Project Update 5: July - August 2009

Field Dates: 25/07/2009 to 07/08/2009

Sites: Bunyala Rice Scheme, Muluwa, Muuri, Syamungu, Busagwa

Summary of field work progress

A questionnaire survey was issued at Bunyala Rice Scheme, Muluwa, Muuri, Syamungu, and Busagwa to evaluate the effect of education against bird poisoning and consuming of poisoned birds. Generally these showed that more people were aware of Furadan poisons but still convinced the way poisoned birds are prepared before being consumed detoxifies them of the carbofuran poison. A total of 188 questionnaires were administered.

Poisoned birds mortality counts at the transects in the Bunyala Irrigation Scheme revealed a downward trend since it was during low bird poisoning season with no rice planting hence birds were not flocking in the irrigation scheme; furthermore, Furadan had been shown to be in short supply partly due to our campaign for its stricter regulation/ban hence the manufacturer’s withdrawal.
The poachers whom I have been trying to liberate and sell to the idea of vegetable farming remained non-committal and did not get back to me as we had agreed.

I updated the stakeholders as far as bird pesticide poisoning is concerned, namely the Pesticide Control Products Board, Farm Machinery and Chemicals (FMC), the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Ornithology Section of the National Museums of Kenya.