&ZASSZDOTS .TALKS $ VIPZOS Strategic plan for one of the world's top biodiversity sites now funded! KMS Talk. 'Life and times of Louis J / Leakey Jind his unique & 'endurirfg contribution to our knowledge of human origins' The future looks bright for Arabuko- Sokoke Forest, a site rated among the world's top 25 biodiversity sites. Nature Kenya, with a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is launching a project to implement the forest's | strategic management plan. This coastal forest has been ranked as the second most important j forest for threatened bird * conservation in mainland Africa, and lies within an Endemic Bird Area. Six globally- threatened bird species are found in Arabuko-Sokoke, of which four have their biggest populations here, including the endangered Sokoke Scops-Owl. Clarke's Weaver is found only at this site. The forest, located 120 km north of Mombasa, is the largest remaining forest on the East African coast, and is j also home to five globally threatened mammals, including the Solden-rumped Elephant Shrew,mainly found in this forest, and the Air\car\ Elephant. Outside the forest boundary, however, settlement since the 1980s has seen virtually all the remaining forests cleared for agriculture. It is clear that Arabuko-Sokoke would have shared this fate were it not for its protected status. The project to be implemented by Nature Kenya aims to improve the livelihoods of local people, providing them with sustainable occupations, in turn securing support for the forest's biodiversity. Nature Kenya developed the extremely successful butterfly rearing project, Kipepeo, now with the National Museums of Kenya, which helped increase community revenue from non¬ timber forest products and now operates profitably. Local communities nearby also earn income from guiding tourists and keeping bees. At the same time, the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Management team, composed of the Forest Department, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forestry Research Institute and the National Museums of Kenya, with funding from the European Union and co-ordination from BirdLife International and Nature Kenya, developed a programme of participatory forest management. As the project ended last year, the management team and a wide range of stakeholders wrote a Strategic Plan to guide the future of the forest; the new project will implement the Plan's first three years. Several hundred local families are now expected to derive benefits from the project, which will devolve management of natural resources to them. by Richard Leakey Leakey family are pioneers in the field of paleoanthropology, Louis Leakey, the patriach, achieved a spectacular success in archaeological findings throughout East Africa. Join Richard Leakey as he takes us through his father's life and times to commemorate Louis Leakey's Centennial Year (1903-2003). Thursday 25 September '03, 6.00 p.m. Louis Leakey Hall, National Museums, Nairobi. Entrance donation 350/- For more details contact the Kenya Musuem Society at 3750136 or info@kenyamuseumsociety.org World Birdwatch 4-5 October 2003 World Birdwatch T-Shirts Illustrating the bright yellow, red-eyed Black-headed Weaver Available in September @600/-. Please check with Nature Kenya front office. For more information about World Birdwatch activities, contact Anshul Bhalla (Jonty) at the Nature Kenya office, Tel. (20) 3746090/3749957. NATURE KENYA, P. O. Box 44486, 00100 GPO Nairobi Tel: 3749957 / 3746090 Fax: 3741049 E-mail: office@naturekenya.org The Papyrus wetlands of Lake Victoria by Anthony ICiragu The Papyrus swamps around Lake Victoria (Dunga, Koguta, Kusa, Sio Port and Yala) have a crucial ecological role. They are nurseries for endemic fish species that have likely become extinct in the main lake. They are a habitat for a unique set of papyrus endemic birds, including the globally threatened Papyrus Yellow Warbler and the Papyrus Gonolek. With increasing human pressures on these swamps, they are being burned, harvested unsustamably and cleared for cultivation. Despite the poor performance of the existing reclamation scheme, large parts of Yala swamp are earmarked for drainage for a multi million-dollar rice scheme. Sustainable utilisation of the natural resources in the papyrus swamps can only be achieved if we can measure rates of extraction and regeneration in the swamps. To have any substantial information on utilisation trends, a monitoring scheme needs to be put in place. This scheme needs the support of the communities living with the resource, it needs to be simple, yet produce credible data. Lake Victoria Sunset Birders (LVSB), a Site Support Group working with Nature Kenya in Kisumu, are one of the beneficiaries of a monitoring project supported by the Darwin Initiative and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in the UK. The project aims at establishing basic monitoring at all the 60 IBAs and detailed monitoring at some sites. In May, Nature Kenya and the National Museums of Kenya were in Kisumu to give monitoring training to 22 participants including Kenya Wildlife