Project Update: August 2009

Training rangers and park ecologists in censusing large mammals in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park.

The project started and developed very well, and it is currently at the final phases of implementation, with the most challenging part being the complete handing-over of conducting the large mammal census to rangers. With the park ecologist and project team, we are also working on data compilation, data analysis and report preparation. Of the various project phases, the most challenging and important has been the establishment of the ranger-based monitoring.

As planned, two transects for counting large mammals have been established from each of 5 ranger posts in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park (see map). Rangers have been trained on data collection and use of GPS (see photo), and initial, trial censuses have been supervised by a team of two experienced field technicians, who visited each post every month. We believe it is a great achievement for a forest park to have established a standardized monitoring programme such as this, and we will work to ensure that it continues in the best possible way.