rifles (.375 or.458). In 2014 elephant poachers were more sophisticated than previously and were carrying expensive ammunition, carrying anti-malarial medication, high quality maize meal, onions and dried fish contrasting to the past when they used to have basic food, based on the remains found on the poachers camps; There is high poaching pressure in L4 concession an open concession and neighbor to the west. Ncuti village, currently outside of L5-South in L4 have asked to be included in L5-south with a boundary extension of 10km to the west. Ncuti shares a school and clinic with Mbamba village. This would enable us to include this village, which is currently very involved in poaching, in all our conservation programs including antipoaching activities. 60

61 We could provide benefits with certain contingent responsibilities. We believe this would decrease poaching in the area. o o Our data suggest that elephant poaching is decreasing in in L5-South, and our anti-poaching and community efforts are having some effect. While we are making progress, the large number of elephants killed illegally in L5-South is still unacceptable. Ecotourism is impossible under these conditions. In 2014, gunshots were heard close by while we had visitors in camp on two occasions. This level of insecurity makes it unsafe to bring paying visitors into L5-South as we cannot guarantee their safety. As a results, ecotourism benefits cannot flow to the community. ALLUVIAL GOLD MINING In 2014 illegal mining activity increased substantially. Mining is currently the biggest threat to L5-South. Over 200 illegal miners were arrested by the Mariri antipoaching scouts during 2014 in L5S and in the vicinity. Despite all these arrests illegal miners still visiting the area looking for the minerals. People have been mining for gemstones and gold mostly in Nameta and Manyanga area, upstream Mbamba River, western section of L5S concession. People are coming from several points (Lichinga, Marrupa, Mecula, Mavago, Tanzania, etc.) to mine in L5S but there are also locals involved in the activity; The mining activities are destroying the river systems through digging and the use of mercury to wash the gold (see picture). Mercury is extremely damaging to human health and to river systems. The gold and gemstones extracted are often sold locally to traders who come to buy the products on site or are taken to Tanzania. Traders are mostly from Tanzania but there are also traders coming from other parts of Niassa (Marrupa, Mecula, etc.) that also buy gold in Mbamba. The wet season is the most favorable time for miners to illegal extract minerals in at the same time more difficult time for scouts to arrest and move large groups of miners. Police are unable to deal with the logistics of large number of people arrested due to the lack of space and conditions in the hail at Mecula district police. In addition, many people are moving into two of the villages we work with to find food, women and other resources. Any benefits we provide to the Village community do not reach these people. As they have no long term investment in the area and do not receive any benefits from conservation, there is no reason for them not to be involved in elephant poaching and bushmeat poaching and to work with us to secure the area. This has the potential to destroy the partnership between the Mbamba village and NCP as Mariri. Village leadership from Mbamba and Nkuti has asked us, Guarda Fronteira and NNR management to assist them with getting all the outsiders out of the villages. On the direction of the NNR management team the current policy is to take the names of all people found mining and confiscate all their mining equipment and destroy camps rather than arrest them. People engaged in illegal activities do not receive employment in the dry season. 61

62 BUSHMEAT SNARING No known lions have been snared in Niassa since In contrast in 2008 and 2009, 5-6 lion s skins were moving through Mbamba village each year. The increase in the lion population in the intensive study area reflects this and we would hope to see a major increase in the next 5 years as the population stabilizes with more resident adult male lions and higher cub survival. However, at least three leopards were snared in L5S concession and traded from Mbamba village between November 2013 and February This is targeted snaring not inadvertent snaring. The prices for the skins of these leopards varied from 1,000 Mt to 2,000 Mt. One leopard skin was purchased by Mecula trader. A fourth leopard skin was found with a trader at Marangira in July by the police during a roadblock looking for an equivalent of +- 22,000 USD stolen from miner traders in Mecula. The trader found with leopard skin has connections in Mbamba village. A total of 45 wire snares were removed and one bushmeat poacher was captured. There are some indications that the man killed by a buffalo in L5-South in 2014 was killed by a buffalo caught in a snare. We continue to highlight snaring in our environmental education programs. The influx of miners has increased the demand for bushmeat in L5-South and snares have also been found around mining camps. Our work on reducing snaring can be seen from the aerial census results which showed no sign of new snare lines in L5-South. Our policy is not only to remove the snares but to destroy the snare line and where possible sit in ambush and catch the poachers and arrest them. The Mbamba Association and leaders re-affirmed their declaration not to snare in the L5-South concession due to the risks this posed for future ecotourism investment and the ongoing support from Mariri. However ongoing antipoaching activities are still needed to remove snares as certain individuals continue to snare. More than 60 community meetings were held in 2014 more than one a week, sometimes with the whole community or with committee or various community groups (more than 1 a week). In 2013 we noted that there was some confusion about whether bushmeat snaring was allowed in individually owned fields after a bushmeat poacher was caught setting wire snares by the scouts on the boundary of his mashambas. While the law is clear (no snaring), NNR policy is not clear. This is still an ongoing issue without resolution from Reserve management team. However, leadership of Mbamba Village have reaffirmed their commitment to reduce all snaring. We reiterate our comments in 2013 that while snaring is illegal, the general opinion in communities is that bushmeat snaring is the right of the communities who live in Niassa. Extensive awareness and education is needed to impress upon government officials of the danger of uncontrolled bushmeat snaring not only in terms of conservation but because of damage it does to potential tourism opportunities and revenue generation. Given the lack of political commitment to reduce bushmeat snaring, the only solution currently is to work from the bottom up with communities agreeing that bushmeat snaring is not in their best interests. 62

63 BUSHMEAT CONSUMPTION Research on bushmeat consumption collected by our Conservation Manager, Agostinho Jorge in Mbamba, Macalange, Nkuti, Marrupa and Lichinga has shown that: An estimated 262 ungulates, one bird and three carnivores have been traded from Mbamba, Macalange, Marrupa and Nkuti villages between September 2013 and December The total bushmeat, 37,651 Kg, from the ungulates generated an estimated of 2,560,418 MT ($88,000; Table 1); this is likely to be an underestimate. Marrupa seems to have the biggest bushmeat trade compared to Mbamba, Macalange and Nkuti villages. Bushmeat appears to have reduced in Macalange because of mining activity in area Macotwa, Nkuti and Nkatila Rivers. Very little information about bushmeat snaring was collected in Macalange after February 2014 because most of men were involved the mining activity. The price for bushmeat ranges from 50 Mt per piece to 700 Mt per piece, however 50 Mt to 100 Mt are the common prices in the small villages while in Marrupa pieces of 700Mt are also available. Internal parts of the animals are sold as bushmeat as well however the head and the intestines are often eaten by the hunters; At least 25 individuals are still involved in bushmeat hunting in Mbamba village between November 2013 and July 2014 despite all our efforts. This is a village of more than 2000 people. At least 50% animals have been poached in Mbamba village. About 20% of the total animals were harvested by one individual in Mbamba. At least two known bushmeat hunters have been hired by Mariri and since they started working for Mariri their names have not been recorded by our informers which suggest that they have not been involved in bushmeat snaring while working for Mariri. Another bushmeat hunter is now part of the Mariri Livestock Breeding from Mbamba. Zebra is the most commonly hunted animal in Mbamba however waterbuck contributes more to the overall biomass and total revenue. Some of these waterbuck were hunted using domestic dogs; In Mbamba, at least one buffalo was reported to be exchanged with food during the rainy season; At least 10 individuals are involved in bushmeat hunting in Macalange village. The informer was not able to get the names of other 13 people involved in the bushmeat hunting. Zebra is the most hunted animal and that contributes more to the overall biomass and revenue. Waterbuck is the most hunted animal in Ncuti however Eland contributes more to the overall biomass compared to other species. Bushpig is the most available meat (27.4%) in Marrupa however buffalo contributes more to the overall biomass and revenues; The price of a kilogram of bushmeat in Lichinga is almost three times the price of bushmeat in NNR and it s the same price of meat of goat, 150MT. This meat is sold by traders. 63

