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  Recent Work

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• • Prepared and submitted to OKACOM a draft contract for the Executive Secretary.
  • Disseminated minutes of the 13th OKACOM meeting for comments
  • Facilitated the transfer of funds from SIDA to the OKACOM Bank Account (USD)
  • Traveled to Maun to carry out an initial analysis of the Secretariat office requirements and meet with potential contractors for office renovation.
  • Contracted a consultant to revise the OKACOM website text.
  • Finalized and distributed Issue 5 of OKAFLOW in both English and Portuguese
  • Conducted mammal and vegetation inventory field work in the South-Western portion of the Mucusso Game Reserve, including a series of hippo transects along the Kavango River.  
  • Reviewed and processed data collected to-date, for addition to the Kuando Kubango database
  • Presented to the Kavango-Zambezi Transfronteir Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) technical advisors a) ongoing biodiversity work under OKACOM, and b) a proposal to establish a framework for conducting KAZA-related consultations with stakeholders living the KAZA area
  • Prepared ortho-satellite maps from 2002 and 2006 satellite imagery of the Mucusso reserve, for use in vegetation and habitat assessments.   
  • Acquired ortho-photographs for the Namibia side of the Kavango River and the Caprivi
  • Began to acquire MODIS satellite imagery which facilitates identification of burned areas in the Reserve for the dry seasons of 2005, 2006 and 2007. 
  • Consulted with Namibian counterparts regarding coordinating efforts of data collection and management planning biodiversity work in Northern Namibia and Southern Angola.  
  • Began to populate a database of geographic features for the Mucusso Reserve from Satellite and topographic maps. 
  • Conducted consultations with local administration in Mucusso to acquire local government input to a range of issues related to biodiversity programs decisions.
  • Processed ortho-photographs for the Kavango and Caprivi regions
  • Conducted a series of meetings to coordinate Angolan aerial mammal surveys with methodologies and timing of aerial surveys to take place in Northern Namibia and other parts of Southern Angola this year
  • Completed a survey on mammal tracks and scat for the entire Angola portion of the Kavango River front
  • Supported the completion of the construction of the Pandera water system
  • Supported the completion of households’ toilets and community laundry in Bairro Azul. Fifteen (15) have been completed and one (1) laundry started
  • Continued supporting and promoting the use of waste bins in Bairro Azul and LUKA.
  • Continued supporting the development of the 1ha land for agro forestry and identification and planting of 100 indigenous trees from 5 different species in Ndumbo.
  • Facilitated the distribution of tree and vegetable seedling to Ndumbo community for the development of backyard gardens
  • In collaboration with IDF, facilitated and supported the construction of the nursery and pot planting and demonstration sites.
  • In collaboration with IDF, supported and facilitated the development of Ndumbo Community Honey Production project
  • Continued facilitating training in the four communities on various topics as needed.

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                         Planned IRBM Travel: 

During the month of August, Ms. Tracy Molefi, the Community Development Specialist will travel to Angola to inspect the community projects under implementation.  Ms. Brenda Bergman the Biodiversity and Hydrology Component Coordinator will travel to Southern Angola, Northern Namibia and Maun Botswana for continued work on biodiversity assessments in the region during the month of August.