Freshwater
insect monitoring programme. The Rio Villegas biomonitoring
programme, carried out by project- trained APN Rangers, began during 2008.
This work also forms part of PhD thesis by a UNLP student. The river has recently become seriously polluted
by effluent from a nearby town. The river biota is severely depleted downstream
of the town. The population of the town has significantly increased recently
and there are no restrictions in place regarding discharges into the river. APN
supports the biomonitoring initiative and our staff have visited local schools
to raise awareness. However, much of the town is a shanty with no sewage
treatment facilities
Training
courses. Fifteen
students attended a course on chironomid taxonomy and ecology at UNLP during
October 2008. Course tutors were Donato and Massaferro. Massaferro also teaches
chironomids on two final year undergraduate courses at University of Buenos
Aires to about 50 students. Undergraduate courses are also taught by Spinelli,
Donato and Muzon at UNLP drawing on work done in the project. NHNP Rangers continued to receive
training in biomonitoring and water chemistry techniques. These rangers now
routinely record water chemistry and GPS data at each wetland site they visit
during the course of their patrol work in NHNP.
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Identification guides. Two non-specialist leaflet on freshwater insects
of NHNP have been published and is available at interpretation centres around
NHNP and has also been sent to local schools. In addition we have produced a
poster and a 2009 calendar on wetlands and freshwater insects which are on
display around NHNP and are available for purchase by visitors to NHNP (see Annex
6). Project partners have continued to produce specialist keys, checklists and
taxonomic works during the year and a non-specialist field guide to freshwater
insects of Patagonia is currently in an advanced stage of development. We
expect to complete this before the end of the project
Education
Darwin Initiative staff members have maintained
contacts with local Bariloche schools. A workshop for 10-year old children was
held in March 2009. Contacts have now been made with three schools in the
Bariloche area. Most schools in Bariloche are private but we been focussing our
efforts by targeting schools in poor areas of the town. A series of six guided tours, focussing
on freshwater insects and wetland habitats, close to Puerto Blest were held by Pessacq
for touristic visitors to NHNP. Following these tours a number of volunteers
came forward to assist in the Biodiversity Laboratory. Posters illustrating freshwater insects
and the importance of the conservation of wetland habitats have been designed,
printed and placed in interpretation centres around NHNP. These have resulted
in enquiries to APN from potential volunteers for biodiversity tasks.