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A Spectral Tarsier, photographed on a night-trek
4th - 31st July 1999 University
of Nottingham Students
By Polly Daniel & Roland Mervart "The work we did, the techniques we learnt and the data we collected will help not only Operation Wallacea maintain its status as a highly regarded conservation project, but also provide valuable data which goes towards helping the people of Buton to work in and preserve the rich environment in which they live." [From the Introduction] On the 3rd July, 1999, 18 students from the University of Nottingham, set of off on the large Pelni passenger ferry from Ujung Pandang, the Indonesian capital of Sulawesi, to Bau-Bau, the capital of Buton Island, on the SE coast. Arriving midday on the 4th, we were met by representatives from the conservation organisation “Operation Wallacea” and attended a briefing on the work achieved so far, and the projects to be accomplished in the month that lay ahead.
The following report summarises some of the work that was done by our volunteers on some of the many projects being carried out on Buton. The work we did, the techniques we learnt and the data we collected will help not only Operation Wallacea maintain its status as a highly regarded conservation project, but also provide valuable data which goes towards helping the people of Buton to work in and preserve the rich environment in which they live. We would like at this point to thank the many people who made this venture possible, including very generous support from both the Gilchrist Educational Trust and the University of Nottingham as well as the family, friends and fellow students who supported our various sponsorship and fundraising efforts, without whom, none of this would have been possible. To an interactive map
of Indonesia (find Sulawesi!)
Operation Wallacea was founded in 1995 and is a conservation project based in South East Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is dedicated to the conservation of rainforests and coral reefs and the preservation of cultural heritage in a remote area of this region. Merging the skills of scientists, volunteers and the local community, many successful projects have been undertaken and were continued this summer when our team went out. A recent study on ecotoursim stated that, by incorporating these different bodies of knowledge and manpower, substantial assistance with survey efforts on coral reefs and rainforests can be given. In addition it can help with establishing protected areas and provision of data for management plans. It also helps the local communities to develop sustainable income streams from these protected areas (Coles & Sutowo, unpublished, 1997). In 1998 Operation Wallacea won the ASEANTA international award for the best conservation project in South East Asia, reflecting the success that small-scale projects such as this, concentrating on remote parts of the world, can have in teaching us about conservation and its importance to all of our lives. Operation Wallacea uses self-funded volunteers, wishing to acquire the knowledge and skills obtained in the field, to assist on its various projects. Aimed at degree level and above, it offers the opportunity to engage in some original field work as well as assist in the continuing struggle to conserve the world’s natural resources. It has already succeeded in the Tukangbesi archipelago being designated national park status, meaning a drastic reduction in destructive techniques such as cyanide bombing of the reef, and has instead helped implement more sustainable techniques such as agar farming and fish attraction devices. However, although many of the more destructive techniques have been more or less phased out, the implementation of new ones is still relatively slow progress and one of the many jobs of our volunteers was to help encourage and demonstrate the effectiveness of these new methods and thus introduce them further into the remote communities. In addition to this, the organisiation is currently setting up a database containing photographs and descriptions of every species on the reef, and some of our volunteers aided this project as well. Both on the coral reef and in the rainforests on the island, the major undertaking is that of species surveillance, mapping out, square by square the bird, mammal and marine species present in the area. This information should aid the conservation of this fragile environment which is currently being deforested at a rate of 10% per annum. The descriptions that follow, detail just some of the work that was undertaken by our Nottingham Wallacea volunteers during their time with Operation Wallacea, work which taught us irreplaceable skills and helped contribute to one of the world’s most promising, grassroots conservation projects.
Team members on the “Three Peak Challenge”
Fundraising walk,
*** Community ProjectsOne of the most rewarding areas in which work was undertaken was that which involved working with the local people in order to both to learn from them and to help them to understand the importance of the environment and the work that we were doing. Work in this area was undertaken in two different environments, the first among the Bajau community in the village of Sampela, a seven hour boat trip from Buton’s coast and the rest amongst the Butonese, in the coastal village of Konde. In each instance, the volunteers lived amongst the local people, the hospitable nature of the Indonesians making this a highly pleasurable as well as informative experience. Those volunteers from our party who were staying a prolonged period, spent the first week in a language-training/community awareness project. This involved spending a week in the remote village of Konde, 3 hours drive from the capital, Bau Bau. Here the day was spent intensively learning Bahasa Indonesian, the common language, both in the classroom environment and amongst the villagers. They assisted in the local school and, by immersing themselves into the community, were able to bring across the message about what it was we were doing, hence drive the local interest in conservation.