64 Illegal miners and their equipment captured in L5-South. More than 200 miners caught in 2014 alone. Destruction of river beds by artisanal mining Our scouts were taught to use digital devices (Trimbles) to collect data and were training in SMART. Ivory recovered by Mariri Bravo scout team in joint patrol with L7 Luwire scouts Mariri scouts with ivory recovered in Ammunition recovered from poacher arrested by Mariri and Luwire scouts in joint patrol. 64

65 One of the 13 elephants shot for ivory in L5-South during This elephant was shot while guests were in the block. Zebra bushmeat picture taken by informer using smartphone. Well-equipped Mariri scouts on patrol. Scouts on practising with firearms 65

66 THREAT 2: RETALIATORY KILLING DUE TO ATTACKS ON PEOPLE OR LIVESTOCK OBJECTIVE 7: TO REDUCE HUMAN-CARNIVORE CONFLICT THROUGH LIVING FENCES, SAFE SHELTERS AND SAFE BEHAVIOURS Human-carnivore conflict results in retaliatory killing of lions and leopards. Human wildlife conflict in general leads to a loss of support for all conservation initiatives. Research in previous years has shown that lion and leopard attacks can be reduced through behavior changes, specifically sleeping inside a shelter during the wet season, never walking alone and improving goat corrals etc. A safe behavior poster was developed to promote awareness of behaviours that make people vulnerable and what actions people can take to reduce attacks themselves. We have developed a toolkit of methods used to protect livestock across Africa in collaboration with other lion projects. This is currently being translated into Portuguese. It has also been translated into French as distribution is free to conservation projects across Africa. We have the following programs to reduce human - carnivore conflict (and in fact all human-wildlife conflict). 1. NNR community guardian (MOMS) program: The Community wildlife guardians collect information on all HWC conflict events in 24 villages across NNR. In program is financially support, managed and mentored by NCP in partnership with the NNR warden, Cornelio Miguel and NNR management team. Monitoring of lion attacks has across Niassa Reserve has been ongoing since Data is collected through MOMS guardians as well as NNR reports, operator reports and village reports. 2. Elephant Beehive fences: The aim of this program is to reduce elephant crop raids in village surrounds using a community supported and maintained elephant beehive fence. 3. Community Conservation Fund: A Conservation fund is provided to the Mbamba village as part of our partnership in return for achieving targets in micro land use planning and reducing snaring (performance payment). In 2014 they used their fund to put up 20 km of polywire fencing to protect their fields. 4. Quick response team to react to problem animals in Mbamba Village: 4-5 permanent staff members from both our antipoaching team and our carnivore research team have the necessary experience, tools (firearm, traps, predator flashing lights) and skills (chasing elephants out of day time refuges, reflective tape, building effective corrals) to respond and deal with problem carnivores and elephants. A radio system has been donated to the community to allow them to contact NCP whenever they have a problem. In addition we work with the Reserve management team to respond to problem carnivores and provide our expertise and equipment to resolve these issues. This partnership needs to be strengthened as we are frequently onto contacted and data on attacks are not passed on. 5. Living fences/ Pao Piku fences: Bushpigs and warthogs are major crop pests in mashambas during the wet season both because they at the crops and they attract lions into the field where people are sleeping and working. Farmers use bamboo fences to prevent bushpigs from entering fields. These fences are effective but have to be rebuilt every year as they are destroyed by fire and termites. In 2009/ 2010, the Niassa Carnivore Project in collaboration with Mbamba village and Reserve Management started an experiment to plant a living fence or hedge. These pao piku fences are extensively used in areas outside Niassa but were not yet in use in Niassa. In 2013 the Mbamba experimental fences grew well and are well established, they are now being used for cuttings for new security fences in the village, as the eastern 66

67 boundary land use planning fence and are being planted around Mariri Environmental centre. However individuals are reluctant to plant them around their fields as it takes 2-3 years for them to be established and weeding is required despite their effectiveness. The community prefers reactive rather than proactive approaches. However, the fences are there and are slowly being used more and more. 6. Safe behavior and effective goat corrals 7. In 2014 we continued to reaffirm the importance of people taking responsibility for their safety through the Community Guardian program and environmental education programs The Safe behavior posters were redistributed throughout MOMS villages. Several activities at Lion fun days reiterated the importance of safe shelters and a comic book has been developed for wider distribution on safe behaviors. An incentive system for people who improve their goat corrals is being trialed in Mbamba Village. 8. Predator Deterrent lights: Use of flashing predator lights and reflective tape to reduce attacks on livestock particularly goats. We are currently collaborating with a number of other carnivore projects and Wildlife Conservation Network to develop a predator deterrent that uses light and sound to scare away predators when they come close to corrals. We are also testing a variety of predator lights (predator guard, Niteguard and Fox lights) and reflective tape on livestock corrals. 9. NNR Protocols for dealing with problem animals and reporting on attacks: NCP has repeatedly requested that NNR management team develop clear protocols to deal with problem animals (What is a problem animal? Who should be contacted? Who should get the meat? How can conflict be prevented etc., who can destroy the animal) and these need to be made clear to scouts, communities and operators. Once these protocols have been developed then these guidelines can be included in the Environmental education and outreach programs at Mariri Environmental Centre. There is still a widespread attitude that animals should be destroyed rather than livestock protected. This message has also been spread by District, National and Provincial Government officials who visited NNR. This is incompatible with longterm conservation goals. The protocol developed by NNR management team needs to detail clearly responsibilities and rights. People need to take responsibility for protecting their livestock effectively to prevent attacks before assistance with problem animals is given. In addition in 2015 we plan to work with NNR management team to ensure that all attacks reported are investigated and the data entered into a centrally available data base to add to the data NCP has already collected. LION, LEOPARD, SPOTTED HYAENA AND AFRICAN WILD DOG ATTACKS Monitoring of carnivore lion attacks has across Niassa Reserve has been ongoing since There were no reports of people killed by lions in Niassa Reserve in 2014; one person was injured. Data suggest that lion attacks are not increasing despite increasing human populations and increasing lion population and are stable at 1-2 attacks a year. The MOMS community wildlife guardians collected excellent information on human wildlife conflict. Human carnivore conflict is relatively rare in NNR compared to other area largely due to the low densities of lion, availability of natural prey and lack of cattle. In 2014, 3092 conflict incidents were recorded in 23 villages. The table below describes some of the selected cases. More data will be extracted in 2015 as data analysis is not yet complete. 67

