Project Report
| Sep 26, 2022
Wakashio Recovery plan updated report Sept 2022
By Jean Hugues Gardenne | Fund raising & Communications Manager
September 2022 update
It appears that the reptile populations had undergone a decline following the Wakashio oil spill, but we need more long term data to be able to determine the severity (it is how the modelling works, as the more data you collect the more accurate the previous results become).
We now have the pre oil spill and post oil spill genetic samples of the reptiles over to Cardiff University. One very interesting and preliminary result shows that the lesser night gecko populations in the SE are coming out as a separate genetic cluster, which emphasises the need to have established a captive assurance population.
Dr Nik Cole, Island Restoration Manager further reported: ‘Further genetic work over the next few months will determine two things: 1. Did we manage to collect a representative sample of the population genetics when we conducted the emergency rescue to establish the captive population; 2. Has there been a loss of genetic variance within the reptile populations on the islands given the preliminary evidence that the populations underwent a decline.'
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May 27, 2022
Wakashio Recovery plan updated report
By Jean Hugues Gardenne | Fund raising & Communications Manager
Nearly two years after the ecological disaster
May 27,2022, nearly two years after this tragic episode, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation continues to work alongside the authorities and relevant actors to mitigate the impact and consequences of the tragedy on our most threatened species. We have learned from the incident and are planning new procedures following this catastrophe. For the past year, consultations with the government have been underway. Discussions and meetings have taken place on a regular basis to come up with an action plan to avoid similar disasters and to be prepared to react quickly should the country face another oil spill in the future.
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Jan 27, 2022
Wakashio Recovery Action Plan
By Jean Hugues Gardenne | Fund Raising Manager
The coastal trees on Ile aux Aigrettes were also contaminated by the black sludge. Martine Goder, Education and Flora Programme Manager at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation confirmed that some of the trees next to the sea were covered in oil and had to be trimmed during the clean-up operations. These trees are recovering but they will take time to grow back to their original size. The affected vegetation is being monitored to investigate the long-term impact of the exposure to oil.
Martine Goder also explained that plants from the Ile aux Aigrettes nursery were transferred to mainland Mauritius during the oil spill as a precautionary measure to potential access restriction to the lagoon and Ile aux Aigrettes. August usually marks the beginning of the drier months, without daily care and daily watering, we would have had a high mortality of the endemic nursery plants, some of which are critically endangered. On the 9th of August, all the nursery plants (nearly 4000) were moved off Ile aux Aigrettes to the mainland and were transferred to the Forestry Service nursery in Mahebourg, where space was kindly provided to hold the plants until the situation improves. The plants remained on the mainland for a period of nearly 2 months, where our horticulturist Pascal, assisted by other staff took care of the plants. A lot of the plants had to be re-potted due to damaged pots during the transfer. All the plants were transferred back to Ile aux Aigrettes in the first week of October. The plant transfers required an enormous logistics effort and was possible with the help of the MWF staff, volunteers, and funders. Although we did lose some cuttings and very young seedlings due to lack of the appropriate facilities on the mainland, the great majority of the nursery plants are doing well.
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