Biological and Socio-Economical Baseline Report for the Establishment of the Greater Delaikoro Protected Area, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands
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Biological and Socio-Economical Baseline Report for the Establishment of the Greater Delaikoro Protected Area, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands 2014 Rapid Biodiversity Assessment, Socioeconomic Study and Archaeological Survey of the Greater Delaikoro Area FPAM-2014-BIODIVERSITY-01 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal and development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The FPAM Project encourages the use of this report for study, research, news reporting, criticism or review. Selected passages, tables or diagrams may be reproduced for such purposes provided acknowledgement of the source is included. Major extracts or the entire document may not be reproduced by any process without written permission. Photo title page: Greater Delaikoro Area, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands, courtesy Mr. Noa Moko FPAM contract: SAP/LoA/07/13 For bibliographic purposes, please reference this publication as: FPAM (2014) Biological and Socio-Economical Baseline Report for the Establishment of the Greater Delaikoro Protected Area, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands. A Rapid Biodiversity Assessment, Socioeconomic Study and Archaeological Survey of the Greater Delaikoro Area, June 2014, Suva, Fiji, FPAM-2014-BIODIVERSITY-01 A biodiversity assessment, socioeconomic study and archaeological survey of the Greater Delaikoro Area, Vanua Levu. Editors: Sarah Pene and Marika Tuiwawa A report compiled by the Institute of Applied Science, University of the South Pacific for FAO/GEF-PAS Forest and Protected Area Management, FPAM, Project June 2014, Suva, Fiji Islands Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 5 1 FLORA AND VEGETATION ECOLOGY ........................................................................................ 8 2 TERRESTRIAL INSECTS ........................................................................................................... 20 3 AVIFAUNA ............................................................................................................................. 30 4 HERPETOFAUNA ..................................................................................................................... 37 5 FRESHWATER FISHES ............................................................................................................. 46 6 FRESHWATER MACROINVERTEBRATES .................................................................................. 53 7 INVASIVE SPECIES .................................................................................................................. 73 8 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ................................................................................................... 80 9 SOCIOECONOMIC BASELINE STUDY ....................................................................................... 97 10 TRAINING PROGRAM ............................................................................................................ 120 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................... 125 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 128 List of Appendices Appendix 1 Flora species checklist ........................................................................................ 134 Appendix 2 Checklist of mosses and liverworts..................................................................... 161 Appendix 3 Summary statistics of vegetation community structure assessment ................... 165 Appendix 4 Checklist of insects recorded within the Great Delaikoro Area ......................... 170 Appendix 5 Location of terrestrial insect sampling sites........................................................ 173 Appendix 6 Avifauna species checklist, status, distribution and abundance ......................... 176 Appendix 7 Location of point count stations, habitat and birds recorded .............................. 178 Appendix 8 Focal avifauna species recorded from the Greater Delaikoro Area .................... 180 Appendix 9 Herpetofauna suvey sites locations and sampling methods ................................ 181 Appendix 10 Herpetofauna species checklist for Vanua Levu and Delaikoro ..................... 182 Appendix 11 Water quality at freshwater fish sampling sites .............................................. 184 Appendix 12 Habitat characteristics at macroinvertebrate survey sites ............................... 185 Appendix 13 Water quality at freshwater macroinvertebrate sampling stations .................. 188 Appendix 14 Freshwater macroinvertebrate abundance categories per sampling station .... 189 Appendix 15 Freshwater macroinvertebrates abundance (Surber sampling) ....................... 192 Appendix 16 Freshwater macroinvertebrate abundance (kick-net and hand-picking) ......... 194 Appendix 17 Freshwater macroinvertebrate taxa of interest ................................................ 197 Appendix 18 List of invasive plant species documented ...................................................... 198 Appendix 19 List of invasive animal species documented ................................................... 199 Appendix 20 Household survey questionnaire ..................................................................... 200 Appendix 21 Focus group discussion and key informant interview questions .................... 208 Executive Summary This report is a compilation of the findings of a biodiversity, socio-economic and archaeological survey carried out in a proposed protected area in Vanua Levu, Fiji. The area under consideration for protection is the Greater Delaikoro Area, an upland region spanning the main mountain range of Vanua Levu, encompassing Mt Delaikoro, Mt Sorolevu and the Waisali Reserve. This work was carried out under the Forestry and Protected Area Management Project, a component of the GEF-PAS program. Flora and vegetation ecology A total of 641 vascular plant taxa and 117 bryophyte taxa were recorded. Range extensions were documented for all the bryophytes and 90 species of the vascular plants. Ten taxa were recorded that have botanical significant due to their rarity or protection status. A notable find was a rare moss, Bescherelli cryphaeiodes, in the cloud forest of Mt Delaikoro, hitherto known only from a single location in Viti Levu. Lowland and dry forest areas and associated riparian vegetation were the most heavily impacted by agricultural activity and invasive species. In the upland and cloud forest areas, despite some evidence of recent and historical logging, tree species diversity and density were higher than in the lowland forests. Terrestrial Insects A total of eighteen families of beetles (Coleoptera) were recorded within the study area, as well as a high abundance of ants (Formicidae), and a diverse macro-moth fauna. These taxa provide critical ecosystem services in forest systems such as soil processing, decomposition, herbivory, pollination and seed dispersal. Insects of conservation value recorded during the survey were Hypolimnas inopinata, Cotylosoma dipneusticum, Phasmatonea inermis, Hypena rubrescens and Luxiaria sesquilinea. 1 Avifauna A total of 27 species of land birds and three species of bats were recorded from 46 point count stations located in different sub-habitat types within both lowland, upland and cloud forest. All of the 27 bird species recorded were native, 24 of them endemic to Fiji. Herpetofauna Eight species of herpetofauna were recorded during the survey, of which four were endemic to Fiji, three others native and one was an invasive introduced species. The Vanua Levu endemic skink, Emoia mokosariniveikau, was not encountered. Further surveys will very likely reveal the existence of additional herpetofaunal species. Freshwater Fishes A total of eighteen species of fish from six families were recorded in the tributaries of the Delaikoro range. A notable find was the goby Lentipes kaaea, this being the first record of it on the island of Vanua Levu. Two gobies endemic to Vanua Levu, Redigobius leveri and Redigobius lekutu, and two as yet undescribed gobies from the genus Stiphodon were also documented. Water quality was well within habitable range in terms of dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature and turbidity across all sampling stations. The introduced tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) was recorded in mid and lower reach sites and may account for the low abundance and diversity of native stream fishes. Freshwater macroinvertebrates A total of 70 freshwater macroinvertebrate taxa were identified from the 11,395 specimens collected. Of these 70 taxa, a total of 37 were endemic or native to Fiji. A total of twelve macroinvertebrate taxa were selected as potential bioindicators. The high number of endemic and native taxa recorded, as well as the high abundance of a large number of species is 2 indicative of a healthy stream system. A major finding during the survey was a new record of prawn species for Fiji, Macrobrachium spinosum. Invasives There were 21