68 87% of HWC were crop raiding events. In total, 37% of incidents were caused by baboons, 34% caused by bush pigs and only 15% of incidents were caused by elephants. Baboons were the most problematic animal. They not only showed the highest percentage of raiding of crop fields, but also were responsible for 97% of the incidents to steal food from food stores, 45% of attacks on chickens and on one occasion even killed a goat. Wild dogs were not recorded to cause any problems however 19 goats were killed by lion, leopard and hyaena in 2014 from these 25 villages. Given that more than 649 goats were count in 11 of the community guardian villages (they were not counted in the remaining 14 villages). This suggests that attacks on livestock are relatively low. In 2014, the MOMS guardians recorded 25 attacks on people from wildlife with 14 of these by crocodiles. The crocodile attacks are likely to be underestimated. Once all the data has been digitally captured it will be important to determine trends over time. Three people were killed; two by buffalo and one by a crocodile. Summary of selected HWC incidents recorded in 2014 by MOMS community wildlife guardians. Elephant Buffalo Baboon Bushpig Hippo Lion Leopard Hyaena Crocodile Total Farms Food stores Goat wounded Goat killed Chicken killed Wounded person Killed person Totals

69 Lion attacks on people over time showing the number of attacks and deaths. We are trialling an incentive based scheme in Mbamba where people who effectively protect their goats in a corral receive a once off cash bonus and assistance from our team. Their names are kept on a register and from then on we only purchase goats from these owners. This will also be trialled for small livestock breeders. In 2015 we intend to purchase almost all meat requirements (rabbits, chickens, goats, ducks) from small livestock breeders for the Environmental Centre. Unfortunately collection of data on HWC is not an easy task as often the community wildlife guardians and our team are confronted with angry farmers which sometimes threaten the guardian with violence. When detailed data is collected i.e. the measurement of damage done to crops this often creates the expectation that there will be compensation later. This is particularly common for elephant damage. As the year pass by and no compensation it becomes more difficult for some guardians to deal with the farmers in their villages. This can be reduced if the data collected is reported back to the communities and it is clear to the communities that these data belong to them. This is an essential part of the MOMS guardian approach. It can in future be used by communities to help them make decisions about which animals cause the most problems Human wildlife conflict - Mbamba Village For interest we have documented here the HWC events recorded in Mbamba Village in one year in detail. There were about 387 recorded incidents of HWC in Mbamba. About 74% of the cases were crop raiding, 20% destruction of mango trees, 5% killing chicken 5% and the rest of the cases together comprised 1%. This is clearly less than the real number of conflict cases happening in Mbamba. There are 9 main animals involved in conflicts as described below: Elephants are the most problematic animals with 260 cases of crop raiding and 78 cases of destruction of mango trees recorded. Elephant represented 87% of the HWC incidents; 69

70 Baboons are the second most problematic animal recorded, with 21 cases of crop raiding; Buffalo and bush pig were also involved in crop raiding with 3 and 1 cases recorded respectively; One person was seriously injured by buffalo. He has died about 2 days later; Another person was seriously injured by hippo when fishing but he recovered from the accident; About 21 chickens were killed. Eagles killed about 43% of the chicken, genets 33% and leopard 24%; One goat was killed by hyena. Cases of livestock attacked A leopard entered the village in April 2014 and attacks several chickens and killed a goat. Mariri responded by assisting goat owners with fixing their corrals, distributing flashing lights, and stationery two staff in the village to chase out the leopard. Mariri assisted by two armed scouts shot two bullets in the air to scare away the leopard. A leopard cage with a bait was installed to capture the leopard but the leopard did not return to the village. Through the year Mariri has been mobilizing people in Mbamba village to improve their corrals and hennery to provide better protection to their livestock. As results there is an ongoing process of improving corrals and henneries; IMPLEMENTING MICRO LANDUSE PLANNING TO REDUCE CONFLICT AND ILLEGAL POACHING A zonation plan governing resource use and pedestrian traffic is being developed in consultation with the Mbamba community in L5-South as part of our community based management of this area. This takes into account important pedestrian routes, sacred sites, agriculture, tobacco as well as the needs of the environmental centre, conservation and future ecotourism needs. The first step initiated in 2012 and completed in 2013 was to secure areas for wildlife and future ecotourism activities in the eastern section of the concession. There was a particular need to limit expansion of fields to the east of Mbamba River into prime wildlife areas. In 2012 a written declaration was signed by Mbamba leadership confirming support for the boundary road. In 2013, the GPS of this boundary was finalized through community meetings with elders and the Association and a boundary road was opened to demarcate the limit. In 2014, this landuse boundary was finalized by the District Mecula Administrator. This boundary is 500 m from the Mbamba River except for the confluence where tobacco, an important cash crop) is allowed to be planted on the west bank. The community conservation fund is in part a performance payment for honouring the landuse line and achievement of this conservation target. Ongoing monitoring of this boundary will be essential as community agreement does not mean that individual farmers will necessarily abide by this declaration if it is not in their interests. This is the first community supported land use plan in Niassa Reserve. No limits have currently been placed on expansion to the west, or north. The Lugenda River limits expansion to the south. Landuse planning in Niassa Reserve is essential and we believe that performance payments could play an important role. Central to land use planning must be that significant revenues and benefits flow to the community to offset the costs of not opening new fields in most productive areas i.e. along river banks with high wildlife densities. 70

71 OBJECTIVE 8: TO ENSURE SPORT HUNTING OF LIONS AND LEOPARDS IN NNR IS SUSTAINABLE AND MEETS CONSERVATION OBJECTIVES. In NNR sport hunting is allowed inside the protected area across nine hunting concessions covering 27,989 km 2 (66.32%) of the protected area estate (42, 200 km2). The sport hunting operators are expected to provide antipoaching and infrastructure support in addition to their sport hunting activities. The decision to allow sport hunting inside Niassa Reserve rests entirely with the Ministry of Tourism and the NNR management team. Sport hunting was identified as a potential threat to lion and leopard populations in 2003 by NCP due to the large number of young lions and leopard trophies being taken as trophies and the lack of consistent and science based quota setting procedures.. The Lion regulations were developed by NCP and implemented in 2006 by the Reserve management authority with consultation of the operators and updated by WCS/ MITUR in 2013, while the leopard regulations were implemented in 2010 by SRN and updated by WCS/ MITUR in For the past ten years (since 2004) we have independently monitored sport hunting effort and aged all carnivore trophies that are taken in NNR each year. It is the responsibility of NCP to provide annual independent monitoring on the off-take, age, and distribution of lions and leopards taken as sport hunted trophies for Mozambican authorities and Reserve management team, advise WCS/ MITUR on sustainable quotas and at regular intervals to monitor lion, leopard and hyaena population densities through Niassa Reserve to monitor the trend in these species. For the most part the Reserve management authority has followed the lion regulations and our advice over the past nine years despite some pressure from operators (particularly in 2009) and this lion program has been a success. Our target was to have less than 20% of the lion trophies underage which has been achieved. For leopards age restrictions are not practical and a strict quota based on the area hunted appears to be the most pragmatic solution. This does however require ongoing monitoring and activism. We do not believe that all sport hunters would abide by the age restrictions without strict auditing despite it making long term conservation sense. It is important to recognise that this work is funded by NCP by independent donors and is not paid for by either Wildlife Conservation Society, Niassa hunting operators, sport hunting clients, MITUR or the Government of Mozambique and we do not have any vested interest in sport hunting. Through the efforts of the NNR management authority, Ministry of Tourism, sport hunting operators and NCP, the sport hunting of lions and leopards in Niassa Reserve is well regulated and transparent. At this point, given the increasing threats to carnivores in Niassa Reserve and the substantial time, funding and effort being spent by Reserve Management and ourselves to reduce illegal off-take from poaching, bushmeat snaring and hunting, there have to be significant, measureable and direct conservation benefits from sport hunting of these animals in a protected area that outweigh the costs for this to continue to be acceptable. It is not enough for sport hunting simply to be sustainable; it has to provide a real measurable benefit. Sport hunting has to save more animals (through funding antipoaching and community engagement, employment) than it kills as trophies otherwise the mortality is simply additives and it cannot be said to be conservation. It is simply a business. Overview and Activities in 2014 The concession model was implemented in NNR by MITUR and the management authority (the SRN) to ensure sustainable management of an area as large as Niassa Reserve (42,200 km 2 ) and to generate revenue for conservation management of Niassa Reserve from concession fees. Niassa Reserve has therefore been divided into 17 management units including areas targeted for ecotourism and sport hunting. Since 2003, the area under sport hunting leases has more than doubled increasing from 4 concessions covering 12, 936 km 2 in 2003 to nine concessions covering 27, 986 km 2 in 2013, however two of the hunting 71

