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Exploration and Photography of Wetlands and Waterbirds in Lakes State, Southern Sudan, March 2008 Niels Gilissen MIRATIO Nature Photography & Consultancy WIWO Working Group International Waterbird & Wetland Research Exploration and Photography of Wetlands and Waterbirds in Lakes State, Southern Sudan, March 2008 Niels Gilissen MIRATIO- Nature Photography & Consultancy ( [email protected] www.miratio.nl ) Working Group International Waterbird & Wetland Research ( www.wiwo.org ) In cooperation with: The Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Conservation & Tourism Government of Southern Sudan Wetlands International, The Netherlands www.wetlands.org Copyright of images: Niels Gilissen - MIRATIO March 2008 Wageningen, The Netherlands Cover Photo: Shoebill Stork at Lake Yirol - Niels Gilissen - MIRATIO Introduction During the period of 14 February to 9 March 2008, I was in Southern Sudan. My visit had three main objectives. I participated as a trainer in a Waterbird and Wetland course for wildlife personnel from the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Conservation & Tourism (MEWT). I was also a representatvie for the Working Group International Waterbird and Wetland Research (WIWO) in talks about long term cooperation on wetland inventory and waterbird monitoring initiatives. These activities were organised and funded by Wetlands International (WI). In addition I conducted a privately funded exploration of several wetlands in Lakes State with the following objectives: - to search for and photograph Shoebill Stork Balaeniceps rex - to photograph other waterbirds and wetlands - to assess the numbers of waterbirds in some of the wetlands - to explore the possibilities for waterbird monitoring - to look for potential sites for field sampling of Avian Influenza in wild birds This report will cover the exploration. Acknowledgements This exploration was carried out with the authorisation and cooperation of the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, Government of Southern Sudan. I would like to thank Under-Secretary Major General Alfred Akwoch Omoli and Senior Advisor Perez Malande Olindo for their authorisation, support and advise. Thanks also to all other people at the MEWT for their support. I thank the board of WIWO for their moral support. Furthermore I would like to thank Chief Park Warden of Shambe NP Gabriel Gurgury for his guidance and advise in the field. I would like to thank Minasona Peter Lero, for helping in preparation, giving advise and hospitality. Lastly, I am grateful to Wetlands International, in particular Tim Dodman, Oliver Nasirwa, Ward Hagemeijer and Szabolcs Nagy, for their support in preparations and/or company during the WI- mission, which made the exploration possible. 1 Itinerary February 25-28 Preparing for journey. Trying to arrange rental car. Bying supplies. February 29 Flight Juba-Rumbek, met with personnel of Wildlife Offices Rumbek, arranged car, spent night in AFEX Camp. March 1 Journey to Yirol, met with officer Gabriel Gurgury, settled in lodges of Veterinary Training Center, met with commissioner of Yirol West, visit to Lake Yirol, found Shoebill Stork. March 2 Visit to Lake Yirol, visit to area around Pagarau and counted waterbirds, walked 12km to edge of wetland area northwest of Pagarau and back, found one Shoebill Stork. March 3 Visit to Lake Yirol in morning and evening, estimated roosting waterbirds, floodplain of the river Yei, low numbers of waterbirds. March 4 Attempt to reach Lake Nibor, failed, visit to lake Yirol in the evening. March 5 Journey to Shambe, met with commissioner of Yirol East, visit to Port Administrator, arranged motorboat for following morning, visited village and port, put up camp. March 6 Went for 2,5 hours with motorboat on lake Shambe and adjacent channels, counted waterbirds, journey to Yirol, journey to Rumbek, spent night in AFEX Camp. March 7 Met with John Maper of Rumbek Wildlife Office, Flight Rumbek-Juba, reporting to Under-Secretary Major General Alfred Akwoch Omoli. March 8 Visit Juba, photography of Nile. March 9 Flight Juba-Nairobi and Nairobi-Amsterdam 2 Geography Figure 1: Overview of central Southern Sudan, with in blue the White Nile and with yellow pins the sites mentioned in the report. Figure 2: Map of the exploration area. 3 Results Logistics Organising an expedition in remote areas of Southern Sudan is not easy, as can be expected in a country that has suffered from more than 30 years of civil war and under-development. Several difficulties have been encountered during the (preparation of the) exploration of the wetlands in Lakes State. Organising transport at an affordable rate is difficult. Car rental companies in Juba are reluctant in providing cars (4x4) for use outside the Juba region. If they are willing, prices vary between $300 and $350 a day including driver and fuel. Flying to Rumbek was in this case a better option as prices seem to be lower. However, the number of companies is also less, restricting the choice. Navigation using solely the geographical knowledge