Polly Daniel standing with Pak Yusef, Head of Konde Village, and family. In the Bajau community, the work had a more direct impact in that our volunteers were helping the villagers engage in the newly implemented schemes, designed to aid them with a more sustainable way of life. This work is avidly described by Roland Mervart, one of our Nottingham Wallacea members ...... After attending the fortnightly review meeting and being briefed on current projects, I was taken with the team I would initially be working with on a further 3 hour journey by 4 wheel drive across the island followed by 13 hours on board a chartered fishing boat to Hoga. This tiny, remote island was barely a kilometer wide and inhabited by just 2 families in the Wakotobi National Park. The Bajau community of Sampela was situated just a 10 minute boat journey from Hoga and it was there, from the 4th-10th July, I spent my first week. These originally sea-faring people have only in recent years started to build more permanent settlements and they still retain the belief that living on land brings only disease and misfortune. Sampela itself has a population of several hundred, living in wooden houses built out to sea, with movement around the village accomplished either by canoe or, in central parts, along wooden walkways. Our team of volunteers were in fact the first Western people ever to have worked in Sampela, aside from one of operation Wallacea’s permanent staff, who himself had been there barely a month, and the reception was incredible. The Sampelan people were very warm and always keen to give a helping hand when, for example, we struggled to make our way from place to place.
Team members making their way through the village of Sampela by canoe We were also fortunate to arrive at a crucial time for Operation Wallacea’s work. That morning, two of the villagers had been caught in plantations owned by islanders from nearby Kaledupa. In an unprecedented move, they were accused of stealing agar, seized and thrown in prison. The village head, Ili, and Chris, from the Op.Wall staff, had spent the day speaking to the kaledupan authorities and, only after lengthy negotiation, secured their release. As a result, Ili had called a meeting of all the males in the village that evening, to discuss the day’s events and to call on villagers, in light of what had happened, to seriously consider agar farming on a much wider scale than the pilots they had thus far started. This had been something Operation Wallacea had been encouraging for some time, to help ease pressure on severely depleting fish stocks, by generating an alternative income stream and, indeed, several of the villagers that night responded positively to the proposal. One of the tasks of our team whilst out there, was to help take out agar and farm the small existing plantations, bringing villagers along with us whenever possible, to demonstrate the work involved and the potential of such farming.
A Sampelan villager pictured on top of one of the Rompongs set up by Operation Wallacea Another twice daily task was to take a boat with nets out to the rompongs, floating deep sea fish-aggregating devices at dawn and again at dusk. This form of fishing, whereby nets are set for catching pelagic (mainly mackerel) species, is much less destructive than many locals’ current practices, which include reef gleaning and dynamite bombing. These cause tremendous destruction to the reef, and have already virtually wiped out all the larger fish species in the region. Although used widely in other parts of Indonesia, rompong fishing was virtually unknown in the Tukangbesi archipelago until two devices were introduced earlier this year, after consultation with the local community, by the Non-Governmental Organisation Yayasan Bajau Sejahtera, supported by operation Wallacea. so far its reception by locals had been relatively lukewarm following repeated failure to harvest more than a handful of fish on any occasion. During the week though, we helped Chris make a number of modifications to the basic design and, on Wednesday, managed the first ever large catch of over 100 fish. Immediately the villagers’ level of interest soared and, even in the course of the few remaining days we were there, we had some 30 or so villagers come out with us to try the method themselves. We also helped repair the second rompong which had been damaged by large tidal waves, and towed this and a newly constructed third one to enable more extensive use of the devices at a wider range of locations. Besides our involvement with rompong fishing and agar farming, we also helped with construction work on the new school that was being built, and with practicalities for the 6-monthly family planning Day that was to be held in the forthcoming week. All in all my experiences amongst the Bajau community were ones I will never forget and I hope that the work that we did, not only taught us many things about the issues and practicalities involved with