Newspaper Report of wildlife attack on villagers in Kono 20 February 2015

Still looking for further confirmation of this report by Samba, A (20 February 2015) " 'Baboons' Kill Town Chief in Kono" Awareness Times http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200527208.shtml (accessed 26 2 15). 

If confirmed I sympathise with the family and community of the aforementioned chief.

However I am concerned to note the tone of the report which seems to take great joy in the eradication of all of these wild animals. Firstly, while safety is an issue, to my understanding you do not confront a pack of dangerous wild animals, as they are likely to attack you if you do. There are ways to handle such situations that do not involve putting villagers in harm’s way. There are also ways to reduce the risk to communities without destroying our few remaining natural resources. However I see the extermination knee-jerk reaction in many rural communities around the world, which will inevitably lead to the extinction of already endangered species. We would not consider destroying the sea because it caused a natural disaster, nor would we consider destroying the air because it created a hurricane that wrecked thousands of homes. We would not destroy a river because someone drowned in it, in fact we would still view it as the bringer of life. We accept these aspects of nature without any ill will towards them, even when they are not alive. Although the tragedies are hard to understand,  we accept these reminders that we are not bigger than nature, which is another way of saying we are not bigger than God. So why is it that we are so easily prepared to eradicate other aspects of nature (flora and fauna) that are equally as important and deserve the same value if not more because they possess life itself. Is the only reason because we can exercise dominance over them but have no power over the rest of nature?

Secondly, as man encroaches further and further into the natural environment and destroys more and more forests and bush cover, animals are displaced from their natural habitats and relocate to other areas in search of food and habitat. This brings them into new areas they hitherto did not frequent and increases human-wildlife conflicts. The theory has already been proposed by many that this shifting pattern of displacement and relocation may have caused the ebola outbreak, due to increased proximity to human villages of displaced colonies of bats and other animals, increasing the likelihood of contagion. One trend I personally observed was farmers irresponsibly starting uncontrolled bush fires that travelled many, many miles beyond their own gardens, laying waste to miles of unfarmed hills and valleys as far as the eye could see leaving them bare of any cover. This phenomenon causes; loss of soil fertility and structure, loss of soil bioactivity, erosion of fertile soil due to exposure affecting soil and food security; negative effects on watersheds and ground water tables affecting water security; changes in microclimates; and destruction in the balance of all local ecosystems. It is no surprise that it also forces  animals to relocate into tighter and tighter areas, eventually coming into conflict with humans. Responsible and enforced environmental supervision is necessary not just for conservation of wildlife but for our own sustainable development and to encourage another highly lucrative mutually beneficial but neglected industry in Sierra Leone; Ecotourism.

Finally on an ethical note; Do we not have a responsibility as stewards to preserve the flora and fauna that God put on this Earth? To leave this Earth, its creatures and ecosystems as intact or better than we found them?   And if so, should we not be looking at sustainable prevention of conflicts between man and his environment (eg; restoration and replanting of destroyed forest and bush cover, to ensure animals are not competing with humans for survival space?).  

Tragedies such as the death of this town chief can be prevented with forward thinking.  Or is it the policy in Sierra Leone to eradicate all our natural resources completely, including the little remaining wildlife and natural environment that we have left?

Part 5 - Kayima Gravity Fed Water Supply Dam Excavation and Repair February 2014 - (DRAFT)

Summary: Project to mobilise local authorities and whole community of Kayima, Sandoh Chiefdom. Kono District, Sierra Leone, to repair and renovate Kayima gravity-fed water supply dam to correct heavily polluted water being drunk by towns people, reduce water borne disease, reduce annual soil incursion and increase water resilience through the dry season.

Click on a picture to see it full size

[I lost a lot of the final pictures, which are currently unopenable files on my laptop, due to a corrupted second hand SD card I bought in Sierra Leone.  The only ones I have were taken with my mobile phone. If anyone knows a techie who can open them please, please, please get in touch with me.]

Hand made dam further up stream while works going on. At one point in history the reservoir is reported to have reached this far; a job for tomorrow

Ideas have been suggested for there to be a series of mini dams before the main dam, each reservoir serving to progressively filter and sediment impurities. Ecological filtration and purification systems could be a viable solution here. Other work remaining to be done include fencing the main reservoir to prevent animals polluting the water, a new stopcock or unsiezing the old one if possible, and a regular sustainable programme of maintenance and inspection. There are at least two in the town who have a special interest in the dam, one of whom would provide cleaning and the other regular inspection and design and management of any upgrading projects. Local knowledge about the dam, its technical aspects, history and specifications varies. IRC should be approached to provide any documentation about their findings and their work in 2003. There may be funding schemes around Africa specifically aimed at repairing and upgrading existing gravity fed water supply systems.

After much washing away of black silt damage was more visible; one of the many holes in the reservoir floor

Hand made dam further up stream while works going on

After much washing away of black silt damage was more visible, showing damage to reservoir floor. A whole section of concrete skin had deteriorated due to substandard (low cement, high sand) concrete mix in 2003

 I brought my building contractors up to look at the damage and advise on quantities of cement necessary. They also carried out the concrete repairs.