of local people can prove to be very difficult. On two occasions, one on foot and another by car, the destination could not be reached. This was due to insufficient knowledge of the accompanying people on navigation, distance or road conditions. This was the case when hiking to a wetland northwest of Pagarau (Annex 1, Shoebill Stork observation). After a long hike, no large wetland was found, only some small ones and access to wetlands was blocked by broad fringes of reed and papyrus. The second case considered a trip with the car to Lake Nyubor (Annex 1), which ended in the bush where the road had virtually disappeared. The road from Rumbek to Yirol was fairly good. The road from Yirol to several kilometers after Yang was good. On the remaining part to Shambe, road upgrading was in process and the road was poor. Availability of motorboats to navigate the lakes and channels of the Sudd near Shambe was very restricted. Outboard motors need petrol, which can pose another obstacle as the availability of petrol can be very restricted, resulting in very high prices. Outside the Sudd and the Nile motorboats are probably non- existent and one is dependant on tree canoes. Shoebill Stork Two Shoebill Storks were observed, one at Lake Yirol and one northwest of Pagarau (Figure 2). Both birds were feeding in shallow 20-70cm deep water covered (50-90%) by floating grass. On one occasion a Shoebill had caught a large fish (60 cm) of a catfish-like species. I was able to get good images of the first bird, which was quite tame. Unfortunately Lake Nyubor could not be visited as this is a potential site for Shoebill (pers. comm. Gurgury). Photography In addition to Shoebill Stork, other waterbird species as well as landscapes and human activity were photographed. It was noted that most waterbirds tolerated human presence and were approachable to relatively close distances. This might reflect a low hunting pressure on these species. 4 Numbers of waterbirds At three sites I conducted a waterbird census with assistance of wildlife officers from the MEWT. The results can be found in annex 3 and 4. The results are preliminary as only fractions of sites could be visited and in some occasions only estimates of the numbers of waterbirds could be generated. The results were communicated to the database of the African Waterbird Census in Dakar. At Lake Yirol thousands of Long-tailed Cormorants Phalacrocorax africanus and several species of egret egretta were seen flying to their roosts. The roosting site consisted of bushes standing at the edge of the water or in the water at the eastern edge of the lake. At Shambe, no big concentrations of birds were found on the lake (annex 4). The largest concentrations were observed on the dry parts bordering the lake and marshes (i.e. Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola ) and on floating islands of vegetation and mud (i.e. African Skimmer Rynchops flavirostris ). In the dense marsh vegetation (Papyrus, reed, cat tail) no concentrations of waterbirds were found. However, there seems to be an even and constant distribution of herons and African Jacana Actophilornis africana in the marsh, feeding along the edges of pools and streams. For the whole Sudd this would result in high numbers for i.e. Purple Heron Ardea purpurea , Grey Heron Ardea cinerea and Goliath Heron Ardea goliath and African Jacana, considering the surface of these marsh vegetations (Howell et al . 1988; Nikolaus 1989). Waterbird Monitoring The exploration gave a first impression of the Yirol-Pagarau and Shambe (Sudd) areas from the ground. In an earlier stage, a reconnaissance flight had been carried out over the southern half of the Sudd area (in cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society). Together with the experience gained from the preliminary censuses, this provides a rough idea of how to organise future waterbird monitoring. As expected, the densities of waterbirds in the Sudd vary greatly between different vegetation zones. Moreover, small waterbirds (ducks, small herons, rails, waders) were recorded during the ground census, which had been missed during aerial surveys. The extent to which areas outside the Sudd contain water varies greatly between seasons. This exploration took place in the dry season, resulting in the water being restricted to lakes, permanent streams and pools in floodplains. This made access to the wet areas more complicated as infrastructure was in a poor state and knowledge of local geography was not always accurate. Observations of human activity It was noted that in the Sudd area an alarming intensity of oil exploration constructions and activities are being developed. These consist of base camps, canals, seismic drilling sites and tracks created by large vehicles. This was also recorded by the WCS (Fay et al . 2007). Large concentrations of cattle exist along the borders of the Sudd marshes. Fishing exists in the whole area, at a low intensity level. Barges were observed navigating the main channel of the Bahr el Jebel system (White Nile).
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