72 blocks covering 6365 km 2 were not operational in 2014 (L9, R1) Only one ecotourism camp is currently operational and this camp is within a block currently designated for sport hunting but with a section dedicated for ecotourism. All operators of concessions in Niassa Reserve work under the central Reserve management authority (MITUR/ WCS), pay annual concession fees and are expected to pay for and manage active antipoaching teams and provide community benefits for neighbouring communities in addition to running their businesses. Despite the increase in the area being hunted over the past 11 years,, the number of lions taken as trophies has remained similar with an average of 7 lions (range 4-10) killed by sport hunters in Niassa Reserve each year (see graph below). However, as the number of operators has increased there has been a decline in the number of lions taken as trophies per area hunted. The number of lions killed each year in NNR and the number killed per 1000km2 that is actively hunted. The number of lions taken as trophies across Niassa Reserve in any given year is very low given the large area managed as sport hunting concessions, representing 1 lion per 5263km2 in This is much lower than the rule of thumb of 1 lion / 1000km2 recommended. In addition the number of lions killed per 1000 km 2 hunted by sport hunters has decreased overall in the past ten years) from 0.85 lions / 1000km 2 to only 0.19 lions / 1000km 2. At first observation this would suggest that the decreasing off-take is an indicator that lion population is decreasing or that the lion age regulations have made lion hunting unviable. However, over the same period, call up surveys conducted in exactly the same way in 2005, 2008, and 2012 indicated that the lion population has increased (see 2012 Annual report). The lion population will be surveyed again using the same technique in Closer examination of the data show that the lower off-take is not due to more unsuccessful hunts (there are no lions out there) but to less of the quota being sold and less hunts being achieved at all. This has more to do with marketing and the economic downturn than a decreasing lion population. See graph below. At the time, hunt success has actually increased over time from 36% in 2006 and 67% in 72

73 2014 even though the 6 year age regulations are in place. This may be due to more 6 year old lions being available or more confidence in aging by professional hunters. Fig. Over time the number of lion hunts conducted as a percentage of the quota has declined however the success of these hunts has increased. The percentage of lions taken as trophies that are over 6 years of age has increased from only 25% in 2004 to 100% in 2014 (see graph below). It is interesting that simply by monitoring the trophies (without regulations) the age of the trophies increased (see difference between 2004 and 2005). This is a wellknown phenomenon of human behavior. The regulations then refined this further but constant monitoring is needed as, as soon as there was a perceived lack of commitment to the regulations more underage lions were taken. 73

74 Fig. The change in off-take and age of lion trophies over time as monitoring and then regulations were put in place In 2014, only four lions were taken from four concessions and all were over 6 years old (L7, L8, R3, L3) and there were two unsuccessful hunts (all lions seen were too young). There is no change in lion quotas according to the lion regulations. In 2014, 21 leopards were taken across all 7 operational concessions. Of these 16 were 4 years or younger and only 4 (20%) showed significant wear on their teeth. 1 leopard was wounded and not recovered. In 2013 we recommended that leopard quotas should be assigned as 1 leopard / 1000km2 of the hunting block due to the difficulties in aging, continued young age of the leopards taken as trophies, and high levels of illegal off-take in Niassa that will be additive to the sport hunting quota. 4 For example, 44 leopards were recorded dead in only 24 villages by the MOMS wildlife community guardians in 2014 and at three possibly 4 skins moved through Mbamba Village last year. There is evidence to show that the current combined off-take of leopards in Niassa Reserve illegal plus legal- is not sustainable. 74

75 Fi Fig. Distribution of lions killed as trophies between 1996 and 2014 showing clearly that lions are predominantly hunted along the Ruvuma and Lugenda Rivers with few lions taken in watershed areas. Distribution of leopards taken as trophies between 2007 and 2014 in Niassa National Reserve 75

76 Given the low number of lions taken as trophies, the large area over which they are hunted and the increased age of the lions, sport hunting of lions is unlikely to be having any negative effects on the NNR lion population at present. However it is clear from the data that implementation of an age based system requires continual monitoring and enforcement and cannot be self-policed by the sport hunters themselves. The number of young animals taken as trophies and irregularities increase as soon as there is a perceived lack of enforcement. The same is not true of leopards. The high levels of illegal off-take particularly for the skin trade and in retaliation for killing goats is additive to the leopard off-take. In addition the continued high percentage of sport hunted leopards that are under the age of four and the possible consequences of destabilized territories and infanticide are of concern. For all concession operators, the need for effective antipoaching has to be enforced. Snaring is the main threat to lions, leopards and other carnivores in Niassa Reserve and this can only be reduced through community engagement and antipoaching otherwise sport hunting off-take is simply additive to illegal offtake. While funds are being generated from sport hunting and ecotourism for conservation management by the Reserve management authority through the concession fees and the concession provide employment, as yet the direct link between the revenue generated from killing an animal and benefits to communities is poor to non-existent. This means that sport hunting is not specifically increasing the value of the lions or leopards to a community which might increase tolerance or reduce poaching. Given that bushmeat snaring and low food security are major threats to Niassa s wildlife, the lack of effective meat distribution to local communities is unacceptable. This could be a major benefit from sport hunting if it were managed effectively, given the chronic food insecurity and lack of livestock in Niassa Reserve and could be used as an incentive to reduce bushmeat snaring. THREAT 4: DISEASES SPREAD FROM DOMESTIC DOGS OBJECTIVE 9: REDUCE DISEASE RISK TO CARNIVORES IN NNR The presence of a growing and unvaccinated population of domestic dogs inside villages in NNR is of concern. Domestic dogs are known to be the reservoirs of disease and the spread of canine distemper and rabies to carnivores in NNR poses a potential risk to lions and African wild dogs in particular. The potential threat these dogs raise for wildlife populations particularly carnivores has been highlighted in every NCP annual report as well as in special reports provided in 2007 and (Begg et al. 2007). In addition the unvaccinated dogs pose a significant human health due to the dangers of a rabies outbreak. Rabies is fatal to people who are bitten unless they can receive treatment in 48 hours, which is difficult in NNR. The domestic dogs are also increasingly being used for hunting as snaring become more difficult due to antipoaching patrols. For health and conservation reasons it is essential that a plan for the future management of domestic dogs in Niassa Reserve is completed. Despite repeated meetings, funding and requests for a policy on domestic dogs there has, to date, been no action from the NNR management team and the domestic dog population continues to increase ACTIVITIES & OUTPUTS In 2014 the NNR Community wildlife guardians (managed by NCP) collected data on domestic dog numbers in their villages where possible. These data were compared with 2011 data on domestic dog numbers and show a large increase in dog numbers in most villages. The average number of dogs owned by a single owner was 4.2 with a range of 1 to 26 dogs. Given the number of dogs owned by single owners with several 76

