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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

insects

Immortalized by a bug: Minimizing the environmental impacts of development

Submitted by Chris Bennett on Mon, 2009-09-21 15:15

The Superbotrechus Bennetti beetle was discovered during a survey of cave biodiversity in China.

One of the best parts of the job as a World Bank Task Team Leader is the opportunity to learn new skills. What I never anticipated when I joined the Bank is that I would end up being immortalized by a bug. Or to be specific, a beetle that was named after me – the ‘Superbotrechus Bennetti’.

The World Bank has very strict safeguard policies which we must follow on our projects. These are designed to minimize or mitigate the environmental and social impacts of the projects. During the preparation of the Yichang-Badong Highway Project in China we learned that the route would traverse an area of karst caves.

From a biodiversity point of view, karst caves are very special. They are often completely isolated ecosystems where one can find unique species, particularly invertebrates. When encountering karst caves it is important to record the existing biodiversity as well as take measures to ensure that wherever possible the caves are protected from the impacts of development.

Biodiversity meets social networks in new macroscopic observatory

Submitted by Claudia Gabarain on Mon, 2009-06-01 23:51

A promising web find that should catch the attention of our resident biodiversity expert, Tony, if it hasn't already: scientists from around the world are gathering this week in London for the e-Biosphere Conference, where they'll present and discuss a project to create a "macroscopic observatory" of biodiversity that will combine social networks in internet and contributions by their users.

James Edwards, executive director of the Encyclopedia of Life at the Smithsonian Institution and conference organizer, explains the system will be free of charge and open to all. Any user will be able to access a satellite image through the web and get detailed information on every species in it, from the trees to the insects in that ecosystem or data on the DNA of the microbes living in those insects. Or anyone could look up an insect from his garden, identify it and get information on its origin and potential damage. Also, users will be able to contribute their own observations to create a huge world database that would help understand the environmental changes in different areas of the globe.

According to the organizers, many of the components of the observatory are already up and running, so it's just a matter of getting the systems connected to start seeing some results. A couple of these components are ARKive, a database of photos and videos, and Aquamaps, a marine biodiversity map system.

Bugs or early morning videoconferences in Laos: take your pick

Submitted by William Rex on Thu, 2008-04-03 21:16

About a couple of months ago I took over as the team leader of the Nam Theun 2 Social and Environment project  and am joining Nanda to blog about the project. Nanda’s description of eating insects made an American colleague mention a popular US reality TV show called “Fear Factor” that apparently revolved around eating insects. Here in Laos that’s no big deal – I can recommend crickets stir fried in soy sauce to accompany your beerlao – but the thought of being stuck in endless NT2 team meetings does seem to induce real terror among some.

Meetings abound because NT2 is a pretty big and complex program, and we have a large team with a broad range of expertise, including a number of long-standing consultants. A number of us, including me, are based in Vientiane. The rest of the team is spread across Asia, Europe and North America, which makes videoconferences part of life, and guaranteed to be at a bad time for someone.

I’ve just finished reading emails about water quality monitoring – someone explaining the science of how to choose the right places and right depths to take samples, as well as the range of things to monitor – and a mention of “biota” makes me wish I’d listened more in my biology class.

No more insects – Back to more mundane life on Nam Theun 2

Submitted by Nanda Gasparini on Tue, 2008-04-01 21:42

So I’m not eating insects any more (like I was last year*) as unfortunately that really isn’t my daily job (by unfortunate I mean the wildlife tracking, not the insect eating), but back in the office catching up on Nam Theun 2 (NT2) readings after coming back from a 2-week trip that included no insects.

It’s amazing how many things can happen in two weeks time, particularly if it’s an incredibly complex project we’re talking about:

Tracking wildlife in Lao - Day six: From Camp 6 to Ban Navang

Submitted by Nanda Gasparini on Tue, 2008-03-25 06:45

Arrived at Ban Navang! Arlyne and Tony with some of the villagers who were working on the wildlife monitoring.

Feb. 9, 2007* - This morning we, sadly, had to make our way out of the forest. We had our breakfast and left around 6:30 am as the transect teams were leaving to do their last day (day four) of their surveying in this area (tomorrow they’ll move to a new location).

The walk on the trail back was absolutely stunning. It is such a beautiful forest, it’s hard to describe and no adjective would probably ever do it justice. On the walk back we got lucky again and saw some Douc Langurs! They really are amazing creatures. And they sure make some giant leaps as they make their way from tree to tree.

