Monitoring of Illegally Killed Birds in Akoura (Autumn 2020)

By Saad Ramadan

Under supervision of

Ghassan Ramadan Jaradi, PhD

December 2020

1. 1. INTRODUCTION

The Akoura Hima received the second autumn monitoring in 2018 using a combination of transect and point count monitoring methods, conducted in August, September, October and November 2018. The present report is related to the third autumn monitoring activity using Transects and Point counts methods. These comprise points and lines randomly selected in an area that is safe and away from mined lands, consequently our sampling was randomly selected within a stratified monitoring method. Accordingly, monitoring today using the same methodology of 2017 and 2018 makes both data 2017 and 2018 comparable with those of 2019. In addition, the Point Counts are for collecting comparable data within plots and the Transects are to not neglect what is happening between the Point Counts, if any. Like Point Counts, the transects also produce comparable data. Because some hunters park their cars on the side of the roads or off roads, and because of hearing their shots from distance, we add to the randomly selected plots some additional stations by observing hunters from appropriate vantage hidden points. For the simplicity of the result presentation, these additional plots were attributed to the nearest randomly selected plots.

REMINDER

Definition of Illegal killing and taking of birds

The definition given by BirdLife International is adopted: “The illegal killing and taking of birds is defined here as any form of deliberate action that results in the death or removal from the wild of an individual bird (regardless of whether it was the target of this action or not), that is prohibited under national or regional legislation”.

Description of the objectives of the AKOURA IKBs Monitoring

The three primary objectives of the IKBs monitoring of Akoura are:

(1) to estimate the illegally persecuted bird community composition and species richness through illegal killing and taking, at the study stations of the blackspot of Akoura,

(2) to track trends in the relative abundance of killed/non-killed species, and (3) to promote reduction of the illegal killing of these birds in Akoura and Lebanon.

The other, secondary objectives of the monitoring are:

To promote the sustainable community-based practice of bird conservation in Akoura, and

To inform concerned authorities about locations of most significant offences.

Due to the conduction of the autumn monitoring of IKBs, the objectives above are partially reached. We hope to advance towards achieving these objectives with the conducted spring monitoring.

Collection of Data

As in the monitoring of IKBs that was conducted in the falls 2017 and 2018, the present autumn monitoring 2019 relied partially on the Homat AlHima of Akoura for collecting data about illegal killing and taking of birds. They are from the local communities and were previously selected by SPNL after a series of meetings and trainings followed by evaluation of skills and qualifications. The advantage of being assisted by Homat AlHima is that they are known locally and treated with respect by the community.

At each plot, illegally killed birds are instantly identified (otherwise photographed) and their individuals are counted.

The collected data from a plot will be given the plot number, whilst the collected data from a transect will be given the numbers of the two plots located at the extremities of the transect (example: a Transect between Point Count 1 and 2 will be named Transect:1-2).

Survey Design

During the autumn 2019, we used the improved sampling monitoring sheet previously used in the fields of Akoura during the autumn 2018, where we added:

The date and the day of the week in order to differentiate between week-end and other days.

The slope orientation: Ubac/Adret

The number of hunters

Gender ratio (example: 2.1 = 2 males and one female)

The dominant tree

The cover of the major vegetation.

In addition to the information about the IKBs, the sampling sheet provides additional information that points to the type of habitat used by hunters and to the corresponding species shot.

Rules of monitoring

All monitoring activities at Akoura are in line with the Protocol of Monitoring of Illegally Killd Birds at Akoura.

The most important recommendations are:

Avoid too early monitoring for safety reasons.

Be in company of a local person, preferably from Homat Al Hima.

Each sample square/circle is surveyed only once each season to avoid being seen repeatedly by aggressive poachers.

Use vantage points when risky.

6. 6. The Point counts

Akoura: Grid and randomly selected plots for monitoring illegally killed birds. Unsafe areas are considered and avoided. Preferred places frequented by hunters played a role in fine tuning the Point-counts placements.

The following GPS points are given with altitudes for the 8 plots of monitoring.

34° 7’22.68″N 35°53’54.59″E, Alt. 1286m

34° 6’58.09″N 35°53’58.01″E, Alt. 1347m

34° 6’38.25″N 35°54’10.97″E, Alt. 1286m

34° 6’45.85″N 35°53’48.35″E, Alt. 1351m

34° 6’57.53″N 35°53’37.30″E, Alt. 1351m

34° 7’32.47″N 35°52’29.48″E, Alt. 1540m

34° 6’42.81″N 35°52’25.33″E, Alt. 1261m

34° 6’36.77″N 35°52’47.06″E, Alt. 1246m

7. 7. MONITORING RESULTS

8. 8. DETAILED RESULTS

The following Table indicate the number of species and their individuals illegally killed at Akoura:

From the Table just above, we conclude the following: