Rangers remove the carcass and deal with poisoning
  • Once the ranger arrives on site, he has to prepare to remove the carcass from the field usually by calling for the INPA field truck. 
  • If there are injured animals on site these have to receive first-aid and veterinary care quickly.  
  • If the carcass is laced with poison it has be secured to prevent access by more animals.
  • The site has be searched for more animals further away.
  • The entire site has to be treated also as a crime scene so investigative and forensic evidence is maintained and then collected carefully.
  • Proper training or protocols for dealing with poisoning events
  • Proper radio or telephone system for all areas.
  • Tractor or 4X4 vehicle capable of removing animal carcass from the field
  • Veterinarians on-call in all areas to receive poisoned animals

Important to have proper training and practive of protocols for dealing with poisoning events.




     
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System links to Telegram app for sending alerts to relevant rangers

After the algorithms determine that an alert is needed, it sends out an alert only to nearby on-call rangers via the Telegram app on their smartphones.

  • integration of alert system with real-time ranger position and ranger's on-call status (active or off-duty)
  • integration with Telegram system
  • Integration with Waze or other GPS-based driving solution app

Telegram is best for sending alerts.

Focusing alerts nly to relevent rangers reduces unnecessary false alarms and improves effcieny of real responses. 

Algorithms for likelihood of carcass and need for alert

Specific algorithms process the GPS data on position, altitude, speed and temperature and consider all zonation as poisoning-prone areas (based on land use for grazing and previous events) to determine if alert is necessary.  

Algorithms need to rule out vulture descending onto a cliff or nest, and to include only descent onto areas where carcass likelihood is highest (based on ground inclination).

Algorithm calculates slope of the land at point of descent and adds this to the poisoning likelihood determination.

  • need excellent detailed GIS data of ground features and topography 
  • need lots of data of previous poisoning events
  • need data on land use (for rangeland or crops)

 

  • High resolution topgraphy layers are very important to rule out vultures landing on unlikely sites 
Advanced loggers receive GPS data
  • Integration of data on position, altitude, speed, and temperature from Orintela transmitters with the INPA information system 
  • IT professionals and developers
  • input from Ornitela

Input from transmitter manufacturer helps to integrate with home systems.

GPS-Tagged vultures send out data

In order to receive GPS data there have to be a requisite numner of birds with approriate tags that transmit real-time data.

 

  • experienced staff to capture and tag vultures
  • financial backing to purchase tags and the data

The more tagged birds there are, the wider the coverage and the better the success.

Biochar

Char is carbonized organic matter that is produced by pyrolysis.

Biochar is char used for biotechnology, such as in agriculture.

Charcoal is char used as fuel.

 

Biochar has some important properties:

  1. Resistance against biological and chemical decomposition, so it lasts in soil for centuries and can be used to store atmospheric carbon.
  2. A high surface area
  3. Negatively charged surfaces and some positive charges with can hold soluble plant nutients such as nitrogen and potassium and other minerals.

In Bangladesh, the soils are often low in soil organic matter, because the warm-humid climate and agricultural tillage promote organic matter breakdown.   Soil that are low in organic matter become hard and open pore space.  Crop growth can be severely limited.

 

Given the excellent climate from growing crops, improving the organic matter in Bangladeshi soils can have profound results.  Biochar can do this because it doesn't break down.  Instead, it combines with manures, composts and soil organic matter to from new, stable humus.

 

By increasing soil organic matter there is:

  1. An increase in soil crumbs and large pore space
  2. Increased aeration
  3. Increased water penetration
  4. Increased plant-available water
  5. Increased soil life
  6. Increase root growth and crop yield.

 

 

There are several key steps in getting biochar into common use:

  1. Scientific knowledge and practical knowledge of the use of biochar in Bangladeshi agriculture.
  2. Desimination of the knowledge to farmers
  3. Farmers' practical experience with biochar, so that they can evaluate what they would be prepared to pay for it.

 

Farmers get excited about biochar once they witness the effects of biochar in research experiments, agricultural extension field trials, and local farmer trials.

 

In one case, after a tour of a farmer's field plots, some farmers came back later and carried off baskets of his soil.

The "Akha" Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) Gasifier Cookstove

A TLUD is a simple gasifier that is composed of a vertical tube that is filled with small pieces of wood, or densified biomass like pellets, balls or small briquettes. This is called a 'fuel bed.' It is ignited at the top, and underfed with primary air from a grate at the bottom. The ignition front travels down through the fuel by radiating heat into the raw fuel, drying it, and initiating pyrolysis. Released volatiles are ignited by the flame. The reaction is sometimes called a “migratory flaming pyrolytic front” (MFPF). Residual char is left on top of the fuel bed as the MFPF moves down.   

 

The burning volatiles create an orange gas flame for cooking.  Once pyrolysis is completed, the orange flame goes out, and the left-over char is colleded and smothered, or quenched with water.

 

We needed the "Akha," a culturally-appropriate TLUD for Bangladesh.  It had to be made locally, study, and made with with as little (imported) metal as possible.  Because of its heavy construction, it has a hinged grate for removing the char.  To protect the Akha for free use, an there is an open-access patent.  The current version of the Akha is a prototype being evaluated for acceptance, and obvious improvements can be made.

For the Akha to be successful, it has to:

  1. have very low emissions of smoke
  2. be easy to operate and burn reliably without going out
  3. make char for use as biochar or as charcoal.
  4. burn less fuel than a traditional stove (even when the char is unburned)

Making char may be the critical enabling feature for Akha acceptance.

 

 

The main lesson learned was that the Akha was well accepted by the women who were well trained in its use.  We already knew the main limitations of a TLUD:

  1. It does not burn loose biomass, so traditional stoves will be saved for that purpose.
  2. It takes time to size woody fuel into small pieces, however, producing fuel for TLUDs may become some's livilhood.
  3. It does not burn wet fuel.
  4. It is batch-loaded with fuel rather than continuously stoked, to for long cooking times it will have to br reloaded.
  5. Women have to the trained on how to prepare fuel, and operate a TLUD.

 

Sustainability and replicability

Maintaining and strengthening the established stakeholder’s engagement mechanism with  overarching  provincial, district and divisional governance bodies with sustainable financing solutions and capacity building is required for sustainability and replicability of the solution.  'The National Policy of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas management' provides the required policy framework for replication of this solution. When the communities identify the potential of resilience building of their livelihood through conservation, it becomes an incentive for their active collaboration on co-management and join monitoring of natural resources. Within given Sri Lankan context, there are many environmentally sensitive seascapes, where it could replicate this model, and this is being factored within National Environment Action Plan 2021-2030 for Sri Lanka. Therefore, there is an evident potential for sustainability and replication of this model.

  • Partnerships with stakeholders at every level
  • Continuous awareness raising about the importance of BRMS and community lives associate with it.

 

  • During the initial phase of restoring the BRMS, a case study was carried out using methods of unstructured focus groups discussions via cause-problem-impact diagrams and structured key informant interviews, and observations of this initiative revealed that community believes on 'CBNRM and Co-management' over 'regulation driven management' of Department of Wildlife Conservation. This solution was accepted and is currently proposed for replication at ESA national scaleup plan in seascapes.
  • Co-management of implementation activities to ensure sustainability and active lobbying to influence and implement conservation measures was also considered as a lesson learned.
Julien Winter
The "Akha" Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) Gasifier Cookstove
Biochar
Julien Winter
The "Akha" Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) Gasifier Cookstove
Biochar