Dr. David Harper (University of Leicester) has been studying the ecological problems of Kenya's spectacular lakes for 21 years, with Earthwatch volunteer support for the last 17 of these. Now the Earthwatch principal investigator of Lakes of the Rift Valley has gained the additional support from the Darwin Initiative to explore the biology of near-threatened lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) that feed in saline Lakes Bogoria, Nakuru, and Elmenteita.

The Darwin Initiative, established by the British government in response to the 1992 Rio Convention, is a funding scheme designed to link the U.K.'s scientific skills with biodiversity-rich but resource-poor countries by providing grants for research and education. Harper's Darwin grant of £175,000 will be used to find out, among other things, why Kenya's lesser flamingos suffered three mysterious "die-offs" in the 1990s, with a cumulative loss of at least 250,000 birds.

"The massed ranks of flamingos, which sometimes occurs in flocks of over a million on one lake, make a spectacular sight equivalent to the wildebeest on the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania," said Harper. "Despite these numbers and density, lesser flamingos are considered to be a ‘near-threatened' species because their numbers are only about half of those formerly recorded. They have only one regular breeding site in East Africa, Lake Natron in Tanzania, which is used intermittently."

Harper and his colleagues began working with Earthwatch teams at Lake Bogoria, one of the three Kenyan saline lakes used extensively by the lesser flamingo, in 2000. Darwin support will expand this work to monthly research campaigns to Lakes Nakuru and Elmenteita, in addition to Bogoria, carried out by staff from scientific partners at National Museums of Kenya, University of Nairobi, and other local institutions.

To find out why lesser flamingos experience these mortality events, Harper's research will build up an understanding of the biology of healthy flamingos. Then, should another event occur, there will be a database of knowledge ready to help explain its causes and suggest ways to mitigate its impact. Key indicators will be collected by Earthwatch teams and Darwin support will pay for the expensive analysis of the samples.

Another area of research supported by the Darwin Initiative is in the satellite tracking of lesser flamingos, directed by Dr. Brooks Childress (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust), co-principal investigator on Lakes of the Rift Valley. Childress placed transmitters on four male lesser flamingos in 2002, aided by Earthwatch volunteers, and in 2003 he will attach four more, paid for by the Darwin Initiative and Earthwatch (Europe)'s Vodafone Group Foundation Communication Technology and Conservation awards.

Finally, the Darwin grant has a huge educational component, ranging from formal university training of a few core partners to an increased awareness of all the inhabitants of the area of Lake Bogoria through their schools. Five local staff will receive university training under the supervision of Harper at the University of Leicester, and nine Kenyan conservation workers over the next three years will be invited to participate fully on Earthwatch research teams. Harper's frequent contact with local schools will be expanded to include new classroom materials about the flamingos, the lake, and their value to the local community.

"An important part of the Darwin Initiative is the transfer of knowledge and technology from the U.K. to the host nation, which represents a very exciting development of our work at Lake Bogoria," said Harper. "It provides a means of clearly linking the research of Earthwatch scientists with the education and training of Kenyan scientists and students and for linking the studies of biodiversity to the livelihoods of the local people."

For information on volunteering on the Lakes of the Rift Valley project, click here

For more details about efforts to satellite track lesser flamingos, go to www.earthwatch.org/pubaffairs/news/harper2.html. You can track the flamingos' position on the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust's site at http://www.wwt.org.uk/flamingo/.

Earthwatch Institute is an international nonprofit organization which supports scientific field research worldwide by offering members of the public unique opportunities to work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. The Institute's mission is to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment.