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Survey of Human-Wildlife Conflict, Resource Use and Attitudes Towards Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Kanuku Mountains, Rupununi, Guyana

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Survey of Human-Wildlife Conflict, Resource Use and Attitudes Towards Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Kanuku Mountains, Rupununi, Guyana META DATA Title: Survey of human-wildlife conflict, resource use and attitudes towards conservation and sustainable development in the Kanuku Mountains, Rupununi, Guyana Principal Investigator: Matthew T. Hallett1,2 E-mail Address: [email protected] Affiliations: 1. Miami University Institute for Environment and Sustainability, 254 Upham Hall, Oxford, OH, USA 45056 2. University of Florida School of Natural Resources and Environment, 103 Black Hall, Gainesville, FL, USA, 32611 Permissions: IRB: Exempt research certification #E00547 received from Miami University Institutional Review Board IACUC: Project certification #870 received from Miami University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Research Permit: Permission to conduct biodiversity research permit #230512 BR 017 received from Guyana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Focus of observations: Human-wildlife conflict, subsistence and commercial resource use, and attitudes of indigenous communities towards conservation and sustainable development Project Description: Understanding the relationship between people and the environment is central to successful conservation and management. The Kanuku Mountains are considered one of the most biodiverse areas of Guyana and as a result were targeted by the Government of Guyana for the development of a protected area through a partnership with Conservation International (Conservation International 2009). Community Resource Evaluations (CREs) were conducted as part of a participatory process for developing the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area, covering a variety of topics related to resource use and economic activities (Stone 2002). This project deployed surveys to supplement CREs and gather data specific to human-wildlife conflict and attitudes towards wildlife, research and conservation in six indigenous communities (Yupukari, Katoka, Nappi, Moco Moco, Shulinab and Sand Creek villages) surrounding the Kanuku Mountains (Figure 1). Data collection took place in the form of surveys and was part of a larger project focused on developing a population estimate of jaguars (Panthera onca) in the region using camera traps and spatially explicit capture-recapture analysis (Hallett et al. 2015). Survey data was intended to provide insights into possible causal factors driving spatial variations in the abundance and distribution of jaguars and their prey observed in the camera trap data, and to help begin a dialogue regarding mitigating any negative effects of human activity on jaguar populations specifically. Surveys were developed by the primary investigator, tested by local collaborators and deployed to 102 households in the six communities around the Kanuku Mountains at central village meetings following presentations of preliminary camera trap results between February and August 2013. Geographic coverage: The Rupununi (Region 9), Guyana, is named for the river, savannas and wetlands that bear its name, but the region is actually an ancient rift valley, the Takutu Basin, that is bordered by the Pakaraima and Kanuku mountains (Crawford et al. 1985). The floor of this rift valley consists of ecologically significant cerrado savanna, gallery and savanna forests, rivers, creeks and seasonally flooded wetlands bordered by large, undeveloped tracts of lowland and montane tropical deciduous and evergreen forests. The Kanuku Mountains are divided into western and eastern ranges by the north-south course of the Rupununi River and are drained by the Takatu River to the west and the Rewa/Kwitaro Rivers to the east (Montambault & Missa 2002). The Rupununi savannas, which border the western slopes of the Kanukus, are ecologically connected to Brazil’s Branco River savanna system (Montambault & Missa 2002). To the east, the Kanukus join a vast expanse of intact Guiana Shield forest shared with Brazil, Surinam and French Guiana (Mittermeier et al. 1998). Indigenous communities have long revered mountainous areas in Guyana as ‘places of refuge’; thus they have never hosted permanent residents and remain in relatively pristine condition. The Kanuku Mountains are made up of pre-Cambrian sediments (4-590 million years old) of one of the oldest rock formations on earth (Montambault & Missa 2002). The two main ecotones in the Kanuku Mountains (savanna and moist forest) are largely determined by soil conditions (Montambault & Missa 2002). Savanna habitat primarily occurs where a hard clay layer underlying weathered white sands limits penetration and access to ground water by tree roots (Montambault & Missa 2002). Moist forest occurs on porous