introducing sustainable agriculture to long-established communities, but also helped in the overall aim of increasing the popularity and awareness of these schemes amongst the amiable and hospitable people of Sampela. Roland Mervart, Sociology and psychology Marine ProjectsAgain on Hoga, in the Tukangbesi Archipelago, another group of Nottingham Wallacea volunteers were making their mark on a different project. Working with the marine-survey teams, the focus was on the Opistobranchs (Sea Slugs) on coral reefs off the Northern coast of the island. The project was aiming to complete an exhaustive photographic inventory of the species found in the region. In order to accomplish this however, teams of divers were required to go down onto the reefs and identify the species found there, and during our time there, 17 new species were added to the records, bringing the total up to more than 250. This was not the only project being undertaken, the Nottingham Wallacea volunteers were also helping on projects looking at the density and distribution of butterfly fish species and, where surveyors were trained in the identification of butterfly fish and data gathered from aboard the Ciska, a dive boat that went out to conduct surveys for a week at a time, with the volunteers living on board for this period. Another study was looking at the foraging distance and social hierarchy in anemone fishes. In addition to the information these studies provide on individual species, they also contribute to one of the ultimate aims of the project, which is to compile a photographic inventory of all the fish species in this region. Not an easy task, but already there is talk of publishing a book, which will serve to increase public interest in the region and in conservation in general. As you can see, now that the organisation has successfully succeeded in obtaining national park status for the region, the critical task now, is to get on with identifying the abundance and diversity that Operation Wallacea has managed to conserve. The work of our Nottingham Wallacea volunteers has helped greatly in this hugely extensive task, as well as taught our volunteers some invaluable skills.
Tom Appleby, a Nottingham Wallacea member,
pictured with some of the abundant coral found on the reefs around Hoga
*
***
The final area of research in which our volunteers actively participated, was that carried out in the rainforests and villages of Buton Island. There were two main components to this work, the bird and the mammal surveys. Bird Surveys Buton Island has been divided cartographically into a number of squares, each representing a region of the island. The advantage of this is that it enables a systematic survey of the island as, step by step, each new square is entered and surveyed. During our time there, 4 squares were entered and chartered, including 2 squares which had never previously been entered and thus contained no form of track or path. In cases such as this, the rattan collectors were used as guides to help us into the unchartered areas. Once in the area, camps were set up usually at least 2 different points over the course of the week, and, using GPS Satellite imaging, the areas were mapped and the routes recorded along which bird surveys were taken.
A silver tipped Imperial Pigeon, pictured in a village to the East of Kaweli The survey work itself involved a dawn and dusk survey, getting up to go out at 5.30am, in order to be present at first light. Following that, single line transects were walked, of no specific distance, carrying out an auditory and visual search of the area, and recording on a species list of all the birds seen and heard on that particular transect. A training period familiarised volunteers with the most common bird calls which included the Sulawesi Babbler, the Collared Kingfisher, the Bay Cucau and the Sulawesi Hornbill, whose unmistakable call sounds like the barking of a dog, and the beating of the wings resembles the sound of a helicopter in flight. The encouraging thing about many of such birds, is that they tend to be a sign of healthy forest. However, on one of the surveys, our team were horrified to find an area, pre-checked the week before by trackers employed by operation Wallacea, being illegally logged and the destruction caused in just a few days a horrific reminder of just how powerful man can be. Reports were made to the appropriate authorities, but the alarming aspect was that nothing at all appeared to be known about this team of loggers, who would have had to enter the forest with large and highly conspicuous equipment. Instances such as this serve as a chilling reminder of the need of surveys such as those undertaken by our volunteers, in the hopes that the forest, which is currently being deforested at a rate of 10% per annum, may be saved as far as is possible, possibly even be designated national park status, in order to save the hundreds of species we are continuing to identify in the forests of Buton.
