Report from the joint LTER/ELTOSA Conference

Inhaca, Mozambique

July 21-24, 2002

 

Prepared by

 

Robert B. Waide

Executive Director

LTER Network Office

 

The National Science Foundation funded participation in a joint meeting of scientists from the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network and African countries with existing (Namibia, South Africa) and planned International LTER Networks (Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique).  The conference was held on Inhaca Island and was followed by a two-day workshop on information management at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo.  U.S. participants led this workshop, while other U.S. scientists made site visits to various countries.  These included:

 

U.S. participant

U.S. LTER site

Country visited

Dan Childers

Florida Coastal Everglades

Mozambique

Craig Harris

Kellogg Biological Station

Kenya, Uganda

Laura Huenneke

Jornada

Namibia

Ernesto Mancera (student)

Florida Coastal Everglades

Mozambique

Deborah Peters

Jornada/Sevilleta

Botswana

Peter McCartney

Central Arizona – Phoenix

South Africa

John Porter

Virginia Coastal Reserve

South Africa

Sonia Ortega

Network Office

Botswana

Bill Michener

Network Office

South Africa

Kristin Vanderbilt

Sevilleta

South  Africa

 

 

NSF support permitted the participation of 13 U.S. and 14 African scientists in the conference and 19 African scientists in the workshop (list attached).  Other scientists from the University of Virginia attended the meeting under separate funding.  The full meeting participant list can be accessed at this link.

 

 

The conference included a welcome by the Vice Chancellor of Eduardo Mondlane University, Prof. Brazão Mazula and an opening presentation by the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr. John Kachamila.  Presentations by Robert Waide and William Michener of the LTER Network Office rounded out the first session.  Twenty-four scientific presentations followed (see attachment). 

 

Substantial time during the conference was devoted to the continued development of the Environmental Long-Term Observatories Network of Southern Africa (ELTOSA), which is the regional ILTER body for Southern Africa.  The following actions were taken at the meeting:

·            Retention of the name ELTOSA

·            Opening membership to include all countries in the Southern African region (south of the equator)

·            Scheduling annual meetings for 2003 (Botswana), 2004 (Tanzania), and 2005 (Namibia)

·            Definition of the position of chair of ELTOSA as a two-year elected position, with the incoming chair serving as acting chair if necessary

·            Election of John Henschel of Namibia as chair from 2002-2004

·            Definition of the regional committee as composed of chairs of country networks or discussion groups of countries with LTER Networks (Namibia, South Africa, Zambia) or plans to form such networks (Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania)

·            Development of a web page with information on ELTOSA and news from member countries, to be hosted by the National Research Foundation of South Africa

·            Development and approval of the outline of a business plan

 

 

Following the ELTOSA meeting at Inhaca Island, Michener, McCartney, Porter and Vanderbilt returned to Maputo to teach a two-day (July 25, 26) ecoinformatics workshop at Eduardo Mondlane University. Dr. Almeida Sitoe coordinated the onsite logistics and we were fortunate to have an extremely well-equipped computer lab and systems administrator at our disposal.  Each student had their own PC which was connected to the internet, albeit at limited bandwidth.  An LCD projector, other computers, and photocopying were all provided by the university, as were catered meals and morning and afternoon snacks.

 

Eighteen individuals, ranging from data/GIS managers to Research Program Directors, from six countries (6 from Mozambique, 5 from Namibia, 1 from Kenya, 2 from Botswana, 2 from Tanzania, and 2 from South Africa) attended the course.  Training topics included: lessons learned during database development in the LTER network; data sharing and data policies; information management system basics including: system components, data collection strategies and hardware and software considerations; making information available on the WWW (HTML, web page design considerations); metadata; quality assurance and quality control; data models for ecological databases; designing databases using MS Access; querying databases via SQL; linking databases to the WWW; workshop synthesis, evaluations and follow-up activities. Three hands-on exercises provided trainees with working experience in creating Web pages, creating an MS Access database and data entry forms, and linking an Access database to the Web.

 

It is clear that all countries present would benefit from additional training.  Most importantly, there is a clear need for continued networking among information management personnel in the various southern Africa countries.  All would benefit substantially from sharing tools, concepts, and experiences on an annual basis—as is the experience for LTER information managers in the United States.

