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Thuma - Dedza-Salima
Project - Volunteer programme -
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News 2009
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May 2009:
 After permission has been
granted by the Department of Forestry for the construction of the
new volunteer and scout accommodation, offices and storerooms as
well as the Heritage Centre, construction started immediately. Most work has been contracted to
building teams, workers and carpenters from surrounding villages,
which brings substantial income into their communities.
The buildings
are constructed using the local "mdindo" method which is pounding
clay soil into a movable mould whereby under ideal weather
conditions each building grows by about 30 cm daily. Georg
Kloeble, Trustee and former chairman of WAG Malawi is supervising
the construction.
The Volunteer accommodation will consist of six spacious rooms with a separate kitchen and adjoining dining-veranda which hopefully will also
attract paying visitors from Lilongwe. At the same time the site for the heritage centre
has now been identified to fit well into the new camp settings and construction will start soon. We are
all looking forward to this, since it will be a valuable contribution to show and explain the projects work
and will also display found artifacts of former villages
and
settlements that existed in the area before Thuma was turned into a protected area in 1926.
February 2009:
| Conservation should bring direct
benefits to those who live with the wildlife in order to be successful. One
of our main objectives for this year is therefore to increase our extension work
efforts
in the surrounding communities.
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Apart from the fact that the majority of our staff are
recruited from the surrounding villages, we also engage the local
villagers as much as possible in other work inside the reserve. This year
we have received a significant grant from W.A.G. Support Europe
to upgrade our 10 kilometer long main road from the entrance of the
reserve to our base camp. The work is distributed through the Community
Based Organizations (CBOs) in the communities. 85 Percent of the
money earned by the CBOs goes directly to the member of the CBO
who is doing the work (as a welcome extra income during those lean months before the harvests in April-May). The remaining 15% stays
with the CBOs which enables the CBOs to conduct their social and
environmental programmes in the community: i.e. supporting the elderly,
orphans and the chronically sick plus raising environmental awareness.
This year we further target to
establish a more continuous co-operation between W.A.G.
(volunteers and staff) and the local CBOs by working together in developing other income
generating activities (IGAs) for the CBOs. Volunteer Hanna from Finland
and the CBOs are
currently working together in writing proposals for a soap
making project and a mushroom farming project.
If you wish to sponsor one
of these community project, please contact us. Your assistance will be
highly appreciated!
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Proposal
writing by the members of the CBO
from Mvululu village.
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January 2009:
Ever since 2006, W.A.G.
(i.e. staff and volunteers) is conducting annual mammal surveys in Thuma
F.R. in order to monitor the mammal populations living in the reserve.
The 2008 mammal survey was the third consecutive survey and has produced
again some very interesting data, especially since this latest survey
makes it possible to compare the 2008 data with the 2007 and 2006 data and
look for trends. And we are pleased to see that the 2008 survey data
confirms the positive trends which we believed to observe during our
patrols throughout the year.
A summary of the Thuma F.R.
Mammal Survey 2008 Report can be found on: www.africanconservation.org/dcforum/DCForumID5/454.html
The full Thuma F.R. Mammal Survey 2008
Report can be downloaded from:
www.wag-malawi.org/ThumaFR_Mammal_Survey_2008.pdf
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