Service, Forest Department, National Environment Management Authority, Kisumu City Council, Environment Department and LVSB members. The Wildlife Clubs of Kenya (WCK) Western region office hosted the meeting. The training covered techniques for basic monitoring and set up four transects for detailed monitoring at Dunga swamps. These will provide permanent sample areas that could monitor changes and established trends in habitat and biodiversity. The L. Victoria waters are an issue of concern to the many countries that depend on i+s waters and to the millions of people who depend an the lake and its tributaries for their livelihoods. When considering the environmental forces in and around the lake, we need to take into consideration the papyrus wetlands that clean and filter the water before its gets to the lake. SKY By Ian MacKay and Fleur Ng'weno September Stars The brightest star on September Still further east, four stars form the evenings is Vega. It is a bright white corners of a very large square. The square light about halfway up in the northern is the body of Pegasus, the mythical flying sky. Vega is part of the small horse of the ancient Greeks. On 9 constellation called Lyra, the lyre. Lyra September, the planet Mars is just above consists of a tiny, almost perfect the nearly full moon, and Pegasus is equilateral triangle, balanced on one slightly lower and to the left. Look for corner of a parallelogram. Vega is one of the big square shape, tilted a bit to the the points of the triangle. side, low in the east-northeast. In ancient Greek legend, the lyre belonged to a man called Orpheus, who acquired the marvellous musical instrument from the Greek god Apollo. It was said that people, animals and even weapons fell under the spell of its music. The gods placed Lyra in the heavens so we may still admire it today, even if there is no music any more. In a Chinese legend, however, the star Vega is the celestial weaver, Chih Nu. Planets, September 2003 The planet Mars is still big and bright in the eastern sky. For the rest of the year Mars slowly shifts westwards as the months go by. After the 25 th , the September sky also holds the bright planet Venus, like an ’evening star low in the west. Moon, September 2003 East of Vega, bright stars form the shape of a flying swan, a waterbird with a long, outstretched neck. This is the constellation Cygnus, the swan. 3 September, first quarter (overhead at sunset); 11 September, full moon; 19 September, last quarter (rises at midnight), 26 September, new moon. - images of life on earth ARKive Now available - an incredible free web resource that was recently launched by Sir David Attenborough and is supported by many of the worlds most distinguished scientists, wildlife advocates and international conservation organisations. ARKive www.arkive.org is the 21st Century Noah's Ark; it is harnessing the latest in digital technology to bring together, for the first time, the world's most important nature films, photographs, sound recordings, and memories, then using them to build vivid and fact-backed portraits of Earth's endangered plants and animals. Recently launched, the site is only just the beginning of ARKive with about 800 endangered species ARKived so far, although over the coming months more species will be uploaded with the ultimate goal being to provide an audiovisual record of the 11,000 species threatened with extinction. There are also dedicated learning areas for children and an educators site full of free resources. ARKive is aimed at anyone with an interest in the natural world from children to scientists, schools to international conservation groups. ARKive is a free world resource for pleasure, learning and research. f&OiVlak activities BIRD RINGING Meet at the Museums' Nairobi Botanic Garden, at 7:00 a.m. every Thursday. SUNDAY BIRDWATCH Members meet at the National Museum. Nairobi car park at 9:00 a.m. the third Sunday of every month, i.e. 21 September The members decide where to go. Bring lunch TREE WALK Guided Tree Walks in the Arboretum on the second Saturday and last Monday, i.e. 13 <* 29 September from 9:30 a.m. Meet at the Arboretum gate. Those who are not members of FONA or Nature Kenya pay Ksh 100/- fee on arrival at the gate. WEDNESDAY MORNING BIRDWALKS Bird watching walks at sites in and around Nairobi. Meet at the National Museum car park every Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. Return about 12:30 p.m. Those who are not members can get temporary membership at Ksh 100 per birdwalk, payable on arrival at the car park. ARABUKO-SOKOKE(COAST) The Saturday birdwatch with the Arabuko Sokoke Forest Guides Association is on the first Saturday of each month i.e, 6 September at 6:30 a.m. from the Visitor Centre, Gede. Cost 100/- per person. KWS fees may also apply. FFJ Bird Walk (Coast) Friends of Fort Jesus birdwalks are held the third Saturday of each month, i.e 20 September Please call Marlene Re,d on (041) 491 648 to confirm Ngong Road Forest Walks (Nairobi) The Ngong Road Forest Sanctuary Trust Nature walks are held on the first and third Saturdays of the month i.e 6