77 people having more than 10 dogs it is clear that these dogs are widely for bushmeat hunting. Particular attention should be paid to Negomano, Ninga, Nhavara, Mbamba, and Lishengwe. Fig. Comparison in numbers of domestic dogs in key villages between 2013 and 2014 Inside L5-South, the number of dogs in Mbamba Village has increased exponentially since 2008, and there are currently 43 dogs in the village. These dogs are used for protecting people, protecting fields against baboons and for bushmeat hunting. They pose a significant health risk to Mbamba community and wildlife as no dogs are vaccinated and there are high levels of contact between wild carnivores and dogs in this area. Rabies outbreaks are common in the region. Through community meetings it has been agreed by the leaders of Mbamba village the dog populations needs to be controlled in Mbamba. We do not think there would be any objection to a focused campaign to vaccinate, sterilize and treat domestic dogs in Niassa Reserve linked to a management agreement saying that any dog seen outside village surrounds can be confiscated by NNR management. In 2013, the Niassa Carnivore Project in partnership with the NNR management team and Administrator of Niassa Reserve printed and updated the rabies poster to reduce the risk of the spread of rabies to people from domestic dogs in Niassa Reserve. In 2014, these posters were distributed to 25 villages by the MOMS community wildlife guardians. There was no progress on conducting a vaccination campaign for all domestic cats and dogs in NNR, despite NCP providing $2000 for this to NNR management team and Department of Agriculture in The funds appear to have disappeared. We have reinitiated discussions about the domestic dog issue with the WCS/ MITUR team and will be developing a simple proposal for action with Carlos Lopes Perreira / WCS. 77

78 OBJECTIVE 10: TO DEVELOP A COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN NNR THAT INCREASES TOLERANCE AND REDUCES CONFLICT AND PROVIDES NIASSA RESIDENTS WITH LOCALLY RELEVANT CONSERVATION MATERIAL Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre (S ; E ) In 2012, a long term dream started to become a reality with the building of an Environmental and Skills Training Centre in Niassa Reserve. Architectural plans were developed by Mozambican Architect, Romina Gaona. Funding was sourced for the first of three years of building (WCN donor and Houston Zoo). The plans were presented to Executive Director of SRN, MITUR (Dr Pariela, Dr Harun) Director of Education, Administrator of Niassa Reserve, and Administrators of Mecula and Mavago districts for comments. In May before building began the traditional leaders and elders from Mbamba village were invited to view the site, see the plans and comment. Several visits by and consultation with the Director of Education, Reserve management and Mbamba leadership have occurred throughout the process. The aim is to build a relationship between Niassa children and adults and wildlife, provide information on ways to protect themselves from animals and increase food security, foster conservation values, provide skills training for adults to enable them to seek alternative non extractive livelihoods and a place for community training workshops. Through building, a team of local men from Mbamba Village are gaining construction skills (masonry, carpentry, plumbing, thatching, brick making) as the first skills training course held by the Environmental Centre, This construction team has also transferred their skills to building a Mosque in Mbamba village with their community conservation fund and outside interest has been expressed in using the team for other building projects. In future, if the area stabilises we will also use them for building an ecotourism camp Activities In November 2014 we hired an Education Manager (Andrew Mkanage) to lead the further development of our conservation education programs including the Mariri Environmental Centre, lion fun days, lion scholarship, outreach and development of educational materials, Andrew is a Mozambican that was schooled in Malawi, taught in Mecula, started the first Wildlife Club in Niassa Reserve in Mecula and recently has completed a four year degree in English in Nampula. We met Andrew when he was teaching in Mecula and he asked us to be the patrons of the wildlife clubs. We are very excited to have him join our team. 78

79 Construction of the Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre to be based in L5-South was started in 2012 and was largely completed in December 2014, on target. The Environmental Centre will open in July Some landscaping and detail work will continue in The Environmental Centre will form the centre of environmental education activities and skills training course and community workshops in Niassa Reserve. This is also the site of NCP Headquarters. In total more than 50 local men have received training in construction. We have trained three roofing / thatching masters ( Mistre ), 2 eco block masters, 6 masonry masters, 2 plumbers and 2 carpenters. The aim has been to develop local construction skills while building the centre to provide alternative livelihoods for local men, particularly those in the poaching age group. In total over three dry seasons ( ) we have built 5 cottages to sleep 18 people, a refectory to feed 45 people with kitchen, showers, toilets, museum / library, water tower / lookout; store room, and office block with secure store room. We have a fully functional workshop and carpentry space, an airstrip and a plane hangar. Two additional guest chalets for 4 people were also built and will be complete by July Staff accommodation consists of three manager houses (with shower and toilet facilities, living area and bedroom), and 12 staff rooms in a staff camp. In 2015 we will complete the staff living area, showers and toilets as well as build an extra office for the antipoaching team. In 2014, Mariri hosted the community guardian workshop (35 people) as well as numerous visitors including Reserve donors, journalists, Director of Education and teachers, Provincial Education departments, scholarship children, Mbamba Village teachers, community meetings, Mecula Administrator, police and prosecutor. We believe these visits to see wildlife, radio collared lions, hippo and our community programs have enormous potential to build a positive conservation culture in Niassa Reserve amongst its residents and A second simple, grass and tent camp is used by Directors (Colleen and Keith Begg) and lion research team at Nakatopi. This camp consists of simple small tents with thatched office area, sand floors (no cement). There are no plans to upgrade this bush camp. 79

80 2014 Mariri Environmental Centre Construction team lead by Architect Romina Gaona, Temba, Agostinho Jorge and Keith Begg. Refectory for community workshops, slideshows and meals. 5 Cottages that can sleep 19 people 80

81 Office and reception Library and museum Door of the cottages Basin and cupboard and two visitor toilets 81

82 Reception and office Elephant carving on outside bench Staff single quarters Manager s House EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND OUTREACH Alongside construction of the Environmental Centre we continue to develop locally relevant educational materials (threats, safe behaviors, Conservation law) The storybook was edited for a second edition and we hope to reprint a further 1000 copies in the next few months as the first editions have all been distributed. In 2014 we distributed more than 400 ABC capulanas to dance groups, school groups, adult education groups and teachers. It is highly sort after and distribution will continue. A comic book on the importance of protected areas and conserving lions in Niassa Reserve was produced by the Houston Zoo in partnership with NLP in 2014 and will be printed and distributed through the Mariri Environmental Centre in Niassa Wildlife Bingo was developed by Houston Zoo and Angie Pyle A T-Shirt was designed for all children who come to the Environmental Centre in 2015 The Spirit Creatures film produced by Colleen and Keith Begg on the spiritual connection people have to wildlife in Niassa Reserve was completed and won two International awards. A Portuguese version has been developed and narrated and will be freely available in An elephant memorial was built from the 70 skulls of elephants killed by poachers in L5-South since More skulls are added as elephant are killed in this area. It is centred around a Marula tree which is an 82