 

 

Program

Sunday: July 21, 2002

    • Departure from Maputo International Airport to Inhaca (9:00, 13:00 and 16:30)
    • Arrival of participants to Maputo and transport to Inhaca Island;
    • Check-in at Inhaca Lodge;
    • Registration;

Monday: July 22, 2002

    • 8:30 - Late arrivals and registration;
    • 9:00 - Welcome (by Prof. Brazão Mazula, Vice Chancellor of the UEM)
    • 9:15 - Official Opening of the Conference (by Dr John Kachamila - the Minister of Environmental Affairs)
    • 9:25 - ILTER-NET  - Robert Waide
    • 9:45 - Information Management and Policy - William Michener

10:00 -10:20 - Coffee break

Session 1: Biodiversity and Human Development (the positive effect of reconciliation and reconstruction in human development; the impact of floods, population movement and resettling on the Environment; sustainable natural resource management);

    Morning Session: (Chair: Rogério Uthui)

·         10:20 - Inhaca Island, home of marine biodiversity - Tomás Muacanhia

·         10:40 - African biodiversity and development issues - Evaristo Baquete

·         11:00 - LTER for Education - Sonia Ortega

·         11:20 - Land use change integrated analysis (LUCIA) in Africa - Paul Desanker

·         11:40 - Social and Economic aspects of biodiversity - Isilda Nhantumbo

12:00 - 12:30 General discussion and wrap up

12:30 - 14:00 Lunch

    Afternoon Session: (Chair:Feetham Banyikwa )

·         14:00 - Society, economics and natural resources in rural  South Africa : A case for long – term research at the human-environment interface -  Wayne Twain.

·         14:20 - Links US-Southern Africa – Bob Swap

·         14:40 - Regional Atmosphere Circulation - Harold Annegarn

·         15:00 - ELTOSA Position Paper - Joh Henschel

·         15:20 - Limpopo Floods - Paiva Munguambe/Zélia Menete

15:40 - Coffee break

·         16:00 - Aquatic weed of Central and Southern Mozambique - Tomás Chiconela

·         16:20 - Establishment of Cotesia flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for biological control of Cereal stemborers in Mozambique and the farmers perceptions of cereal pests  

·         16:40 - 17:10 - General discussion

18:00 - 19:30  Ice breaking

Tuesday: July 23, 2002

Session 2: LTER (Introduction by the LTER-NET, ELTOSA, site and institutional development towards LTER in Southern Africa, research reports from abroad and Africa, field methods (weather, biophysical, socio-economic, sharing and management of data);

Morning Session: (Chair – Sonia Ortega)

·         8:00 - LTER: Namibian Experience - Joh Henschel

·         8:20 - LTER: South African Experience - Johan Pauw

·         8:40 - Serengueti National Park, Tanzania - Feetham Banyikwa

·         9:00 - LTER-MZ a research and development perspective - Luisa Santos

·         9:20 - SADC - ELMS

·         9:40 - Malawi

10:00 - 10:20 - Coffee break

·         10:20 - Botswana

·         10:40 - Kenya

·         11:00 - General discussion

Afternoon Session: Chair: (Luisa Santos)

·         14:00 - Discussion groups (Networking and regional ecological research needs, Trans-institutional and Trans-boundary data and information management, ELTOSA legal framework, Other themes to be identified)

·         16:00 - Reporting to plenary

Evening or late afternoon: ELTOSA-AGM

Wednesday: July 24, 2002

Session 3: Marine Biodiversity (Introduction to Inhaca Island, marine research, coastal zone management. Establishment of a LTER site at Inhaca – panel discussion);

Chair: Bernardo Ferraz

·         8:00 - Key note presentation by Bernardo Ferraz

·         8:20 - Seagrass in tropical and temperate climates - Jay Zieman

·         8:40 - A decade of marine biology in Mozambique, current research and future trends - Salomão Bandeira

·         9:00 - Scuba diving impacts on reef communities in Southern Mozambique - Marcos Pereira

·         9:20 - Natural Mangrove Regeneration on Inhaca Island in Mozambique - Tomás Muacanhia and Gabriel Albano

·         9:40 - General overview of geological and environmental problem in Inhaca barrier island system - Isidro Manuel and Mussa Achimo

10:00 - Coffee break

·         10:20 - Final discussion (plenary)

·         12:20 - Closing Session (by The Honourable Ms REJOYCE THIZWILONDI MABUDAFHASI (JOYCE) - South African Deputy Minister for the Environment)

Departure from Inhaca Airport to Maputo (14:00, 15:00 and 16:00)