Habitat Conservation of Globally threatened Spot-billed Pelicans (Pelecanus philippensis ) in Uva province Sri Lanka. PROJECT REPORT By Kanchana Weerakoon and Harsha Athukorala Eco Friendly Volunteers (ECO-V) 42/3/I Nadee Uyana, Peiris Mawatha, Gangarama Road, Boralesgamuwa Sri Lanka. 1 Habitat Conservation of Globally threatened Spot-billed Pelicans (Pelecanus philippensis ) in Uva province Sri Lanka. PROJECT REPORT Kanchana Weerakoon and Harsha Athukorala Eco Friendly Volunteers (ECO-V) 42/3/I Nadee Uyana, Peiris Mawatha, Gangarama Road, Boralesgamuwa Sri Lanka Email: [email protected]/[email protected] Web: www.eco-v.org Blog site: http://ecofriendlyvolunteers.blogspot.com/ 2 Project Summary Spot Billed Pelican ( Pelecanus philippensis ) is one of the Flagship species in wetlands, was common across much of Asia formerly, but suffered a widespread decline lately. It is a charismatic bird species which lives on fresh water tanks and lagoons. According to Birdlife International key threats are human disturbance at breeding colonies and wetlands, extensive felling of nesting trees, hunting and poaching of eggs and chicks. According our previous studies within Sri Lanka, the main barrier for conservation of this bird is lack of awareness among local communities and degradation of wetland habitats. Therefore to improve their habitat conditions we initiated some activities in Uva province of Sri Lanka covering two districts, Ratnapura and Monaragala. We conducted our project from June 2008 to October 2009. As the study was mainly aimed at surveying 10 man-made tanks (wetlands) they were selected by considering the easy access where pelicans were observed before. We gathered information on the wetlands and out of ten wetlands we selected two main wetlands for extensive studies. We collected data on bio-diversity of the wetalnd habitats. Awareness programmes for different stake holders including the government agents were conducted. Media programmes and exhibitions were very useful in getting the Island wide attention towards the project. Due to the Kate Stokes Award we were able to train 20 youth as “Friends of Mother Earth” who were volunteers for the project from the beginning. As a result of the activities we conducted during the project period we are now is a situation where community requests us to guide them and work for the environmental wellbeing. Therefore we recommend continuing the community based activities we developed for past one and half years until the community is able to use the resources of the wetland in a sustainable manner. 3 Contents 1. Introduction 3 1.2 Back ground 4 2. Objectives 4 3. Project Area 5 4. Methodology 6 5. Results 8 6. Sustainability 15 7. Future plans 16 8. Project team 17 9. Acknowledgement 18 10. References 19 11. Annexure 21 4 1. Introduction Spot Billed Pelican ( Pelecanus philippensis ) is one of the Flagship species in wetlands, was common across much of Asia formerly, but suffered a widespread decline lately. It is a charismatic bird species which lives on fresh water tanks and lagoons. It’s only known present day breeding populations occur in Sri Lanka, India and Cambodia. It was categorized as “Vulnerable” in the IUCN Red Data List in 2001 but according to a recent update from India, its’ estimated population has been revised upwards from a low of 5,500-10,000 birds in 2002 to an estimated 13,000-18,000 individuals in 2006. Therefore its status has been reviewed as “Near threatened” (Birdlife International 2007a & b). Population in Sri Lanka seems to be stable at the moment. According to Birdlife International (2007a), key threats are human disturbance at breeding colonies and wetlands, extensive felling of nesting trees, hunting and poaching of eggs and chicks. Additional threats include loss of important feeding- sites through siltation, agricultural intensification, aquaculture development, drainage and conversion of wetlands, declines in wetland productivity as a result of pesticide use, and over-exploitation of fisheries. According to the current study within Sri Lanka, the main barrier for conservation of this bird is lack of awareness among local communities and degradation of wetland habitats. 5 1.2 Back ground ECO-V started working in Udawalawa in Uva province in 2007 due to some pre identified threats to SBP. When we won CLP in 2008 we concentrated more on to community work and addressed the issue of safeguarding habitats. There are 224 man-made tanks in the area we surveyed before and pelicans were observed in 184 tanks. Most of the fresh water tanks that pelicans were observed are with diminishing healthy habitat characteristics. Therefore we aimed at identifying threats to these habitats and to put an effort in safeguarding the habitat. 2. Objectives The overall objective of the project was to conserve two selected aquatic habitats (Man made tanks) of Globally threatened Spot-billed pelicans in Ratnapura and Monaragala Districts in the Uva province, Sri Lanka. 5 specific objectives were set to achieve the overall objective 1. To investigate the history, traditional practices, and threats to the man made tanks in the Udawalawa area. 2. To prepare a checklist of fauna, flora and invasive species of the two selected man made tanks (which are mostly under threat) where pelicans were observed. 3. To create awareness based on the above information among the community and Islandwide 4. To test the water quality for chemicals and find out the level of water pollution of the tanks before and after the project activities. 5. To clean the tank habitats and recreate the environment for both Pelicans and humans with community participation 6 3. Project area Our study area comes under Uva province of Sri Lanka. Udawalwa national park and the reservoir are the major land marks in the province. Udalawa reservoir shares the boarder for two districts; Ratnapura and Monaragala in the Uva province. Hence our study area represents two districts but most of our surveyed wetlands (Tanks) belonged to Monaragala District. Monaragala District Rathnapura District - s Figure 1 Map of Sri Lankan showing the project area. These two districts represent Uva province. 7 4. Methodology We conducted our project from June 2008 to October 2009. As the study was mainly aimed at surveying 10 man-made tanks (wetlands) they were selected by considering the easy access where pelicans were observed before. To achieve the objectives we adopted following four methods. 1. Review past publications 2. Scan sampling of fauna and flora by visiting tanks 3. Public survey using a semi structured/structured questionnaire 4. Awareness campaigns We collected information from past records and visited ten selected wetlands to conduct the public survey to get background information about wetlands in the area at least once during the project period. Ecological data collected from field visits were helpful in situational analysis of the wetlands. We maintained checklists for fauna and flora species including the invasive plants observed in and around them. After doing the survey for ten wetlands we selected two main wetlands (Mahagama and Nelum wewa) where the habitat is under threat and visited them once a week for 6 months to collect ecological data using scan sampling method. Two field assistants were Looking for pelican habitats 8 involved in data collection and they used binoculars for observations. Awareness programmes were conducted on regular basis for all stakeholders in the area. We establish “Friends of Pelicans” groups and conducted weekly classes at our field office for the youth who were voluntarily participating in them. As the last step of the awareness programme we conducted a 6 day residential training programme for 20 selected youth of “Friends of Pelicans” under the Kate Stokes memorial Award. Friend’s of Pelicans with ECO-V name board 9 5. Results Objective 1 To investigate the history, traditional practices, and threats to the man made tanks in the Udawalawa area A draft booklet is prepared in Sinhala language and it will be published in December 2009. Community survey Objective 2 To prepare a checklist of fauna, flora and invasive species of the two selected man made tanks where pelicans were observed. We selected Mahagama and Nelum Wewa Tank as two wetlands for detail situational analysis (This information will be published in the booklet in Sinhala language). See Annexure 1for checklist. Mahagama Nelumwewa Tank Tank Species Identified Unidentified Total Identified Unidentified Total Birds 72 72 52 52 Butterflies 20 20 20 8 28 Dragonflies 7 3 10 4 3 7 Mammals 6 6 5 5 Fish 5 5 3 3 Reptiles 4 4 3 3 Invasive Plants 5 5 4 4 Table 1. Number of species recorded during the ecological survey carried out at Mahagama and Nelum wewa tanks. 10 Figure 2. Species discovered at Mahagama and Nelum Wewa tanks during the surveys Species diversity of Mahagama Tank recorded from 01/12/2008 to 24/05/2009 80 70 60 50 No 40 30 20 10 0 Birds Butterflies Dragonflies Mammals Fish Reptiles Invasive Plants Species Species diversity of Nelum wawe Tank recorded from 30/10/2008 to 26/02/2009 60 50 40 30 No 20 10 0 Birds Butterflies Dragonflies Mammals Fish Reptiles Invasive Species Plants 11 Dragon Flies Long winged Skimmer ( Lathrecista asiatica asiatica ) Somber skimmer (Orthetrum sabina sabina ) Invasive plants Ipomea aquatic and Pistia stratiotes Lantana camara Team involved in field observations 12 Objective 3 To create awareness based on the above information among the community and Islandwide In addition to the local awareness programmes four radio news clippings and one paper article was published. Local magazine articles also produced. School awareness Programmes More than 30 lectures were conducted for School children in two districts. Posters and leaflets were also distributed among the community members during the project. Two conferences were held targeting O/L and A/L students which were admired highly by the parents and the teachers.