Team members setting up camp for the night
on one of the rainforest bird surveys
In comparison to the wealth of birds present on both Buton and the mainland of Sulawesi, there are relatively few species of mammal present. The work we undertook whilst out there, was mainly concerned with the only species of large primate on the island, the Buton macaque (Macaca ochreata brunnescens). Three research projects were being carried out on this species, each of which our volunteers helped to participate on, and one of which was headed by a group member, (see report below). Behavioural
Study
Once positioned, the monkeys would be watched awakening and detailed observations recorded throughout the day of all their activities and social interactions. Methods of both focal animal sampling and group scanning were used to provide and thorough and detailed data on how these animals behaved and interacted socially with one another. This data will later be subject to both quantitative and qualitative analysis, in order to gain some insight into how this previously unstudied species, behaves in the wild. Population
Density Estimates
In addition to this, the days were spent trekking through various group territories and attempting to count them during the day. This was to allow for as thorough an account as possible of the sort of numbers in each group and, on the wider scale, within each transect square. Two methods were used to count the animals during the day. First we used local guides with a good knowledge of both the area and the groups of monkeys that existed within it. They would then trek out with us each morning and had a remarkable ability to find the group for which we searched almost 100% of the time, despite the wide range of territory we covered each day. By the end of the month, we had successfully surveyed the villages of Kaweli and Kamboua, partially surveyed the village of Konde and taken a line transect in an area of primary forest.
Infant Buton Macaque, introduced as a “pet” of a subsistence farmer and his family in kaweli The results showed an extremely high density of macaques living in the areas around the villages, suggesting that the crops grown by the villagers are acting as a major incentive for the animals to leave their traditional primary forest homes, and instead move into the less densely wooded but highly concentrated food resourced areas. The counts we achieved using the local guide method were far higher than those achieved when undertaking random line-transects, however this was to be expected and would explain our low counts in the forested areas. However, it does lend weight to the suggestion that alternative methods for undertaking primate population estimates should be contemplated when undertaking such research. ***The following is a copy of the report submitted to Operation Wallacea following the third and final project undertaken by our team. This was a study which worked alongside the population density study, but instead of looking at how the presence of villages effected the monkeys, we looked at how the monkeys effected the villagers and their everyday lives. An Investigation into the impact of Macaca ochreata brunnescens on the villages of South Buton Research was conducted over a 4 week period in 3 villages Southeast of Bau Bau. This work was done in conjunction with the population survey that is currently being carried out to assess the status of the relative abundance of M. ochreata brunnescens on the island. Generally it was found that the macaques are a considerable pest to the farmers, taking from 10-90% of their average yield, depending largely on the crops involved. Methods used to deter the monkeys vary from simple guarding of fields to trapping and poisoning. Where more drastic methods have been utilised, considerably smaller numbers of macaques have been found in the corresponding surveys, however further research must be carried out before the true impact of these measures can be accurately assessed. Introduction
Since 1987, a transmigration program has been in operation, set up by the government with the intention of actively depopulating the more densely populated parts of Indonesia such as Java and Bali. Although the initial movement of the transmigrants was concentrated on one specific area, the transmigrants have slowly been moving out and across the island. This program has now seen a large number of Balinese transmigrants settle on Buton and coupled with other immigrants such as the recent Ambonese refugees, there is now a considerable amount of forest being cleared for farmland. In addition to this the forestry trade remains active on the island with the resultant loss of approximately 10% of forest per annum. Primary and secondary forest are obviously key habitats for the Buton macaque, but it appears that as these villages grow and spread, many macaques are being drawn inwards to habituate the areas around the villages where food supplies are relatively concentrated and easy to come by. This constant
invasion of the crops by the macaques is having an obvious impact on the
people who try to farm in these areas, generally reporting several groups
of 20-100 or more macaques regularly feeding from their crops. The idea
behind this investigation is therefore to try and assess exactly how much
of a problem the macaques are proving to be, which crops are the most drastically
affected and what measures are being used to try and reduce this problem.
This should enable an eventual assessment of the long-term viability of
the macaque and human populations living alongside one another in this
manner.