83 important tree culturally and for elephants. The aim is to provide a visual memorial to elephants that show the scale of the elephant poaching problem to guide educational conservation activities. This memorial has been very effective at illustrating the scale of the problem and already forms the focus of visits to Mariri Environmental Centre. Sample pages from the comic book Living with lions in Niassa National Reserve. 83

84 Spirit Creatures a film by Keith and Colleen Begg about the people of Niassa National Reserve and their connection to wildlife was released in 2014 Local fisherman with his wife and child looking at the Cyao ethnobotany book prepared by Mariri. The woman is wearing an ABC capulana. Visiting WCS donors come to see the elephant memorial 84

85 THE 6TH ANNUAL LION CONSERVATION FUN DAYS The lion fun days are held in Mbamba Village with two mornings of fun art and game activities with a conservation theme. They involve Mbamba teachers and adults as well as 350 Mbamba children. These were started in 2009 by the Niassa Carnivore Project and have become a tradition. The days consist of theatre, art, races that include both children and adults. These games are brought to Mbamba village to provide a benefit from animals in the area, develop community spirit and provide conservation messages. They help to bind the community together and provide a benefit from conservation. The Mbamba teachers and school play an active role in these days and the days are led by the NCP staff with assistance from Paula Ferro, teachers, Houston Zoo and Hogle Zoo, USA. In 2014, the conservation fun days were attended by journalists, the Mecula Administrator, Reserve warden and various other District officials as well as Village Association and Chiefs. Activities included painting of cloth murals with conservation messages, lion conservation song and dance, relay races, 10km race for men and women, pin the tail on the lion, and the making of ornaments from plastic bottle trash. Two days of painting and fun with a conservation message 85

86 Nsegue dance group dancing for lions, and other wildlife - down with poaching. Painting murals Beauty from rubbish plastic flowers 86

87 Story 1: Mural painted by children and presented by staff Rhino have already gone extinct, what will visitors come to Niassa to see if elephants and lions are also gone. Story 2: If a man sets a snare and a lion is caught and injured. The man goes to check his snare and the lion injures him in turn. Whose fault is it? 87

88 Story 3: When Mosquito nets are used for fishing people go hungry and get malaria. LION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM This program is managed by Andrew Mkanage Education Manager The Lion Scholarship Program aims to provide secondary school scholarships to children living inside Niassa National Reserve. The scholarship comes through the Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) and the Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre based in concession L5-South. The scholarship program has two objectives: a) to promote education by providing an opportunity for children in remote villages with only a primary school to go to secondary school so that they have an increased opportunity to get a job rather than earning a living through fishing and poaching and b) to provide a strong benefit to communities from wildlife conservation. This scholarship comes to children from the wildlife in Niassa National Reserve. The need for secondary school education was identified as a critical need by fishermen and farmers in Mbamba Village (survey conducted in 2009 by NCP). This program also directly involves the Lion scholars in Niassa Reserve conservation through a mentorship program and visits to the Mariri Environmental and Skills training Centre with game drives and links to research and community conservation programs. This program has the full support of the Mecula Director of Education and currently forms part of the benefits provided to Mbamba Village as partners in Concession L5-South Mariri. In the first phase of this program ( ), it has been children from Mbamba village who finish their education in Grade Seven (7) who have benefited from the lion scholarships to the Mecula Secondary School. This was 88

89 initiated in 2009 as no children from Mbamba Village were attending secondary school. In we would like to extend the program to other children from different schools within the Mecula district linked to the Mariri Environmental Education and Skills Training Program in partnership with the Niassa Reserve Management Authority. The candidate (child) must pass with good marks (13 above) in grade seven; The candidate (child) should write a short (less than one page) essay on why he/she needs a scholarship and what his/her future dreams (who does he/she want to become? E.g.: nurse, teacher, manager, etc.); Family conditions (the candidate can have an access of the scholarship if his/her parents are not able to pay for secondary school education; The candidate should have a record of good behaviour at school; The candidate s parents/guardians should show their interest in their children s career and give permission for their child to go to secondary school. The scholarship includes school materials, school fees, and costs for boarding school, school uniform, school shoes, casual shoes and casual clothes. It also provides pocket money, travelling allowance for holidays so that the children can return to their home village. An important part of the program is the link to conservation, wildlife and research through visits to the Mariri Environmental Centre. On returning to Mbamba Village at the end of the school year in 2014, the children immediately asked if they could come into the field in their holidays to learn more about conservation. In 2014 nine children (3 in Grade 9, 6 in Grade 8) received secondary school scholarships. Three students did not pass Grade 8 and will not receive scholarships in Their parents are paying for them to repeat the year, should they pass this year then they will then receive further support for additional studying. In December 2014, an additional 7 children received scholarships for Grade 8 in There are therefore currently 13 children on lion scholarships. For 2015, we have also initiated a similar secondary school scholarship for children of our permanent staff on their request. Three children of our staff are currently receiving additional support for their children to attend secondary school in All children came to Mariri Environmental Centre during their school holidays to spend the day with our conservation team. They had a guided walk, game drive, ecological games and many talks on conservation, antipoaching and ecology. We hope that in years to come some of these children will find work on our conservation programs and that we begin to develop a conservation culture in Niassa Reserve and strong incentives for children to finish school 89

90 2014 Lion scholars in their school uniforms Lion scholars learn about lion tracks and wildlife during their visit to Mariri Environmental Centre. OBJECTIVE 11: DEVELOP COMMUNITY BASED MODEL OF CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT IN L5- SOUTH THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WIITH MBAMBA VILLAGE COMMUNITY In 2012 we were awarded the management lease for concession. L5-South (580km 2 ; 58,000 hectares) by the Ministry of Tourism. This is the smallest concession in Niassa Reserve and has been the intensive study area and base of the Niassa Carnivore Project since This concession, is being managed by us (The Ratel Trust) in partnership with the Mbamba Village community (2000 people) who live inside the concession as a Mozambican company Mariri Investimentos (name chosen by the community). The aim is to develop L5-South as the first community based concession inside Niassa Reserve to provide a model of community engagement that works. Our goal is to successfully manage and secure this wildlife area in Niassa Reserve in partnership with the local community with decreased poaching (bushmeat snaring and ivory poaching), increased wildlife populations, reduced human-wildlife conflict, increased food security and real benefits from conservation flowing to the Mbamba community and people across Niassa (revenue, employment, conservation assistance). The concession also provides security of land tenure for the Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre and Headquarters of NCP. The Environmental Centre will be a critical part of scaling up our activities and will form the hub for transferring knowledge from NCP to other Niassa communities (see long term goals). 90

