Lowell Cores a White Pine

This photo provides the back story to this. Dear friend Lowell Jantzi muscles an 8-inch increment borer into a white pine to collect some growth data for the Camp Deerpark management plan. We collected about 30 cores - and unfortunately chipped the bit in the process. All of our last cores had a funny little spiral swirl around them. [NOTE: This can be easily removed when the cores are sanded for measuring].  

Returning Results

After we've done the household interviews and run the inventory transects, we hold a village meeting to share what we found out, i.e. how much of different types of resources they use and how much is still in the forest. Image above shows Kyaw Zay Ya from the WCS Myanmar Program indicating where they transects we sampled were located.

Basic finding from our fieldwork in Tikon: small village demand (because of few households), enormous supply (because of large forest area). Issue now is what best to do so that the community doesn't lose access to the forest after stewarding it so well for 100 years.  Stay tuned.

The Baseline

Laying out the baseline for the inventory transects at Shinlonga involved setting the first stake (see First Stake) and the last stake (see The Last Stake) and then cutting a straight path through two kilometers of tropical forest. Took several days. A lot of rattan spines, pouring rain, mosquitos, and leeches. And numerous, wonderful interactions (see Tool Repair, Indigenous Knowledge, Shortwing Camp, Crossing Mawning Stream, and Believe Your Eyes). I am so ready to do another one these.   

Tree Marking II

The video of the forestry work at Camp Deerpark posted yesterday (see Tree Marking) was filmed on Sunday morning under a beautiful sunny sky. The weather on Saturday - when we did most of the marking - was a bit more challenging. As shown in the image above, Saturday afternoon was characterized by blustery wind and driving snow. Image below shows the lovely fire ring in the field next to Harvest Area #2. [NOTE: That's Kenton Baer on the left with the can of tree marking paint (and no gloves!) and Lowell Jantzi on the right with the clip board]. 

Logging Chains

Close-up of  logging chains in the back of one of the old trucks at NohBec in the Selva Maya of Quintana Roo, Mexico (see Selva Maya, Selva Maya II, and Radiator Cap). I got some funny looks when I took this picture. 

Tapajós Vignette (from the Archive)

Women were important members of the field crews in the Tapajós project (see Tapajós-Arapiuns).  One afternoon during the inventory work at Nova Vista, I noticed that one of the crew members had given her clipboard to a friend and grabbed something to take home for dinner that evening...

Shortwing Camp

Rather than walking back to Shinlonga every night, we decided to make a basecamp (see Room With a View) on the bank of the Mawning River near the village management area (see The Last Stake).  We called it "Shortwing Camp" in honor of the Rusty-bellied Shortwing (Brachypteryx hyperythra), a somewhat rare little bird that Rob Tizzard had been hearing constantly for several days but had been unable to photograph. [NOTE: Rob finally got a picture of it].

Making Flip Charts

Making flip charts for community meetings is always a bit tedious.  What is the best way to explain obscure scientific concepts to a group of subsistence farmers in northern Myanmar?  Things take a turn toward the artistic, however, when the charts have to be written in Burmese script.  Beautiful calligraphy. The sound of the Sharpie on the course paper (turn up the volume).  The text is about the medicinal plants to be included in the inventory of the Shinlonga Management Area (see The Last Stake). [NOTE: Saw Htun, the WCS director of the Northern Forest Complex, is doing the writing (thx, Saw Htun)]. 

Kachin Guides

Video snapshot of Naw Aung (see Naw Aung and His Sagawa and Tool Repair) and Naw Sein (see Naw Sein), two Kachin villagers who helped layout the management area baseline and do the inventory work at Shinlonga.  It was great fun to work with these guys. 

Crossing Mawning Stream

Before we decided it was best to just camp out (see Room With A View) by the Shinlonga Management Area, twice a day we had to wade across Mawning Stream. On the way there, the cold water was an instant wake up; coming back it was deliciously refreshing. In both directions, the hassle was taking off the leech socks, the regular socks, and the boots, rolling up your pants, lacing the boots together with the socks, and putting the whole thing around your neck - and then repeating the entire process in reverse after reaching the other side.