Etang Lachaux Lake Study

North end of lake.  A good birding spot!

“This was perhaps the best single locality I found below 1,000 ft. for ground collecting.” said PJ Darlington Jr in 1934 of the lake Etang Lachaux, back when the population of Haiti was 2,550,000 (250 per square mile).  PJ Darlington was there to collect ground beetles (see Psyche Dec. 1935, Vol. XLII, No. 4, West Indian Carabidae II: Itineraryof 1934).  When my team from the University of Kansas and I were there this month to collect water quality data, Haiti’s population stood around 10 million, or 930 people per square mile.  And the land around this lake was cropped, even on the rocky hillsides.  One hillside was rocky with a new highway perched along the edge.  

Sampling locations and path walked around lake.

Etang Lachaux is near Camp Perrin on the southern peninsula, near Les Cayes.  My team did a baseline study there on 4 May 2013 to collect basic water quality data and to map the lake.  There are several springs with almost quicksand like substrate along
the north shore of the lake, which our 14 year-old tag-along Bobby helped us to navigate.  The Minister of the Environment said the lakevolume decreases every year during the dry season (which is supposed to end in May), but 2013 and 2012 have been unusually low, which doesn’t bode well for the carp and tilapia he stocked.  A full report is forth coming.  Email me (Debbie Baker, debbieauc at gmail.com) if you would like more information.  Please post comments if you know anything about this lake!

Sampling a spring at the northeast corner of the lake.

South end of the lake.  Farmers plant crops to the edge hoping they will get a crop before the rainy season.

New highway overlooking the eastern edge of the lake.

Water quality workshop in Camp Perrin

Dr. Huggins demonstrating the secchi disk.

A recent outreach event of the Audubon Center was coordinating a water quality workshop presented by environmental scientists from the University of Kansas.  The Ministry of the Environment for the South Department hosted the event at their office in Camp Perrin.  Twenty workers from the Ministry, ORE, and other groups attended the workshop.  Using the local lake Etang Lachaux watershed as an example, Dr. Donald Huggins, Dr. Gary Welker, and Debbie Baker discussed with the group the various human activities that impact the watershed and how to mitigate these.  They donated a secchi disk to the bureau, a simple water quality measurement device that people can make themselves.  We ended the day with a tour of
the NGO Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment (ORE).

 
 

Environmental scientists visit Les Cayes

Dr. Donald Huggins working at a stream.

The Audubon Center of Les Cayes announces the visit of three environmental scientists who will present a water quality workshop to officials in the Southern Department of Haiti during the first week of May.  Dr. Donald Huggins, Dr. Gary Welker, and Prof. Debbie Baker are aquatic ecologists with the University of Kansas and Kansas Biological Survey, USA.  They will present a day-long workshop about the importance of watersheds to the health of the environment and the people, as well as train participants in evaluating water quality of Haiti's lakes and rivers.

In addition, Friday May 3 at 4pm at the Botanical Garden of Les Cayes, Dr. Huggins will give a public presentation about the importance of watersheds.  Everyone is invited! 

Prof. Baker and Dr. Welker on a Kansas lake.

Dr. Huggins and Prof. Baker will also hold a 3-day workshop on these issues for students of the American University of the Caribbean.

Thanks to the University of Kansas for contributing to travel funding for this trip!

March Water Quality and Ecology Workshop

Congratulations to the 17 American University of the Caribbean students who completed the recent Water Quality and Ecology Workshop taught by Chris Bowser of Marist College and the National Estuarine Research Reserve in New York, USA.

Along with children from the nearby HELO orphanage and a Marist College team, the AUC class monitored the stream at the Botanical Garden of Les Cayes, and went to Bamboola Beach to study the estuary and coastal zone.  Some of the AUC students proved to be excellent fishermen!  AUC students became the teachers, each showing small groups of young kids from the HELO school the beauty of local wildlife and conservation messages.

Upcoming events at AUC - Ag Day, birding, and water quality

Chris Bowser

This week, Chris Bowser of Marist College and the National Estuarine Research Reserve in New York, USA is visiting the American University of the Caribbean to teach a water quality workshop to juniors and seniors.

 

Celebrate Agriculture Day at the Botanical Garden of Les Cayes, May 1 - 3.  We may even host a birding watching event the morning of Friday May 3 at the garden.  Contact Debbie Baker (debbieauc at gmail.com) if you are interested.

Debbie Baker and Don Huggins at a lake in Kansas.

 

The first week of May aquatic ecologists Dr. Donald Huggins and Debbie Baker of the Kansas Biological Survey, USA will be at AUC to teach an aquatic ecology workshop to the sophomores.  Dr. Huggins will also give a campus-wide seminar about environmental engineering. 

Visiting the Audubon Center

To make your visit to the Audubon Center in Les Cayes even easier, Bradt recently released its travel guide for Haiti, by Paul Clammer.  Follow this link to facebook to find out more about the guide.

The Audubon Center is located on the campus of the American University of the Caribbean (AUC).  AUC is located in Haiti's 3rd largest city, Les Cayes, on the southern coast of Haiti.  AUC is on Route Nationale #2, on the right just past the 'arch' as one enters Les Cayes coming from the east.  Buses run to and from Port au Prince daily.  Charted flights can be arranged into the Antoine-Simon Airport just north of town.  AUC's address is B.P. 3, Route Nationale #2 Charpentier Les Cayes, Haiti, (509) 3444-0997

Société Audubon Haiti

Société Audubon Haiti has a new website!  If you are in Haiti, there are many birding resources you can purchase at their office at Quisqueya University in Port au Prince (Campus Université Quisqueya, Jean Paul II, Haut Turgeau, PaP, 509-2949-9000).  Or stop by the Audubon Center at the American University of the Caribbean in Les Cayes to preview these books.