Method
Within each village an attempt was made to interview persons of varying social status within, thus speaking with both the head and sub-heads of villages and regions as well as the individual farmers, who were often more directly involved with the macaques. The questionnaire consisted of 10-20 questions (see below) depending on whom was being interviewed and tended to last from 20-60 minutes. Throughout all interviews an interpreter was present, fluent in both Indonesian and the appropriate dialects as well as English. Interviews were mainly conducted in Indonesian, taking questions from the English- written questionnaire. The following interviews have so far been carried out with a view to continuing this work both in those areas already begun and new villages as time goes on:
In general it would seem that in dry farming areas - as opposed to Paddy farming - the problem with the macaques tended to be strongest and certain crops were preferred over others. Corn tended to be the most badly hit by the macaques which proved to be a substantial problem in certain areas where it was also part of the staple diet (eg.Kaweli). Other popular crops included coconut, sweet potato, coffee and cashew nut as well as the fruit trees such as banana and papaya. Sugar, tapioca and dry paddy fields were also reported but with less frequency. The crops effected did not always necessarily have a direct effect on the diet of the people involved, except in the case of corn - generally the staple diet of the villagers consists largely of rice, yam and corn. But the effect still manifested itself in the crops that the farmers would usually be able to trade and sell, so rather than going hungry as a result, it is more of a financial loss and general inconvenience. In one village it was simply put that the quality of life of the villagers would be significantly improved if the macaques were not there stealing their crops. It would seem that the usual scenario is one of a large group of macaques, generally numbering 20 - 70 animals, descending on the fields at certain times of day, with increasing frequency in times of harvest, and feeding on any crops that were available to them at that time, with the preference for corn frequently noted. Often the farms or “kebuns” - gardens - are situated up to 2 km from the houses in the village. This is a particular problem for the farmers as the main way of dealing with the macaques is simply to stay out in the fields all day, guarding their crops - however any trips back to the village for wood or water leave the farms open to the macaques meaning unless a very substantial amount of time is spent in the fields, the macaques will come in and steal the crops and it a these times that the greatest losses are reported. Methods used to deal with the macaques vary from person to person it would seem. Most people appear fairly resigned to their presence and generally concentrate their efforts on guarding the farms - the small huts on stilts in the middle of fields are generally built for this purpose - both checking for the macaques by day and wild pigs by night, which are another major problem for the people. Various devices exist to aid the people in their “keeping of the fields” - generally a strip of coloured tape stretching across the field and attached to a bell in the hut that will ring on contact with any invading pests. More drastic measures include trapping - either by basket or box traps, generally utilising corn or banana as bait. The success rate is limited however as it seems the macaques are fast to learn to avoid these devices. Generally a maximum of 5-10 macaques are reported to be caught in this manner, per village per year and the product will often be a young macaque being kept as a pet by one or more of the farmers - alternatively they are killed although some people report trading to government officials in Bau Bau where they may fetch 10,000Rp (£10) and are used in “exhibitions” - though this has not been further clarified. The more effective method which is not used particularly often, but has fairly drastic effects when it is, is poison. Details of this have yet to be given but it appears to be stimulated by something in bananas and can kill up to 20 macaques per farm however the poison is only available in Bau Bau and is a considerable expense and therefore only possible if crops are highly successful that year. The greatest report we have had of success in stemming the population is that of Kamboua, where the head reports killing 200 macaques a month in the village, mainly by trapping. This is said to have occurred in 1991 and since been stemmed by the conservation rangers, however, the tendency to exaggerate numbers is perhaps rather apparent in this instance. Yet the relative absence of macaques in the area whilst survey work was carried out, could possibly stem from this time. With the continued influx of people onto Buton and the continued destruction of the forest habitat, it is important to assess now, just how the people cope with the resultant population explosions of macaques around the village areas, and how this is going to continue in the future. Work must therefore continue in all areas both surveying numbers to attain density estimates and perhaps working alongside the local people to attempt to develop methods by which the populations can be more effectively controlled, without going to the extremes reported in Kamboua. *** Pet
Macaque and owner in village to the West of Bau-Bau, found when looking
for macaque trapping devices in the villages near the capital
Our time spent with Operation Wallacea has been of immense importance to all of our team members. We have learnt a great deal about techniques to be used in the field as well as different cultures and environments. We are indebted to those people who helped make this project possible
and hope that for years to come, people will continue participating in
studies such as this. Without such voluntary organisations, even
more of our environmental resources would be lost, for the most part, without
them ever really being discovered.
Thanks go to Operation Wallacea for all that they taught and showed us, The Gilchrist Educational Trust for their generous financial support, The University of Nottingham, in particular Dr.Davies for his constant help and advice, the Photography department for their help, sponsorship and encouragement and Professor Chapman for his financial assistance.
We would also like to thank all the trusts who supported individual members as well as the families and friends of the Nottingham Wallacea team for supporting our fund-raising ventures. Also to Pieces Night-club, The Lost Weekend and Remedy, who played at one of our fund-raising events. Finally thanks to DJ Freeman & Co for their support of the raffle
and their help in the production of this document.
Colourful Rainforest Plant |
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