I simply can’t write this blog without mentioning the devastating earthquake that hit Hispaniola on the 12 of January 2010; it was felt throughout the island although its destructive impact was concentrated on the Haitian capital (Port-Au-Prince). I was in the capital of the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) at the time and we felt it there too; some people in Santo Domingo ran out of and away from buildings in fear. In terms of the project, this natural disaster is likely to have a real impact in the future. Thousands of people have lost everything and many have been displaced. In the short term, the immediate humanitarian need obviously takes precedence. However, I hope that in the long term the environmental/conservation aspect is taken into account as part of Haiti’s recovery plan.

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Here on the island of Montserrat the project to help the mountain chickens in their fight against the deadly chytrid fungus continues. During the last weeks the weather has been quite harsh as we are now in the middle of the wet season and heavy rains arrive almost every day. These rains completely change the scenery at both ghauts, the streams run with an amazing strength washing everything in their way towards the sea. In spite of all these rains, only very few times this has stopped us from going into the field and we are still treating the frogs and continuing with the established protocols of the project.

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By Edward Bell

When not working in the coastal dry forest looking for White-breasted Thrashers another role we have out here is the continued monitoring of the St Lucia Whiptail lizard Cnemidophorus vanzoi. The St Lucia Whiptail is found only on four offshore islands around the coast of St Lucia, it was believed to be found on the mainland but by the time of its discovery in the 1960’s it ended up restricted to two Islands off the south east coast of the island, Maria Major and Maria Minor. Durrell and St Lucia forestry Dept successfully implemented a translocation to Praslin Island just up the east coast in 1997 to try and ensure the survival of the population. It was the introduction and spread of invasive species such as rats, mongoose and cats which we assume led to the whiptail dieing out on the mainland – so the first which needed to be done when translocating this lizard was to remove any potential predators off the islands.

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We check in with the diary kept by Lance Woolaver in Madagascar as the team arrived at the pochard lake, got set up and hoped to find a nest of eggs ready to be brought into captivity.

Saturday, Day 10, October 24
I am feeling better, although still weak and shaky, so hopefully I am over the worst of the flu. I was sweating so much last night that my sleeping bag and blanket were completely soaked in the morning. I walk up the hill to call home and hear that my family is responding to the Tamiflu and recovering. The feeling of relief is intense, and the sunshine and spectacular view of the lake down below are lifting my spirits. Now I can get back to work.

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By Andrea Wallace

Lac Alaotra lies 250km north east of Antananarivo (‘Tana’) and is the largest lake in Madagascar. Within a wetland area covering 7,225km2 the lake itself is 200km2 and is the nation’s most productive fishery. In 2003, it was declared a Ramsar site as a wetland of global importance and in 2007 the lake and its surrounding marsh, reedbeds, and rice fields was designated as a new protected area.

Durrell has worked here for some time conducting conservation education programmes and ecological monitoring to encourage sustainable use of the natural resources and protection of endemic species such as the Alaotran gentle lemur. Given how important the area is for artisanal (i.e. small-scale subsistence and commercial) fishing, it is very important to understand the relationship between conservation efforts and the fishers.

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It has now been over a month since we penned the Aldabra giant tortoises on Ile aux Aigrettes. This prevented them trampling and eating the poison bait that we placed 21 days ago to eradicate an introduced population of rats. With no rat signs for a while now we have removed the poison leaving only peanut oil flavoured chew sticks and baited live traps across the eradication grid, which we check and manage daily.

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By Edward Bell

The beautiful bustling island of St Lucia is going to be my home for the next 6 months. St Lucia is part of the chain of islands known as the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, the Lesser Antilles with the exception of Barbados are volcanic islands, some more active then others e.g. Montserrat. The mountainous terrain in the center of the island helps shape the climate trapping moisture leading to lush vegetation and rainforests at the core and coastal dry forest down the Atlantic east coast.

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By Nik Cole, Durrell Mauritius Programme

It is day 16 of the rat eradication on the island nature reserve, Ile aux Aigrettes. We have not found any rat chew marks in the bait, no rat faeces or encounters with live individuals during our daily searches across the entire island for the past six days. We are starting to feel rather positive that our hard work has paid off and to top it all off it has stopped raining!

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Tuesday-Wednesday, Days 6-7, October 20-21

We make the nine hour drive to the bridge to see firsthand how serious the situation is. Just as we arrive it begins bucketing down with heavy, heavy rain. This is the last thing we need, as rain will turn the road up to the lake into a sticky, slippery mess. But the rain passes as quickly as it arrives, and we can relax....for the moment. We visit the bridge and it is not as serious as we had feared. The bridge itself has not fallen down, but they are replacing an old section as part of routine road repair. We are assured that they will complete the repairs by the end of the day tomorrow. There is a huge line of lorries and vehicles extending for several km on either side, so that even after the, single-lane, bridge is fixed it will take hours for the vehicles to cross. We need to avoid travelling at night as incidents of banditry have increased here in Madagascar, so this means that we will plan for an early start the day after tomorrow, at first light. A bustling market has sprung up on either side of the bridge with food of all descriptions and music - you may as well enjoy yourself while waiting!

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Since our last visit to the pochard lake (Lake Matsaborimena) in July we have had a field team at the lake watching the pochards and taking detailed notes. Kassidi (Durrell) and Toulu (The Peregrine Fund) are two of the most experienced duck men in Madagascar. They have made a number of critical observations including the hatching of three nests in September. Of 19 recorded ducklings hatched since September, only three, however, are still alive. The others have disappeared mysteriously one by one, all before reaching two weeks of age. Kassidi and Toulu are currently watching three other active nests, all being incubated.

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