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bees for babar®
Peacekeeping through beekeeping: reducing
wildlife
conflicts and increasing incomes with guardian hives.
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In 2003, while working as a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer,
with communities in the Damango District of Ghana, Conrad Bérubé
and his Ghanaian counterpart, Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, from Opportunitites
Industrialization Centres (OIC) International's Tamale office, took
the opportunity to visit the wildlife reserve of Mole National Park.
While there we discussed with park personnel the possibility of using
bee hives as a means of excluding elephants from crop areas. When
animals such as elephants or other large herbivores disturb them,
the fierce African strains of bees defend themselves by stinging the
sensitive ears, eyes and trunks of the animals-- who learn quickly
to avoid the cultivated plots so protected. This can serve as both
a novel means of reducing conflicts between agriculture and wildlife
at park boundaries and to provide the benefits of small-scale beekeeping:
supplementation of farmers' incomes through increased productivity
derived from the bees' pollination services and the sale of honey
and wax. |
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Farms
in close proximity to wildlife reserves can suffer from crop-raiding
by elephants and other animals (left) which can induce poaching
incidents (right).
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Fields can be protected by surrounding them with "living barbed
wire fences". Kenya Top Bar Hives (KTBH's) can be placed around
crops and connected with ropes. The ropes will be hung from pegs
in such a way that elephants entering a field will push against
the ropes and, with their forward progress will overturn the hives.
The disturbed bees will drive the elephants away and the elephants
will learn to avoid areas containing hives-- even those that are
empty.
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Note that the ropes are wired together so that an elephant entering
on either side of a post will upset the hives on both sides of a
fence post. Rope rather than wire is preferable for the purpose
of connecting the hives because the ropes can be impregnated with
chilli pepper oil which will contribute to the repellency to wildlife
touching or chewing on it.
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Villagers of Mognori have been chosen as the first clients
with whom to implement the "bees for babar" (BfB) project. |
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At left: Elephants can damage shea trees , used
for the edible fruit and oil it produces, and other crops that
villagers depend upon for sustenance and income.
At right: Mohammed Ali Ibrahim poses in Mole Park
with a pachyderm backdrop.
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Carpenters begin to cut wood to begin construction on
KTBH's that will be loaned at cost to Mognori villagers on a rotating
credit system. |
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Village leaders pitch in to unload wood delivered in preparation
for training folks there to build hives. This approach stretches
funds and fosters capacity building in the client community to
make the project more sustainable.
Our gratitude goes out to one of our partners
OIC
Tamale for assisting in the delivery. Combining visits to
Mognori with some OIC errands not only allowed Ali to get wood
for hives out to Mognori in the OIC pickup truck but also helped
to reduce green house gas emmissions-- every little bit helps
;-)
Check out Mognori at Google Earth at 9.291180°, -1.776150°
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Damaged jerry cans can be reconditioned to serve as
swarm traps or small hives with a little modification and the addition
of top-bars. BfB may be experimenting with this client-designed innovation.
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Rural beekeepers can produce high quality honey using
low cost KTBH's which can be used at home or sold to make a significant
contribution to the family's income. |
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The word "babar", in the Gonja language
of the Northern Region of Ghana, where the project would be initiated,
means "come to my aid". In addition, it is also Turkish
for lion. Lions have long held an odd and almost mystical association
with honeybees (see "The Bee-Riddled
Carcass"). We allude to these associations to title a project
to promote conservation, eco-tourism and beekeeping as an income-generating
activity in developing countries:
bees for babar®
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In August 2007 a small group of American, Canadian
and Ghanaian friends incorporated "bees for babar" (BfB)
as a registered non-profit society in British Columbia to assist
subsistence farmers who have suffered crop losses caused by wildlife,
particularly elephants. To achieve this, BfB intends to provide
beehives and beekeeping training for farmers whose cultivated plots
are on land adjoining wildlife reserves in Ghana.
This project will principally benefit subsistence
farmers whose cultivated plots are on land surrounding wildlife
reserves such as Mole Park in Ghana.
Funds raised by the "bees for babar"
society are to be used to provide apicultural training and to purchase
materials for the construction of hives and beekeeping equipment
as a means of discouraging wildlife from raiding farmers' crop as
well as to provide supplemental income from increased pollination
of crops and the sale of honey and wax.
Thanks!
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Guiding principles:
- Conservation of earth's precious wildlife must be
undertaken in light of the grim necessities of life facing the people
who live in close proximity to critical wildlife habitat. BfB is dedicated
to creating win-win scenarios that promote healthy lives for both wildlife
and humans.
- The "bee principle", of developing a social
consciousness of mutual assistance and efficient division of labour
to work together, must be balanced by an individualism embodied by entrepreneurial
spirit: "We need to mind our own minds, wherein lie all the riches
of this world. It's not a 'zero sum' game-- wealth is in the mind and
the mind is capable of achieving whatsoever it desires."-- John
Azu, Technical Coordinator FarmServe Africa, OIC Ghana (see "Beekeeping
in Ghana"). We intend to help Ghanaians help themselves while
helping each other by using and strengthening existing networks and
community services.
- The bees for babar society is committed to the responsible
utilization of natural resources, including monies earmarked for the
stewardship of those resources. We aim to make every dollar count. Society
members are all non-paid volunteers with intentions to keep it that
way so that all proceeds can be funneled to fieldwork.
To donate send a cheque
to the address at bottom (a receipt will be issued to you) or make a PayPal
contribution to the e-mail address below (replace "(at)" with
"@" or contact me to make alternate arrangements). A donation
of $60 will purchase an entire hive for a Ghanaian farmer.
uc779(at)freenet.victoria.bc.ca
(This site and project has no affiliation with the family
of the Mogul leader nor with other entitities using the word "babar".
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One
of Ghana's national treasures is Mole National Park where populations
of native wildlife are still intact. The bee-eater, as its name
implies is an insectivorous bird. In some parts of Africa, elephants
have recently been discouraged from raiding farms or regenerating
forests by installing beehives-- even elephants are not immune to
the fury of disturbed African bees since the insects can locate
and target the elephants tender nostrils and ear canals. Monkeys
and impala are other occasional raiders of crops that would be dissuaded
from such activities by the presence of guard hives.
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"proof
of concept" research:
African
bees to control African elephants. Fritz Vollrath and Iain Douglas-Hamilton.
Naturwissenschaften Volume 89, Number 11 / November, 2002
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"proof
of problem" documentation:
sample
problem animal report near Mole Park
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