Guest blog by Emma Witcutt, Research Assistant, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science
My time in Gola Rainforest began very abruptly, with just about three weeks between being offered the job and heading off to start it, wondering what on earth I'd let myself in for over the next two months.
Until then, my knowledge of Sierra Leone comprised of dim childhood memories of scenes of desperate poverty on the news coverage of the civil war, plus the much more recent images of the Ebola crisis.. Before I knew it I was checking in at Heathrow Airport, with absolutely no idea to what to expect but sure that I was in for an adventure.
I was to work as a Research Assistant in the communities surrounding Gola Rainforest National Park (GRNP). The forest is the first rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone, and has just finished developing a REDD project (Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation) as a way of tackling climate change, to provide long term financing for the park and directly benefit forest edge communities.
Helping local cocoa farming communitiesOne aspect of the work done by the GRNP partnership (the RSPB, the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone and the Government) is to help local communities benefit from conservation by assisting cocoa farmers in producing more and better quality cocoa, which is less destructive that slash-and-burn subsistence farming.
This is an incredibly worthwhile cause, as Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world, and within the country these forest edge communities are amongst those with the least.
Photo of cocoa beans drying
Cocoa can be exported to western countries to be used in chocolate or in cosmetics as cocoa butter, and the money earned by the farmers gives their livelihoods a much-needed boost.
Mammals raiding cocoa cropsThe RSPB was hearing from these farmers that crop-raiding by mammals was one of their main problems, and that was where I came in.
RSPB Conservation Scientist Dr Mark Hulme is researching what animals raid the plantations and how much damage this results in for the cocoa crop, trying to align perceptions with hard evidence, and my job was to help him to collect this data.
Photo showing mammalian damage to a cocoa pod
Our findings will be used to develop a solution which could allow the farmers and mammals to coexist together. I was excited to be a part of a project which would hopefully bring help to some of the communities most in need, whilst protecting the wildlife that I love.
Fieldwork was challenging Each week, our small team went out to one of the villages close to the forest, and we spent our days counting pods on cocoa trees and surveying them for damage. This might sound easy, but if you saw some of the bridges we've had to cross, streams we've had to wade through or Black Ant colonies we've been attacked by, you might think differently!
Each night we camped in a classroom at the local school, which all come fully furnished with hard concrete floors and plenty of mosquitoes! We would eat food cooked by a local lady and fall asleep to the sounds of village life. Toilets were essentially a shed with a hole in the floor, and to wash I would take a bucket of water to the most private part of the schoolyard I could find, and hope for the best.
Photo of Emma Witcutt crossing a stream
Preliminary results show damage by monkeys, squirrels and chimpsWe found signs of damage by monkeys, squirrels and chimps, but it is too early to say how much of a problem this is in comparison with cocoa diseases, or how best it can be prevented. Along the way I've seen some wonderful wildlife, including Diana and Campbell's Monkeys, Praying Mantis and a myriad of beautiful birds.
This has been a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience, and I hope that the RSPB will continue to help the wildlife and the people of Gola long after I have returned to the comforts of home in the UK.
Sierra Leone is a beautiful and resourceful countryI had no idea what to expect when I arrived, but what I found was a beautiful country filled with stunning wildlife and incredible people.
I have been struck by how friendly and resourceful Sierra Leoneans are, as well as how thankful they are for what little they have.
The RSPB is proud that we have worked in partnership with the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone and the Government of Sierra Leone for 25 years to protect and restore this amazing forest. Gola harbours 60 globally threatened species such as the enigmatic pygmy hippo and beautiful Diana monkey, and directly benefits approximately 24,000 people living in 122 forest edge communities: people who are the poorest of the poor.
This research was funded by the Darwin Initiative.
Find out more about our Gola appeal here.
For some exciting news about our Gola Rainforest REDD project on the voluntary carbon market take a look at Martin Harper’s blog.Fore more information, see www.golarainforest.org or contact Nicolas.Tubbs@rspb.org.uk