São Tomé - saving forests, saving species

[Posted on behalf of José Tavares, Partner Development Officer]

Smack. No matter how many times I come to the tropics, when I step out of a plane there is always that sudden, startling feeling that enchants me. Smack. This what Norbert Schaffer, myself and Luis Costa (Director of Birdlife Portugal, Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves or SPEA) felt when at 6 am we stepped off the night plane from Lisbon onto the tarmac of the ambitiously named São Tomé International airport.

We came here to discuss future project opportunities.  São Tomé and Príncipe is an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, covering just over 1,000 square kilometres and with only 163,000 nationals (the second smallest population in Africa).  It is Portuguese-speaking, gaining independence in 1975. 

It has 4 critically endangered bird species, and about half of the 50 or so regularly occurring species are endemic, meaning that the country is hugely important for global biodiversity. SPEA is also trying to help develop and strengthen the Birdlife contact organisation here – a fledgling outfit called ABS (Associação dos Biólogos Santomenses) that has significant conservation challenges to tackle.  We also came to get the latest update on a serious threat to the country's biodiversity, an oil palm concession joint venture between the São Tomé Government and a French-Belgian conglomerate, that has already cut hundreds of hectares of secondary tropical forest next to an important area for three of the critically endangered species: the dwarf olive ibis, São Tomé fiscal and São Tomé grosbeak.  We hope to meet them and develop a strategy that both minimises the impact of current developments on the forest and wildlife, and maximises the opportunities for collaboration to secure strengthening of conservation protection.

After lengthy customs procedures, and while our bodies were getting used to the humidity and tropical heat (following the initial smack) we met Hugulay Maia and José Vera Cruz, volunteer and vice-president of ABS, who took us to the hotel. As we drove through the slowly awakening laid-back small capital city, we could not miss the forested hills in the distance - the reason that brought us here.  Our first meeting is at 10 am, and it looks like it will be a long day.

More soon, along with some photos, José.

For technical information on each species, visit the BirdLife Data Zone:
Dwarf olive ibis, São Tomé fiscal, São Tomé grosbeak