SCIONA: Angola kick-off trip report 22 – 30 September 2018 Rio Cunene/Kunene river near Otjinhungwa (Photo: R. Revermann) 1 Contents 1. Introduction - Introdução .............................................................................................................. 3 Introdução ..................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Programme and itinerary ............................................................................................................... 6 3. List of participants ......................................................................................................................... 8 4. Kick-off workshop .......................................................................................................................... 9 5. Logistics ....................................................................................................................................... 10 5.1 Travelling to Angola ............................................................................................................... 10 5.2 Logistics in Iona National Park ................................................................................................ 11 6. Meetings with communities in Iona ............................................................................................. 13 7. Iona National Park ....................................................................................................................... 15 7.1 Weather ................................................................................................................................ 15 7.2 Geology and soils ................................................................................................................... 15 7.3. Rivers and Water .................................................................................................................. 16 7.4 Vegetation ............................................................................................................................. 18 7.5 Mammals ............................................................................................................................... 23 7.6 Birds ...................................................................................................................................... 24 7.7 Reptiles .................................................................................................................................. 26 7.8 Insects ................................................................................................................................... 28 8. Recommendations for future activities and research ................................................................... 29 8.1 EpiCollect ............................................................................................................................... 29 8.2 Research ................................................................................................................................ 29 8.3 Other ..................................................................................................................................... 30 9. Logistical recommendations ........................................................................................................ 30 10. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 31 11. References................................................................................................................................. 32 12. Errata ........................................................................................................................................ 32 2 1. Introduction - Introdução SCIONA or “Co-designing conservation technologies for Iona - Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Conservation Area (Angola - Namibia)” is a project funded by the European Union (EuropeAid/ 156423/DD/ACT/Multi) that started in February 2018 and will last three years. The lead institute is the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the main implementing partner the Instituto Superior de Ciências de Educação da Huíla (ISCED); the Higher Institute of Education Sciences of Huíla, Angola. The SCIONA project aims to strengthen cross-border ecosystem management and wildlife protection in the Iona – Skeleton Coast Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) through co- designing and implementing conservation monitoring technology with the park authorities and surrounding communities. The Iona - Skeleton Coast TFCA was officially established in May 2018 and is one of the larger transboundary conservation areas in southern Africa. It connects the Namib Desert ecosystem’s northern extent in Namibia and southern Angola, providing unique eco-tourism opportunities with its marine and terrestrial wildlife, impressive mountains, sand dunes, and indigenous Himba communities. The Namibian Skeleton Coast National Park and Angolan Iona National Park share several unique species, some found nowhere else on earth, including black-faced impala, desert dwelling elephants, black rhinos and the remarkable Welwitschia mirabilis plant. The two countries and parks are separated by the Kunene/Cunene River, which provides an oasis in this arid ecosystem. The Kunene River mouth which flows into the Atlantic Ocean is the second most species-rich coastal wetland of Namibia (Simmons et al., 1993). Compared to other TFCA’s in the region, the area has little viable agricultural land, lacks industrial development and has a low population density. Surrounding communities, including the Himba, have seen little benefit from their proximity to the TFCA and cross-border management of the conservation area has been limited. The area is remote and inaccessible due to rugged mountainous terrain as well as large sand dune dominated areas. The TFCA mainly relies on basic institutional structures that are insufficient and result in poor ecosystem management and inadequate wildlife law enforcement. This is reflected by overfishing, poaching - including organised commercial rhino poaching, habitat destruction, illegal mining, flooding, animal out-migration and local species extinction, threatening the sustainable future of the transboundary park. Under stable political conditions within an enabling policy environment, Namibia’s Skeleton Coast National Park and the adjacent conservancies have seen a positive growth of wildlife populations over the past 40 years (Nuulimba and Taylor, 2015; Owen-Smith, 2010). As the Namibian communities heavily rely on subsistence cattle and goat farming, they are particularly vulnerable to conflicts with predators such as lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah and crocodile. In contrast, Iona National Park in Angola has reduced wildlife populations and has seen the encroachment of human populations into its sensitive habitats because of the recent civil war and subsequent lack of institutional and financial support. Increased human-wildlife conflict incidents are expected in Iona once biodiversity recovers and wildlife migration takes place from the Skeleton Coast National Park and surrounding communal conservancies. The SCIONA project builds on the Namibian experiences with community involvement in ecotourism and conservation. Namibia has been at the forefront of devolving natural resource management 3 authority to the local communities through the legally mandated Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme. During the first year of the project, an assessment of the current situation and needs in the TFCA is being performed and an integrative ecosystem plan is being developed in cooperation with the stakeholders. Baseline information required for natural resources management is collected and community surveys are performed. This includes multiple field trips into the study area. Two scoping and several field trips have been performed in the Namibian part of the study area in the period May to September 2018. A kick-off trip to Angola was undertaken from 22 to 30 September 2018 and included a workshop in Namibe and a scoping trip to Iona National Park. It concerned an explorative trip with as main objectives: to introduce the project to regional authorities and institutions, to meet and introduce the project to local communities living in Iona National Park to asses terrain conditions in Iona National Park, to validate available geospatial data, especially tracks, to asses potential ecological indicators for the study area, to test and discuss data collection methods and available technology, to reinforce collaboration with the Angolan partners, to initiate transdisciplinary academic research. This report gives an overview of the Angolan kick-off trip, including a summary of community meetings and biodiversity observations, and is based on contributions from participants in the field trip. A selection of photos will be published on the gallery of the SCIONA website: sciona.nust.na . The NUST / ISCED team would like to express its thanks to the Angolan Ministry of Environment, especially the director of INBAC Mr Aristófanes Pontes, for making this trip possible. Thanks to Prof Carmen Santos for offering facilities at the Academy for the workshop. We also thank all participants for their contribution to a successful kick-off trip, especially Dr Bruce Bennett and Prof Norbert Jürgens who volunteered