SC KIDS
  

 
 
 
  
 
 
CONSERVATION
 
Melanesia, which includes the island of New Guinea and several archipelagos in the South Pacific, harbors one of the greatest region of intact lowland rainforest on earth. Unfortunately, commercial, clear-cut logging is threatening this region. For instance, between 1990-2005, over 20% of the rainforest in the Solomon Islands have been lost to logging. With such imminent danger, we are building on our research goals in the Solomon Islands as platforms for educational and conservation programs.
 

Our approach is four-fold:  

I. TRAINING

First, we involve local, young community stakeholders in our research. This provides hands-on training, such as mist netting and diversity survey techniques, to local land stewards (see picture below).

George looks on, as Al trains his local collaborators on banding and taking morphological measurements (photo by Day's Edge Productions).

II. OUTREACH

Second, we give presentations to local schools and to local elders (see picture below). These presentations provide key information that forms the basis of successful long-term conservation initiatives. For instance, our work indicates that several island chains harbor unique endemic and newly-formed bird species, and we use this information to help local landowners realize that their flora and fauna are unique. We also provide them with a more global perspective, explicitly communicating the value of their resources to a global economy and the impacts of global warming to islands.

 
Pawa Presentation
Al giving a presentation on sceince and conservation to high school students in Pawa Secondary School, Ugi Island.
 

III. EDUCATION

Third, with support from the National Science Foundation,  we developed a field course  that brings students from the United States to the Solomon Islands. This course will expose students to basic ecological and evolutionary theory, as well as explicit training in field research techniques and development of outreach programs. This course provides substantial revenue to local communities. Further, we have plans to expand this course to include students from the Solomon Islands National University, thereby training future leaders of the Solomon Islands.
 
Undergraduate student, Chrsitne DeSilva, learns how to identify and mount butterflies during a Study Abroad course held at the Nafinua Resaerch Station in Makira, Solomon Islands (Summer 2013).
 

Gili

Undergraduate student, Gilbert Serein, presents the results of his independent project to the class during a Study Abroad course held at the Nafinua Resaerch Station in Makira, Solomon Islands (Summer 2015).
 

IV. CAPACITY BUILDING AND EMPOWERMENT

Finally, as a direct avenue to empower indigenous communities, we are helping our local partners develop alternative and more ecologically-friendly ways of earning money. For example, in Makira Province where clear-cut logging is a major threat, we have partnered with three communities to establish a conservation area: the Yato Protected Area. The proposed area is over 25,000 acres, consisting of cloud forest, and primary rainforests. The work is funded by Conservation International's Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund.

 
A custom map of the proposed Yato Protected Area in Makira (photo by John Mittermeier).
 

A pristine river within the Yato Protected Area (photo by John Mittermeier)
 

High montane, cloud forest within the Yato Protected Area  (photo by John Mittermeier).
 

In general, we hope that these grass-roots approaches will provide a long-term solution to the threats of unsustainable practices and anticipated rise in sea levels driven by global warming.