91 Map of Niassa Reserve, showing the position of concession L5-South, the smallest concession in NNR Lipumbulu Mtn and the eastern Lugenda River inside concession L5-South NCP considers sustainable social, economic and community development in Mbamba Village and other NNR villages a priority and believe this should be an integral part of a conservation strategy. NCP and L5-South is the first and only concession in NNR that is at present partnering with local communities in conservation management. Our approach is to concentrate employment and benefits into the Mbamba community that live inside the concession unless these skills are unavailable as it is these people who are helping to manage this area and living with L5-South wildlife. The Mbamba Village community is involved in all aspects of conservation and social development of L5-South. Substantial investment into the Mbamba community was made in It is important that we monitor the scale of community and individual benefits accrued by Mbamba village so that it can be determined what the costs will be to scale up these types of partnerships. There is no doubt that for communities to accept conservation and wildlife as a viable land use and to actively engage in conservation, substantial revenue and benefits need to flow to communities and individuals otherwise agriculture, development and extractive use will always be a more attractive alternative. People cannot be kept in abject poverty to suit conservation goals. Not only is this unethical but it is also unsustainable as Niassa communities aspire to better lives, better food security and all the trappings of success similar to everyone. The only alternative is to link conservation with conservation friendly development with excellent land use planning through performance payments and opportunity and revenue sharing. The revenues, time, meetings and effort provided to the Mbamba community are therefore logged. At this point the revenues are all generated through philanthropy in the absence of sport hunting or ecotourism in this area. However if at all possible we plan to develop community based ecotourism in the area (2017 onwards) to provide a sustainable revenue stream to offset some of these conservation costs. However it is apparent that some level of philanthropy will always be needed as revenues are likely to be low. Employment provides the best and most obvious benefit from conservation but it is not the only benefit that can flow from wildlife. We also provide skills training, educational opportunities and community programs to increase food security. Skills development is a critical component of our conservation programs and can be as simple as providing a person with the skills to improve the productivity of their own fields (conservation agriculture program) or breed livestock successfully (livestock breeding program, through to providing technical construction skills, training as a scout, researcher or driver. 91

92 2014 activities and outputs Regular meetings are held in Mbamba, Nkuti and Macalange villages with more than 60 meetings held in An Annual General Meeting is held in May/ June each year where NCP reports back on our activities and benefits provided (our responsibilities) and Mbamba Village also reports back on their activities. A discussion is also help about challenges and village community discuss what would like to spend the community conservation fund on Annual General Meeting with the Mbamba Community INDIVIDUAL BENEFITS More than Mt (US$180,000) was paid directly to local people living inside Niassa Reserve in three villages in salaries, stipends, goods and assistance (see table) In 2014, more than 600 people benefited directly from NCP conservation, education, skill training and employment programs excluding the children in the Mbamba School who take part in the Lion fun days. 117 people from local communities were employed as permanent or seasonal staff. The total amount paid directly to local staff (permanent and seasonal) from Mbamba village in salaries in 2014 was Mt (US$ ). Over 100 women from Mbamba and Macalange received payment for grass for thatching, 10 people collected bamboo and 14 assisted with road building. In total Mt ($25 879) was paid to various Mbamba residents for baskets, grass, maize, goats, beans and rabbits. 92

93 Numerous benefits were provided to the Mbamba school including school materials requested by the teachers to the value of Mt ($600), nine full secondary school scholarships, $1143) with an additional 6 scholarships awarded in 2015; the Mbamba lion fun days for more than 350 children and adults. Many visitors from the Mbamba community and district government were hosted at Mariri Environmental Centre. On the request of Mbamba Village and the District Administrator, NCP tried to help Mbamba village to repair their two water pumps by covering the cost of acquiring of the parts needed for the repair as recommended by a technician appointed by District Government Department of Infrastructures. In total Mariri spent Mt23.000, 00 (US$766) to buy spare parts in Lichinga and 4.000, 00mt to pay the technician. Unfortunately the Government appointed technician was unable to repair the water pumps. We also provide ongoing transport to the community to more than 210 people including 6 emergency trips to the district clinic. Table 1. Community benefits allocated to the communities in 2014 Item Individuals benefited Amount invested (USD) Bonus $6, Employment in Conservation services (grass, bamboo, roads, etc.) >120 $25, Participation in community food security programs (Conserv, agricult; livestock breeding, beehive fence) 70 Camp supplies (maize meal, chicken, beans, rabbits) 6 $14, Salary permanent staff 37 $54, Secondary school scholarships - conservation 9 $1, Skills training in construction seasonal employment and training > 80 $70, Stipends and training for 24 community Guardians from 24 villages 24 $7, Materials for School- list by teachers (books, stationery, furniture) 200 $ Lifts of sick people from Mbamba to Mecula hospital on emergencies 5 - Dead people transported to Mbamba for funerals 1 Assistance to the district clinic to transport one sick person 1 $29.23 Donation of a bicycle to Mbamba clinic 2 $ Access to a better market for tobacco through transport of 690 rolls of tobacco to Montepuez town 3 $4, Lift for > 200 Mbamba residents to and from Mecula > Transport for Mbamba teachers (Mbamba-Mecula-Mbamba) - Assistance to improve corrals after the leopard attack 7 - Spares for the broken Mbamba water pumps $ Assistance to the District Education Department to transport books to Mbamba school

94 Assistance to the Mbamba administration to host the visit of the Niassa Province (grass, accommodation for people, food) Vaccination against tetanus in Mariri collaboration with the District Health Department Donation of Lona to cover the roof of Nkuti school (response of request of the chief Namaluma) Assistance to the District Youth Association to organize a meeting on HIV, Unemployment and health - $1, > 60 - $33.40 Purchase of a goat to assist the Mecula District Police to celebrate their day $67.00 TOTAL > 700* $188,611 *Hard to count exactly how many people are receiving benefits as sometimes a person is involved in more than one activity. COMMUNITY BENEFITS Each year the Niassa Carnivore Project provides a community conservation fund for Mbamba Village, as part of our partnership. This is basically a performance payment for achieving agreed conservation goals. At present these goals are honouring the eastern limit for agriculture and thereby creating a place for wildlife and a place for people, reducing human wildlife conflict by improving goat corrals, reducing the illegal killing of animals (elephant poaching and bushmeat poaching), allowing the arrest of village members that are found engaged in poaching, mining and snaring without a backlash from the community. We are currently working out additional performance bonuses that will be discussed with presented to the community this year. This may include bonuses for every goat corral improved, every month an elephant not killed, lion cubs born and fines for elephants killed, snares found, snared carnivores. These funds can be used by the community for whatever they wish as long as it is not against conservation goals of the area. In 2012 and 2013 the funds were used to build the Mbamba Mosque. 94