Bondu Argue, Mohamed Bockarie and I each donated  10 bags cement, and the 3 of us chipped in for sand and gravel and for the excessively expensive metal filter grill (inflated because of its use in diamond mining)

Kai Fasuluku offered the Cocoa Cooperatives Chinese made power tiller mini tractor to haul sand gravel and cement to the Turntable.

The Section chief paid for a gallon of diesel for the power tiller.

Townspeople carried materials from the Turntable to the dam sack by sack on their heads.

VIDEO: Kasiyatama power tiller dropping off materials at Turntable for toting up to dam

Everybody worked voluntarily without pay, we just provided food on the afternoon of the second day.

We used between 15 and 20 bags cement on the floor repairs for the dam, the left overs were used to reinforce the newly constructed dry stone retaining wall.

Years of undermining by water erosion, concrete floor of dam was hollow, suspended, we filled the parts accessible with gravel sand cement concrete

Repairs being made using a rich mixture of concrete, further examination will be necessary to see how well these repairs bound to existing concrete

Showing damage to reservoir floor

repairs being made using a rich mixture of concrete, further examination will be necessary to see how well these repairs bound to existing concrete

repair to filter inlet

replacement filter mesh

slowly refilling, dry stone wall in background reinforced in places with cement

dry stone retaining wall 

Concrete freshly filled cavity outside front of dam (left, facing upstream) previously a major leakage point, this coincides with the egress point for the gutter surrounding reservoir which diverts run-off from the hillside above. Water erosion from this gutter may have been a possible factor in the creation of the cavity.

After 3 days of no water supply  the pressure was on to refill the reservoir. Concrete was left for a few hours and then water was slowly allowed to flow back in to the reservoir, relying on the presumption that concrete would set well under water. The emergency release pipe was left open. 

We had observed during excavation that the bed of the reservoir from about 5 metres away from the dam wall, was sand and gravel. We had asked the workers to stop dredging an area whenever they hit  the sand/gravel layer. Some areas were solid but our feet would sink in in other areas. We found this was because organic matter had become impregnated in with the sand and gravel forming a bog. During refilling we proceeded to 'wash' the sand and gravel by stepping up and down with our feet. The sand settled quickly but the organic matter would mix with the water and flow away in the mild current. After some time stamping in one area the sand and gravel would begin to solidify under our feet and the amount of organic silt floating away would decrease. We did this for a couple of hours. Although not completely finished, time limitation meant we had to stop. We left instructions to allow the water to flow for a few more hours and then the emergency waste pipe could be closed to allow the reservoir to fill up overnight. The supply tap to the town was to be kept closed during refilling. 

It was impossible to ascertain how much reservoir water would filter through the sand and gravel floor of the reservoir. 

The next morning the supply tap to the town was opened, I took a first sample from the mains where it crossed the river at the outskirts of town. Visually the water was completely clear with only a small amount of  suspended particles. I had to remove the bottle label to avoid confusing it for purchased bottled water (that clean!).  

The second sample taken some time later from the town appeared more polluted, the third and fourth samples taken the following days were slightly less polluted than the second but nowhere near as clean as the first. Compared to the pre-works condition of the water there was noticeable improvement, but not satisfactory. Ongoing monitoring will take place during the current dry season (2015) leading up to April, to compare water quality and resilience. 

first and second post-works water samples

first, second and third post-works water samples

first, second and third post-works water samples

(left) first, second and third post-works water samples (right) fourth sample

In the following days, we took a further trip up to the dam to investigate the cause. We found fresh evidence of small animals and concluded this could be a factor in disturbing the water. We hypothesised that animals had probably been scared away from the region of the reservoir by several days of intense human activity and had now returned.  

small animal tracks in area around reservoir

Part 4 - Kayima Gravity Fed Water Supply Dam Excavation and Repair February 2014 - (DRAFT)

Summary: Project to mobilise local authorities and whole community of Kayima, Sandoh Chiefdom. Kono District, Sierra Leone, to repair and renovate Kayima gravity-fed water supply dam to correct heavily polluted water being drunk by towns people, reduce water borne disease, reduce annual soil incursion and increase water resilience through the dry season.

Click on a picture to see it full size

We used sticks to mark out the holes and cracks in the concrete floor  (right facing downstream)

Mohammed Bockarie (left centre) and others

We used sticks to mark out the holes and cracks in the concrete floor  (right facing downstream)

We used sticks to mark out the holes and cracks in the concrete floor  (right facing downstream)

IRC repair project in 2003 went back as far as the front of large rock on the right of the picture. In 2014, in addition to removing 11 years of detritus which had refilled the reservoir, the town extended excavation to where I am standing with Saa Kaimondo (centre distance) 

We had dscussed using bushsticks to retain the earth bank and slow down further incursion, but the towns people decided this would be temporary, bush sticks would rot quickly and disintegrate, we also  discussed planting deep rooted grasses or water reeds. In the end the townspeople voted on using a barrier of locally available rocks to be gathered from nearby.

Video: Starting dry stone wall for earth retention

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