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April 2003 In This Issue Makao Mlele Niensi-Luganzo TCHCWP village meeting in Nguruka Rungwa Burko Cullman & Hurt, Community Wildlife Project, Art Auction Leopard Project Big Screen Films Donations MAKAO The Makao Anti-poaching team have been operating mostly on their own for the last few months. A vehicle has been sent out from time to time for assistance but the majority of the time they have been carrying out foot patrols from camp. With the influx of wildebeest coming in during the migration an increase of wire snares have been found around Makao village. It is believed that the people responsible for setting these come from much further away, the WaNdorobo people and also people from Saka Saka village. We are having meetings with Makao village to try and stop the problem and have informed them that we cannot continue to support them if they are harbouring these people. A letter has been written to Iramba Ndogo and Mwangudo villages to warn them about the harm that the charcoal business can do and it has been copied to the relevant authorities. It seems that the need for charcoal in some of the big towns is reaching as far as this area and we want to try and get people to stop now before it is too late. Robin has asked us to research into starting up a tree planting scheme with the villagers, which is underway now with the help of Gerard Ambrose. Makao village have started to build their dispensary toilets and we await news of further projects. Sungu have finished their teacher's house and he has moved in. The school toilets have also been finished and a second classroom has been started. Iramba Ndogo have almost finished their new classrooms, and Mwangudo have also started building two new classrooms for their school. Mlele Our anti-poaching team joined forces with five Game Officers from Rukwa-Lukwati Game Reserve and together they carried out patrols throughout February and March. We'd like to thanks the Project Manager from Rukwa-Lukwati for all his assistance and his enthusiasm for anti-poaching. Altogether nine muzzle loaders and 280 pieces of timber were confiscated, and 7 poachers arrested. It seems that the majority of poaching in this area is for meat, mainly buffalo. The five new villages that have joined the project, all on the border of the Game Reserve have already almost finished with their first projects. Masigo have almost finished their teacher's house, as have Wachawaseme. Nsenkwa have built the walls of their teacher's house and are about to put the roof on. The classrooms and office being built at Mtakuja have the roof and floor in and all that remains is to plaster outside. Kanoge have been making all their bricks in preparation to build. Niensi-Luganzo John Magembe has handed over to Elly Mamuya in this area. As usual, one of the largest problems here is illegal fishing camps and monitoring the size of nets used to fish with. The Field Officers remove people time and time again, but there seems to be some confusion between the authorities who issue the fishing permits. In many instances fees have been paid but licenses not issued! The timber industry still carries on and now, sadly, due to the number of hard wood trees that have been taken out the size of these trees has diminished to the point that there is now a thriving business in dealing with the offcuts. TCHCWP village meeting in Nguruka The villages are facing problems this year with wildlife coming in and eating their crops. Mamuya thinks that one of the reasons may be due to the fact that the Wasukuma have been moved out of the Lake Sagara area with their cattle. In the past they created a buffer between the villages and much of the wildlife. Nevertheless work has been carried on with Usinga nearly finished their dispensary and doctor's house. Ukumbi kakoko have finished their school toilets and Nguruka are finishing their secondary school hall. Lumbe still have to start work on their village office although they have all the materials on site. We have sent a letter to Usinga commending them on their hard work every year to make sure village projects are carried out and finished. It is encouraging to work with them. Rungwa Since October last year over 1,660 pieces