Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros

Partners in the RFI Comoros:
Government of the RFI Comoros
Centre National de Documentation et de Recherche Scientifique
UNDP Projet Biodiversité
Local non-governmental environmental associations and aid agencies
Partners outside of the RFI Comoros:
Action Comoros
Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
IUCN Species Survival Commission Chiroptera Specialist Group

The extremely low population and endangered status of Livingstone’s
flying fox, Pteropus livingstonii, also known as the fruit bat, became apparent during a field study conducted between 1989 and 1992. This endemic bat is found on the islands of Moheli and Anjouan in the RFI Comoros, and is threatened by habitat loss. Consequently, the IUCN Action Plan for Old World Fruit Bats listed conservation priorities for the endangered fruit bat. These priorities included survey work, population monitoring, habitat protection, ecological research, environmental education and captive breeding. A multi- disciplinary conservation programme has been developed to carry out the actions described below:

• Roost monitors in the RFI Comoros have been trained and equipped to survey the islands for new roost sites in addition to carrying out regular monitoring of the bats at known roost sites.
• Scientific research has continued in an attempt to understand more about the bat and its ecology. For example, it is known that through its role as a pollinator and seed disperser of native trees, this fruit bat plays an important role in the regeneration of its upland forest habitat.
• An environmental education programme has been established using Livingstone’s flying fox as a flagship species. The programme stresses habitat protection for the benefit of both the subsistence farmers of the RFI Comoros, who rely on the forest for timber, fuel and land for cultivation, and for the fruit bat and other endangered wildlife.
I• “Projet Biodiversité” supports the species recovery plan for Livingstone’s flying fox through its capacity-building programme and plans to establish reserves.
• Funding has come from a range of sources including: Bat Conservation International, Bristol Zoo, British Airways Assisting
Nature Conservation, British Ecological Society, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fauna & Flora Interna-tional, Global Environment Fund, Jersey Zoo, Leverhulme Trust, the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, the Royal Geographical Society and the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species.

Biodiversity resources (Chapter IX of the Barbados Programme of Action)

A captive-breeding programme is successfully established with colonies at Jersey and Bristol Zoos. They function as a safeguard against extinction in the wild and provide a focus for education and research of the fruit bat. The education programme established informs both the people in the RFI Comoros and others around the world about the existence of this fruit bat, which coincides with an increased awareness of local environmental issues. The programme of roost monitoring led to increased knowledge about the number of roosts and their seasonal occupation. Population estimates have been revised to approximately 1000 bats surviving in the wild. Recommendations for the protection of this fruit bat and its habitat are now incorporated into legislation in the RFI Comoros, although such protection is limited by the lack of resources needed to maintain it.

In order to be successful, conservation programmes need to engage in a range of skills, including scientific research, education, captive breeding and programme management/planning. Civil unrest can affect the enactment of conservation plans, which means that local capacity building should be an essential component of conservation programmes in combination with appropriate external support. Future education programmes should be aimed at “educating the educators”
rather than providing short-term resources.

Contacts Ministere de développement rural, de la pêche et de l’envi-ronment(direction de l’environnement)
Directeur-Général de l’environnement, direction générale de
l’environnement, B.P. 41, Moroni, RFI Comoros, Western Indian
Ocean

Centre national de documentation et de recherche scientifique
(CNDRS), Directeur CNDRS, Noroni, RFI Comoros,
Western Indian Ocean
E-mail: cndrs@snpt.km

Projet Biodiversité
B.P. 2445, Moroni, RFI Comoros, Western Indian Ocean
Action Comoros
Dr. W. Trewhella
School of Life & Environmental Sciences
University of Nottingham
NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
E-mail: will.trewhella@nottingham.ac.uk
Web site: http://ibis.nott.ac.uk/Action-Comoros/

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Dr. A. T. C. Feistner
Durrel Wildlife Conservation Trust
Trinity, Jersey JE3 5BP
E-mail: afeistner@durrell.org

Bristol Zoo Gardens
Dr. J. Bryan Carroll
Bristol Zoo Gardens
Bristol BS8 3HA
United Kingdom
E-mail: bcarroll@bristolzoo.org.uk