substrates along the slopes of hills and mountains, along rivers and in scattered “bush islands” where the underlying clay layer has been penetrated (Clarke et al. 2001). The highest peak in the eastern Kanukus is at 900 m with an average elevation of about 450 m, and the tallest peak in the western range is 1,067 m with a number of minor peaks above 900 m; the surrounding Rupununi savannas sit at 120-150 m above sea level (Montambault & Missa 2002). The Kanuku Mountains Protected Area is composed of roughly 99% forest and <1% savanna (Conservation International 2009). The Rupununi Region experiences average temperatures between 25.9°C-27.5°C, a long dry season (September to April), and a single rainy season (May-August) with the heaviest rainfall in May and an average annual rainfall between 1,500-2,000 mm per year (Conservation International 2009). During the height of rainy season, the main rivers raise by as much as 15 m flooding low-lying forests and/or inundating adjacent savannas. The Rupununi Region is widely considered one of the most ecologically diverse areas in Guyana, supporting populations of many regionally and globally important species (Montambault & Missa 2002; Hallett et al. 2015). The Kanuku Mountains are home to 70% of the mammal diversity (158 species, Engstrom & Lim 2008) and 53% of bird diversity of Guyana (including 400+ species and 17 of 25 avian Guiana Shield endemics, Braun et al. 2007), 324 species of reptiles and amphibians (including 15% endemism, Cole et al. 2013) and one of the highest freshwater fish diversities in the world (433 species, DeSouza et al. 2012). The forests of this region represent 4% of the total forested area of Guyana and limited surveys have documented 1,577 plant species (Diaz 2002). The Rupununi is popularly known as the “Land of Giants,” as it is home to the largest individual species from a number of taxonomic groups, including the jaguar (Panthera onca), giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), giant Amazon water lily (Victoria amazonica), giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), goliath bird- eating spider (Theraposa blondii), arapaima (Arapaima gigas), giant Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis expansa), lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Amazonian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantean), jabiru stork (Jabiru mycteria), Gladiator treefrog (Hypsiboas boans) and Harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). The Kanuku Mountains provide critical habitat that support populations of these charismatic megafauna and megaflora, many of which are threatened elsewhere. Human population density in the Rupununi is very low. Communities are typically small to medium in size (few containing >1,000 residents), totaling ~10,000 people spread across 46 indigenous communities (Stone 2002). The notable exception is Lethem, Region 9’s booming border town with Brazil. The region also contains a number of privately held cattle ranches, a pair of large-scale agricultural operations, and a few terrestrial mining operations. The Kanuku Mountains support the subsistence activities of 18 indigenous communities (now organized as the Kanuku Mountains Community Representative Group, KMCRG), 11 of which are made up of predominantly indigenous Makushi people, 5 of indigenous Wapichan people and 2 of mixed populations (Stone 2002). Makushi people are of Carib descent, inhabit villages on the northern and western sides of the Kanukus, and number ~7,750 in Guyana (NDS 1996). Wapichan people are of Arawak descent, inhabit villages on the southern side of the Kanukus, and number ~6,900 in Guyana (NDS 1996). Each Kanuku Mountain community ranges in size from ~120-615 people, and subsistence fishing, farming and hunting are the primary means of livelihood (Stone 2002). Kanuku Mountain communities vary in their distances to the mountains, so residents of some communities must routinely travel a long way to access its resources (Stone 2002). This study surveyed residents of six Kanuku Mountain communities (Figure 1) regarding human-wildlife conflict, resource use, attitudes towards wildlife and conservation, agricultural and livestock management practices, regional demographics, and important social and economic issues. Figure 1: Map of the Kanuku Mountains region with village survey participants (Image courtesy of Google Earth) Sampling procedures: Data provided here was collected using survey methodology that was largely dictated by the type of data needed and logistical constraints on data collection. A ‘Toshao Survey’ (Appendix IV) was developed to provide an overview of demographics, social and economic issues, history with conservation and agricultural and livestock practices for each village. In the Rupununi, a Toshao is equivalent to a chief or mayor. He/she represents the village in political and administrative capacities and plays a central role in decision making. Toshaos are democratically
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