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Tropibio expedition to São Tomé in July 2022 - ASSET project

Tropibio expedition to São Tomé in July 2022 - ASSET project

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A multidisciplinary team of international researchers (Dr Chiara Bragagnolo, and PhD students Thainá Lessa, Evelynne Barros and Felipe Vieira from University of Alagoas, Brazil) and the Tropibio technician Patricia Guedes together with local members from the NGO Birdlife International, Oikos and Zatona Adil visited São Tomé Island from 10 to 28 July to conduct research fieldwork within the subproject "Assessing the Cultural Value of Protected Areas in São Tomé and Principe”.

Project: "Action for sustainable landscape management in Sao Tomé e Principe” (EuropeAid/168944/DD/ACT/ST)

Fieldwork in São Tomé and Principe – 10 / 28 July 2022

The general objective of this project is to quantify and map the intangible and tangible benefits generated by Obô Natural Park (and surrounding landscapes) in both São Tomé and Principe, thereby providing information to inform management plans and to develop actions to maintain and increase desired forms of value. To achieve this general objective, the sub-project has the following specific objectives:

To quantify and map interactions between park users (locals, tourists, researchers, park employees) and five classes of protected area assets; biophysical assets; institutional assets; human assets; infrastructure assets, and; cultural assets.
To identify and map the five classes of PA assets, including potential assets that are not currently generating value for any of the park users.
To identify and quantify the tangible and intangible contributions of the parks to park users, related institutions and wider society.
To develop PA asset management and investment plans that align with and support the existing park management plan

Fieldwork activities mainly consisted of:

Presenting the project and the project team to local partner (Birdlife International), government, NGOs and interested party;
Conducting a series of open-ended interviews with key park’s stakeholders;
Organizing a participatory workshop with different park’s stakeholders;
Visiting and surveying local communities living around the Obô Natural Park.

The work done in São Tomé followed the following agenda:

July 11 – Arrival in São Tomé;
July 12 – Visit to the City of São Tomé Island;
July 13-14 – Meetings with local partner and key stakeholders;
July 15 – Presentation of the Project and participatory workshop;
July 16 – Visit to Obô Natural Park and Botanical Garden;
July 17 – Visit to Praia das Conchas e Praia Azul;
July 18-28 – Quantitative survey with local communities living in the surrounding of the Obô Natural Park.

The principal fieldwork outcomes were:

1 presentation about the Tropibio project to the local partners;
1 presentation of the project "Assessing the Cultural Value of Protected Areas in São Tomé and Principe”;
1 participatory workshop;
8 meetings and open-ended interviews with local stakeholders;
213 questionnaires with local people living in park’s buffer zone.

Watch here a video about this fieldcourse:

Read here News in Portuguese about the team from Federal Univesity of Alagoas that participated in this fieldwork.

Photos from Fieldwork