2008 - Field Activities, Hellshire Hills
Progress has also been made on major up-grades to the two main nesting site hides. Concrete platforms are now under construction, and will support collapsible hides made of permanent materials. Although this is a major undertaking, it promises to pay huge dividends in terms of the efficient and comfortable observation of nesting activities.
2008 has also seen the incorporation of a new iguana project worker, Mr. Kenroy Williams. Known as “Boomseye,” or “Booms” for short, Mr. Williams began working with the field team in December of 2007, and his utility and dedication to the project have made him an indispensable addition. Booms is now trained in the operation of the predator trapping grid and is being trained to assist with other conservation activities. Most remarkably, Booms loves to carry heavy loads of supplies and equipment up to South Camp – a constant chore that is arguably the most difficult task attending our conservation effort. Booms simply likes the exercise, and as the youngest member of our team, at 25, he is up to the task. Of course, a major impetus for hiring an additional field worker relates to security and safety concerns. There is safety in numbers! Moreover, increasing the size of our field team is consistent with our objective of increasing local capacity to conduct conservation work in the Hellshire Hills.
The project also continues to bring awareness of the iguana’s plight to the island’s next generation of conservationists. Most notably, Byron Wilson’s University of the West Indies “Conservation Biology” course was able to get up close and personal with free ranging iguanas in Hellshire. Two field trips consisting of 15 students each made the trek up to South Camp and were rewarded by seeing at least two iguanas! In the past, students were marched into Hellshire from the north side – a long and unpleasant walk through disturbed forest. And they never saw iguanas. Now students access Hellshire by boat, camp on an idyllic beach for two nights, and routinely see iguanas and other threatened species. Indeed, their association with and concern for Hellshire’s wildlife can only be heightened by such an experience. One of those trips included a final year student who will enter a masters program with B. S. Wilson in September. Her project will focus on assessing other components of biodiversity in Hellshire, and will draw on the long-term data set generated from our pitfall trapping surveys – which have now been conducted for 12 consecutive years.