95 In 2014 NCP provided Mt200, ; $6500) to Mbamba village for the Community Conservation Fund. These funds are managed by the Mbamba Community through their elected Committee (Associação Utendele ni Mazengo). The Mbamba village decided to use these funds to put up a polywire electric fence to protect their fields against elephant crop raiding. With technical support and training, from NCP the Mbamba committee developed a budget for the fence to surround the entire village. The 2014 funds were sufficient to build 10km on fence and it was suggested by the Committee that the rest of the fence would be erected in 2015 using 2015 conservation fund. Included in the budget were payments for local guards, and fence maintenance. All assistance has be asked for in writing. The Mbamba Committee sent a letter to NCP asking for assistance to buy the materials and transport them to Mbamba village. Transport costs were donated by NCP while labour to erect the fence was donated by the Mbamba community. A second letter was sent to Niassa Reserve warden asking for assistance from a technician to build the fence. The fence was constructed in December 2014 and is managed entirely by the Mbamba village unless assistance is requested in writing from NCP. The fence will eventually surround the entire village with all existing public infrastructure and the farms. Fig - Map of Mbamba electric fence The Mbamba electric fence currently consists of two strands of polywire (positive and negative), one solar panel, one energizer, one battery. It produced about 10,000V of electric current close to the energizer and about 8,000V at 6Km away from the energizer. To date it is performing well. The polywire approach was suggested to Mbamba by Mariri/ NCP to reduce the temptation for people to steal the wire for snares as was the case with the previous electric fence put up by SRN/ Mbatamila. In addition this fence is completely community owned and managed by the Mbamba village and is not managed by NCP, Mariri or Niassa Reserve Management. Any person who steals the wire will be stealing 95

96 from their own village. Everyday management of the fence is being done by the supervisor and the controllers that are paid by the Mbamba Committee based on the budget. Fig Mbamba Electric fence DEVELOPMENT OF MBAMBA ASSOCIATION NCP has been working with the Mbamba village to revitalize and legalize their community association to represent stakeholders in their community. This will make decision making more efficient, will allow them to open a bank account so that they can receive and manage revenues from the 20% as well as from benefit sharing with NCP as Mariri Investimentos as partners in L5-South. It will also make it possible for NCP to complete our intention to legally partner with the Mbamba community to manage L5-South. With this intention, the Mbamba association was revitalized in December 2013 and was named Comité de Gestão Utendeli ni Mazengo. The association consists of 12 members. This is the only concession in Niassa Reserve where the communities are currently partners in revenue sharing and management of the concession. Activities in 2014 In 2014 NCP continued to assist the Mbamba community to legalize their association, covering costs, give guidance and contact appropriated institutions. About 11 meetings were held to discuss the legalization issue, organizing trips, explain the process and raise the awareness about the process; 3 more members of the association got their Identifications documents and one member got cedula pessoal and certidão de narrativa complete 96

97 3 trips were made from Mbamba to Mecula with all members to apply for criminal records; One trip was made to Lichinga with 11 members of the association; The association has made the name reservation as Associação Udendeli ni Mazengo. The process was submitted to the Governor s office and we are currently waiting for a response. Once this has been received, it will be sent to be published in National press as required and bank account will be opened. In 2015, we will train the Association members in leadership, communication, minute taking and financial management to increase their effectiveness. An office for the Association will be built in Mbamba Village. In 2014 we have seen a growth in the responsibility of the Mbamba Association, and increase in their involvement in negotiations and decision making of sensitive issues with Mariri and good relationship with the community leaders in Mbamba. Particularly important was the leadership role taken by the committee to manage the Community Conservation Fund in 2014 and electric fence. More than 20 meetings were held with the whole community and individually with elders to ensure that the community understood what the association was, why it was needed and what it would do. The process will continue in 2015 as it is considered a priority for the conservation management of L5- South in partnership with the Mbamba community. We will provide skills training for Association members to help them learn to take minutes, monitor funds, manage meetings etc. This remains the only concession in Niassa Reserve that is currently partnering with their local communities to manage the area. New member of the Mbamba Association signing the minutes Some of the Mbamba Association members with Mbumba Marufo

98 Regular meetings were held between Mariri/ NCP and Mbamba Village Committee to discuss matters of common interest, conservation and management. OBJECTIVE 12: MENTOR, GUIDE AND TRAIN MOZAMBICAN CONSERVATIONISTS AND STAFF AND ENCOURAGE STAFF PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT Skills development is a critical component of our conservation strategy. All our staff are from local communities and on the job training and mentorship is ongoing. We believe that all our staff need to understand the conservation vision of the project and what we are working towards not simply see this as a job. In 2014, four of the Ewaso Lions team visited us in NNR reciprocating a visit some of our team made to Samburu, Kenya in The aim of these exchange visits is to develop an opportunity for a peer group exchange in ideas, difficulties and successes for our local staff who are working in conservation and to increase our local staff s experience of conservation. All speak Swahili. By visiting Ewaso Lions last year our team was able to get firsthand experience in ecotourism and environmental education in action, lion human conflict mitigation, and visit Sambura National park where they had close encounters with habituated elephants, lions and leopards as well as other animals and for the first time they could see and experience what ecotourism was all about.. They then shared their experiences and thoughts with their communities. The second visit in 2014 was a great success for both teams. The Samburu warriors who are part of a Warrior watch program from Ewaso lions visited all our community programs, went out with our antipoaching team, spoke to the Mbamba community and answered questions on human-lion conflict, living with wildlife, value of ecotourism and conservation. In addition they presented an overview of their program at the Environmental Centre to our staff, construction crew, MOMS community wildlife guardians and elders and answered many questions from the community leaders. The sharing of ideas and experiences was invaluable. 98

99 Visiting the small livestock breeding groups Community village meeting where ideas were exchanged on human lion conflict, conservation and ecotourism with Mbamba elders. The Ewaso team from Kenya arrive at our camp. This was the first time they had been in a dugout canoe Interacting with our lion and camp team and sharing ideas and experiences Additional skills training provided in 2014: Two NCP staff members rom Mecula Village completed their driver s licenses (Manuel and Nendge) with three additional staff members currently getting their drivers licenses in Nampula (Andrew, Samuel and Horacio). Two of the NCP Management staff attended a SMART training course in South Africa (Operations Director and Conservation Manager). One permanent staff member completed 3 month training in Human resources in LIchinga. Community manager attended a workshop on conservation agriculture organized by CARE International. Three permanent staff completed a 10 day on site game guiding course conducted by Karel de la Cruz. They were trained in animal identification, safety, taking a game drive and walk, guest services and basic 99

100 ecological principles. The course ended with a practical test of taking the lions scholarship children out for a game drive and walk. Two Mozambican upper management staff, our conservation manager and community manager continue to be supported and mentored while completing their postgraduate degrees in conservation (1 Master s Degree and 1 PhD). Two local mechanics were trained on site in Mechanics and workshop management by Ken Harmen. 12 Antipoaching scouts completed 45 day Niassa Reserve / Conservation Outcomes Basic training program. 4 control gate scouts, MOMS coordinator, two lion field workers, and Human resources officer received on-site training in computer data entry. 40 men from Mbamba village worked on the Environmental Centre construction as a skills training course; 29 certificates for skills learned were given out in recognition of their skills, work ethic and behavior) with 12 Merit certificates for excellent progress and work ethic. 24 Community Guardians from 25 villages attended a MOMS training workshop at Mariri Environmental Centre. 2 tourism staff went to Nkwichi Lodge on Lake Niassa for two weeks on an apprenticeship to gain experience in tourism services (cooking, guest services, and housekeeping). Certificate ceremony in November at Mariri to celebrate skills learned during the year. Master Builder Madras receiving his certificate from Chefe Ngolange Rachid at his Graduation Ceremony after completing 3 month course in Human Resources and Accountancy In Lichinga 100