Inventory and characterization of the mangrove's state of health

The various objectives of the Touho commune's environmental management plan are to inventory and map the floristic diversity of mangrove species throughout the commune, and to identify degraded mangroves. To this end, members of the Hô-üt association were trained in the identification of mangrove and back mangrove plant species, as well as in inventory techniques and the characterization of mangrove health. Field surveys consisted of recording a GPS point approximately every 50 meters within the Touho mangrove. At each point, participants made a 360° turn, noted all the plant species present, and characterized the state of health of the mangrove. The completed field sheets were then entered into the computer before being transferred to the consulting firm in charge of mapping. The latter then produced and delivered maps showing the distribution of mangrove species and their state of health, after GIS processing. The Hô-üt association then organized the presentation of this work to the customary authorities, the local population and the departments of the North Province.

  • Involvement of the local population in mangrove surveys around their homes.
  • The support of the Department of Economic Development and the Environment for field surveys and the provision of GPS.
  • The support of the traditional authorities in conveying the project's message to the Touho tribes, which facilitated its acceptance.
  • The autonomy of association members to ensure reliable data collection.
  • Training in inventory and characterization techniques and GPS use.
  • Make sure you spend enough time in the mangroves with an identification guide to familiarize yourself with the species.
  • Make sure you have enough GPS units.
  • Encourage the formation of teams in pairs, comprising an "expert" who has undergone training, and a novice who can be trained in this way.
  • Ensure that the field survey protocol is followed to guarantee data reliability.
  • Ensure that field data is entered on a daily basis.
  • Present the data in spreadsheet form to facilitate the work of the design office.
  • Do not hesitate to ask the design office for corrections to maps.
Restoration of mangroves in degraded areas

One of the objectives of the Touho commune's environmental management plan is to establish the Hô-üt association as a competent player in mangrove restoration. To this end, members of the association have been trained in restoration techniques. The restoration project began with the creation of a mangrove nursery in the Koé tribe. Members then collected propagules during the mangrove fruiting period, before placing them in horticultural bags. Two members of the Hô-üt association, residents of the Koé tribe, were in charge of maintaining the nursery (watering, replacing dead plants, etc.) until the plants were large enough to be transplanted. Based on maps of the mangrove's state of health, the association planned several plantations with the local population and a school in Touho. The association took care of transferring the seedlings to the planting sites, before preparing holes with crowbars and transplanting the mangroves. One of the restored areas had been degraded by logging for the construction of lime houses. As the old trees were eliminated, the mangrove gradually disappeared.

  • Training the association in restoration techniques
  • Creation of a mangrove nursery
  • Collect and bag propagules in the nursery
  • Identification of a degraded area where natural recruitment is no longer assured.
  • Communication and coordination of plantations with the local population
  • Monitoring and maintenance of the nursery and plantations
  • Support for the Northern Province in bagging propagules
  • Support from Touho's traditional authorities for the commune's tribes.
  • Prefer member-to-member transmission of training directly in the field rather than in the classroom.
  • Whenever possible, encourage the creation of a nursery close to the person in charge of its maintenance. This person must be motivated - maintenance should not be a constraint.
  • Make sure that the mangrove was present on the selected restoration site before planting. If conditions are not favourable, the success of restoration activities may be compromised.
  • Avoid planting where mangroves are showing signs of self-regeneration.
  • Set planting dates outside customary events (weddings, festivals, ceremonies, etc.).
  • Post planting dates and locations as close as possible to the most frequented places.
To take multiple measures to strengthen efforts in forest fire prevention and nature conservation

Based on its topographic features, the 9 protection stations in Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve are further subdivided into 27 units.  27 rangers teams, each comprising 7-10 frontline rangers, were formed and carried out daily routine patrols.  During the critical period, these teams were stationed in the field to defend their respective areas to the last.  The Reserve vigorously promoted a full-range supervision and field camping measures, and continued to tighten the control of fire sources in the typhoon-stricken area, the areas with cash trees, and the areas open for tourism.  It also strengthened in an all-round way the forest fire brigades with a special emphasis on lookouts, communications and fire fighting.  Three professional firefighting teams were formed to cover the north, west, south slopes of Changbai Mountain, and their skill trainings and fire prevention and fighting drills were strengthened.  Joint defence and joint protection were enhanced; a regional joint emergency response mechanism was established.  Combined efforts were made to conduct public education of forest fire prevention.

1. As the top priority for ecological protection in the Reserve, forest fire prevention was included as an important indicator in performance appraisal.  The specific responsibilities were broken down into different levels from protection stations to patrol teams and frontline rangers, and pledges of responsibilities were signed accordingly.  2. Regular meetings for joint defence and joint protection were held with nearby forest farms and villages, and respective pledges of responsibilities were signed.   

The Reserve is located in remote area with limited accessibility and harsh working conditions.  Further complicated by the positions available and the salary and benefits it can offer, the Reserve always has difficulty in recruiting talents of high skills and abilities.

