biodiversity

Priests and vicars have long demonstrated a penchant for biodiversity. There have been missionaries in remote places who have built up and preserved beautiful collections of butterflies, plants etc. which eventually found their way into the great natural history museums of the world.  The Rev. Gilbert White (1720-93) was the classic 18th century English clergyman-naturalist. Over many years he made observations of the plants and creatures he saw and he pulled the strands together in a widely-read book, 'The Natural History of Selborne'.  In a reflective letter to a colleague in 1768 he wrote, "It is, I find, in zoology as it is in botany: All nature is so full that that district produces the greatest variety which is the most examined". 

Much is written about the effectiveness of encouraging alternative livelihoods in conservation. One argument runs that if you can find an alternative income for someone who currently exploits a natural resource unsustainably or illegally, then the exploitation will cease and biodiversity will be conserved.  The counter argument is that the alternative is actually used as a supplementary income, making it possible for the miscreant to buy a bigger chainsaw or truck for larger scale resource exploitation. Clearly some sort of alternative is needed, but how can it be used unequivocally for conservation?

Arrived at Ban Navang! Arlyne and Tony with some of the villagers who were working on the wildlife monitoring.

Feb. 9, 2007* - This morning we, sadly, had to make our way out of the forest. We had our breakfast and left around 6:30 am as the transect teams were leaving to do their last day (day four) of their surveying in this area (tomorrow they’ll move to a new location).

The walk on the trail back was absolutely stunning. It is such a beautiful forest, it’s hard to describe and no adjective would probably ever do it justice. On the walk back we got lucky again and saw some Douc Langurs! They really are amazing creatures. And they sure make some giant leaps as they make their way from tree to tree.

Feb. 8, 2007* - Second day of transect for us and third for the team. Arlyne and I joined a different group today, while Tony and Jim joined our group from yesterday. Our most interesting viewings today were Brown Hornbills – big birds about 70 centimeters tall, with a tucan-like beak, and sitting very high up in the trees – and a Giant Black Squirrel, just sitting there, with its large, bushy tail that made it look kinda like a skunk from where I was sitting (with my binoculars about 200 meters away.) The animals were so beautiful! I never imagined getting this excited about seeing a bird, squirrel or monkey, particularly when they are hundreds of meters away! But it’s exciting stuff! Like Tony says… the “WOW” factor: that moment when you first say “wow” and your perspective changes forever….

Mr. Xaypanya signals on the map where we went that day while Tony and Arlyne, on the left, and Jim and I, on the right, watch.

Feb. 7, 2007* - Although this was my first transect ever, and our first transect here, it was the team’s second day. We woke up at 5:30 am, had breakfast, and left for the transect just before 7 am. Arlyne and I joined one group, while Tony and Jim joined another. In each group there are generally three people (usually men in this case): the leader and another “observer” (looking out for species) and a guard (just in case).

I'm a wildlife biologist.  I'm among the very few lucky World Bank staff to get paid to climb up mountains, go down caves, trek through forests, meet remote forest inhabitants, and to argue the conservation case with senior government officials. But how does this fascinating work translate into Bank projects? Well, it means I work on pure biodiversity conservation projects, on others' projects to add biodiversity value, and on pioneer biodiversity initiatives. It's rather appropriate that I should be writing my first blog on the small Indonesian island of Ternate. It was from here, exactly 150 years ago in 1858, that naturalist and traveller Alfred Russel Wallace wrote to Charles Darwin from a small house somewhere close to my guesthouse.

Making a stop on the way to Camp 6 to have lunch. My favorite was the meng da geo, a gel-like substance in which to dip the rice, except this one was made of crushed, dry insects.

Feb. 6, 2007* - Up at 6 am, pack, enjoy some nice instant coffee Arlyne brought, some sticky rice with chicken left over from last night, and ready to go!

Today was a “point A” to “point B” day, meaning our main goal was to get to Camp 6, sixteen kilometers away from Tha Phai Ban, to join the groups working on the wildlife monitoring (the “transect” teams) – the reason why we’re here!

Jim, Buaseng and Lakhon making their way across the forest.

Feb. 5, 2007* -- The journey begins. This morning we had an early meeting with the Watershed Management and Protection Authority (WMPA, the entity managing the protected area) and then hopped on a canoe for a one-hour journey up the Nam Theun River.

One could not have asked for a better day: beautiful blue sky, cool weather, gorgeous views of the river, and interesting birds crossing our path. Once we reached Kaeng Maeo (translated as “Cat Rapids”), a stop along the Nam Theun, we had some sticky rice --the Lao staple-- and dried buffalo meat for lunch, and started our two-hour walk to avoid the river rapids.

Feb. 4, 2007* - Wow, it’s cold! Who would’ve thought I’d ever be cold living in Lao, but it’s nearly zero degrees where I am….

I’m here in the Nakai Plateau (Khammouane province), in central Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), with another World Bank colleague, a Senior Biodiversity Specialist for the East Asia region, who’s a biologist by training and therefore a rare species himself at the World Bank. He (Tony) has been working in the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) project for the past nine years, and has been closely involved with the protection of the Nakai Nam Theun National Protected Area (the NT2 Watershed, part of the project) – which brings me to why I’m here….