Ecological Monitoring of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve

The US Forest Service and African Parks Malawi work in partnership on ecological restoration efforts in the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, or NWR, located in central Malawi. The Lesmeister Lab has designed an ecological monitoring program and initiated an assessment of carrying capacity for elephants and other priority herbivore species in the NWR. 

Dr Lesmeister worked with a team of managers and scientists to develop ecological monitoring protocols for the Nhkotakota Wildlife Reserve, Malawi that utilize remote camera trap imagery. Since 2018, data has been collected on the Nkhotakota at remote locations across the reserve's 180,000 hectares. Once processed by lab technicians, the collected photographs provide detailed information about occupancy and reveal where certain species are likely to be found. This information will assist local land managers in understanding the carrying capacity of the native miombo woodlands as they strive to protect the ecological integrity of the wildlife reserve.

The Lesmeister Lab is currently working to develop AI technology that can recognize species of interest in camera trap photos. Automating species identification and the removal of false triggers will speed up the process of data management, as millions of images are taken on the reserve each year. The development of this technology is being led by PhD Student, Cara Appel with assistance of Oregon State University partners.  ​

NWR PROJECT MISSION

Enhance, protect and sustain ecological and economic values of NWR and provide neighboring local communities with opportunities to acquire knowledge, values and skills requisite for conservation and other social economic development.​

Since obtaining the preserve in 2015, African Parks Malawi has focused on wildlife relocation, translocating thousands of individual animals from other local reserves. Their goal is to restore the NWR to a balanced ecological state, creating an active elephant sanctuary and engaging community members in conservation efforts.

TRANSLOCATED SPECIES IN THE NKHOTAKOTA WILDLIFE RESERVE

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