Science popularization and education

Using the websites, WeChat Public Account, Newspapers, Popular Science Books, Popular Science Videos, Documentaries, News Coverage, Warning Signs, Field Education Sites, AR Hanma Exhibition Room, Ecological and Cultural Museum, Pamphlets, Summer Camps, Eco-Forums, Publicity campaigns in schools and communities, Eco-education and field studies base, etc., publicity and education are carried out to the public. This makes the public understand the importance of protecting moose population and improve the public awareness of ecological protection.

Professional and easy to understand publicity materials

A popular way of publicity

Application of new media

Application of new technology

Prepare different publicity materials for different target groups and adopt different publicity methods so that they can understand and accept the ideas you want to express.

Conservation and management

Patrol work shall be carried out regularly to get the latest situation and problems in the nature reserve in time, and formulate corresponding solutions. Hanma cooperated with Forest Police of Greater Khingan Mountains in Inner Mongolia for moose anti-poaching, ensure good connectivity of migration corridors, protect wildlife from poaching and reduce human interference. Hanma cooperated with Alongshan Forestry Bureau, Jinhe Forestry Bureau and Kuduer Emergency Management Force to prevent wildfires, to avoid large-scale damage to the moose habitat in a short period of time, and to ensure the reproduction and survival of moose population.

Sound legal guarantee

Sufficient law enforcement authority

Professional law enforcement team

A sufficient number of law enforcement officers

The protection of wild animals must be guaranteed by relevant laws, and strong law enforcement force is needed to ensure the implementation of laws, so that people do not want, dare not, and can not poach.

Scientific research and monitoring

Through the fishnet method to set up camera traps, sample plots more than 20% of the nature reserve, collecting moose forage plant samples, feces samples, hair samples, etc. for lab analysis, to investigate the moose population density, genetic and dispersal mechanism, nutritional adaptation strategy, gut microbiological characteristics, movement characteristics in Hanma and adjacent areas, and to formulate protection countermeasures based on these results.

Professional technical team

Sufficient funds

Effective management

The most important thing to monitor moose is to have a professional technical team. Professor Jiang Guangshun from College Of Wildlife And Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University has been conducting investigation and monitoring of wildlife for many years. With professional technical knowledge, personnel, equipment and rich experience, it can ensure the smooth implementation of the project, and the results are quite reliable.

Drawing up a complete, exhaustive and up-to-date inventory of echinoderms

An inventory was drawn up through a bibliographical study, field research and photographic databases. Genetic analyses also completed the data.

Success is the fruit of exhaustive, long-term work, carried out using a multifactorial, participatory approach.

By cross-referencing all the data (bibliographic, photographic and field), some species were removed from the local inventory because they had been confused with local species, and others were discovered.

Creation of awareness, training and communication campaigns with farmers.

With support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), courses were designed to enable farmers to gain new knowledge in sustainable practices and achieve the required levels of sustainability.

  • The alliance made with farmers in the Mezquital Valley who were already engaged in sustainable practices was an example for the new members of the Bimbo program, as they served as a kind of "ambassadors" of the initiative. This positive influence motivated more farmers to participate.
  • Working with a technical partner, such as CIMMYT, to design appropriate training for farmers.
  • The topics should be attractive and practical for the farmer, i.e. they should be able to implement them as soon as possible so as not to lose interest.
  • Farmers are eager to learn.
  • Interest makes projects move faster.
  • Ensure effective communication to farmers about the intrinsic benefits of sustainable agriculture and the potential savings in implementing these best practices.
Implementation of incentives based on "Sustainability Levels".

With support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to motivate improvement in the application of good agricultural practices.

  • Interest in and ease of capacity building
  • Inspiration to adopt good agricultural practices
  • Producer-driven and easy-to-implement content
  • The topics should be attractive and practical for the farmer, i.e. they should be able to implement them as soon as possible so that they do not lose interest.
  • Farmers are eager to learn; interest makes projects move faster.
  • Ensure effective communication to farmers about the intrinsic benefits of sustainable agriculture and the potential savings in implementing these best practices.
Promote the CCCA model to engage communities in conservation and to develop sustainable livelihoods

The demonstration of the CCCA model in pilot communities could show the Myanmar government what impact can be made if communities are involved in conservation actions and if benefits are provided for these actions. Supported by CEPF, GEI and four local NGO partners expanded the project communities to 27, conserving two more critical ecosystems: Inle Lake and Moeyingyi Wetlands. The total area conserved by the communities increased to almost 17,000 hectares. There was also an increase in participating households, from 4,565 to 21,615 people.

Good relationships with diverse stakeholders, such as central and local governments, local communities and local NGOs enabled the success of this building block.

The projects showed positive engagement with communities. Even though some communities lacked motivation and there were difficulties in communicating with them, the implementing NGOs exerted much effort to discuss projects with local people and to show that they respected community needs and willingness. However, the projects have had less success in engaging government agencies and companies. As important stakeholders, they were not identified through the initial stakeholder analysis process and did not share the same level of understanding of the CCCA projects with NGOs and communities. Their engagement and participation need to be considered in future projects.