We stopped midway to have lunch, and reached Ban Navang shortly after 3 pm (about a 16-kilometer walk from Camp 6, towards the opposite direction than Tha Phai Ban). Ban Navang is a very nice, but very poor, village of about 310 people. With support from the WMPA they have been able to build water wells, a school, and the typical “toilet houses” you see in Lao villages: small, little houses made up of wood and palm leaves with a squat toilet. They also have some water wells where Arlyne and I bathed today.

Tracking wildlife in Lao - Day five: Camp 6

Submitted by Nanda Gasparini on Fri, 2008-03-21 07:29

Feb. 8, 2007* - Second day of transect for us and third for the team. Arlyne and I joined a different group today, while Tony and Jim joined our group from yesterday. Our most interesting viewings today were Brown Hornbills – big birds about 70 centimeters tall, with a tucan-like beak, and sitting very high up in the trees – and a Giant Black Squirrel, just sitting there, with its large, bushy tail that made it look kinda like a skunk from where I was sitting (with my binoculars about 200 meters away.) The animals were so beautiful! I never imagined getting this excited about seeing a bird, squirrel or monkey, particularly when they are hundreds of meters away! But it’s exciting stuff! Like Tony says… the “WOW” factor: that moment when you first say “wow” and your perspective changes forever….

Perhaps almost as amazing as seeing the wildlife is noting the talent of these men in spotting things that are hundreds of meters away (granted they used to hunt for a living). While they have binoculars as well, they mainly spot the animals with their bare eyes, it’s incredible! I could barely see the hornbill at first, and they could just tell from hundreds of meters away, that high up on a tree, was a silhouette next to some leaves (which was a hornbill). I guess Arlyne and Tony are right; these are just the skills that they develop on a daily basis.
Lao Jungle Diary 5

Tracking wildlife in Lao - Day four: Camp 6

Submitted by Nanda Gasparini on Wed, 2008-03-19 11:02

Mr. Xaypanya signals on the map where we went that day while Tony and Arlyne, on the left, and Jim and I, on the right, watch.

Feb. 7, 2007* - Although this was my first transect ever, and our first transect here, it was the team’s second day. We woke up at 5:30 am, had breakfast, and left for the transect just before 7 am. Arlyne and I joined one group, while Tony and Jim joined another. In each group there are generally three people (usually men in this case): the leader and another “observer” (looking out for species) and a guard (just in case).

The idea of the transect is to cover about two kilometers of territory, in a straight line (which is set up on the first day following GPS location and compass bearing), slowly and quietly, listening and looking out for the species. Why five types in our case? According to Arlyne, they chose these five because they generally are relatively easy to either hear or see in this forest but are also some of the most threatened by hunting – a big concern in the NT2 Watershed.

The aim of the survey is, then, to measure the abundance of these five species over each transect, repeating it every four years, for 30-years (the period financed by the Nam Theun 2 Power Company), which will allow the WMPA to track whether wildlife levels have been maintained, increased or decreased (and thereby assess whether protection efforts are working).

Making a stop on the way to Camp 6 to have lunch. My favorite was the meng da geo, a gel-like substance in which to dip the rice, except this one was made of crushed, dry insects.

Feb. 6, 2007* - Up at 6 am, pack, enjoy some nice instant coffee Arlyne brought, some sticky rice with chicken left over from last night, and ready to go!

Today was a “point A” to “point B” day, meaning our main goal was to get to Camp 6, sixteen kilometers away from Tha Phai Ban, to join the groups working on the wildlife monitoring (the “transect” teams) – the reason why we’re here!

The walk wasn’t bad at all. We stopped about half way to have some lunch and got to camp by 4:30 pm. The forest is so beautiful, there’s so much energy! We walked through some villages, each with their own map pointing to what part of the protected area they live in and which parts they use for agriculture, to hunt, gather forest products, and which areas they fully protect. I also got to practice my Lao with my WMPA (Watershed Management and Protection Authority, which manages the protected area) and government friends, which was a nice little extra benefit for me!

Once at camp, we set up our tents, had a bath in freezing Nam Che river (I thought I’d lose a toe!) and had dinner of freshly-caught fish and sticky rice. My favorite part was the meng da geo, a gel-like substance in which to dip the rice, except this one was made of crushed, dry insects (much tastier than it sounds!)