Some of our first scientific visitors have written brief accounts of their work here. More accounts will follow in later Newsletters. I thought we'd start with the earlier people first, and move on to the most recent ones as time goes by.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all who have made the BFP possible, too many to mention by name. All will be revealed in future issues! Our donors have been very generous - Jane Goodall Institute who got us off the ground, the Boise Fund, the Rainforest Action Fund, the National Geographic Society, the Overseas Development Administration, USAID, and now as I write our core funding is coming from NORAD, the Norwegian Aid Agency. To all our sincerest thanks.

If you were at Budongo, please write in. I wish our chimps could write too. We'll feature them from time to time. This Newsletter is intended for all with an interest in BFP. Our mailing list is incomplete, so please let me know of people who might like to receive a (paper) copy and we'll add them if they aren't on it. Write to me, or our current expat co-director, Jeremy Lindsell.

At the same time as these studies phenology data were collected in the eight study areas during 1993 and have been collected in N15 and N3 since 1993 to the present date and are still ongoing. Data on tree growth and mortality are being collected at the same time so that an analysis of the effects of fruit production on growth can be analysed in the future. Data analysed so far show that some trees, particularly mahoganies, do not fruit until they reach large sizes (50cm diameter at breast height) which has great implications for the sustainable harvesting of these species if natural regeneration is relied upon to provide future crops.

Studies of bird communities in five areas of the forest were carried out by Isaiah Owiunji and myself and showed that frugivorous, nectivorous, omnivorous and bark gleaning insectivorous birds are all more abundant in logged forest. Leaf gleaning insectivores and sallying insectivorous birds are at lower densities in logged forest. Sallying insectivores are probably good indicators of disturbance to tropical forest as they seem to decline where ever there is disturbance across the tropics.

In addition to the research I was involved in and greatly enjoyed training MSc students from Makerere University. This I feel is one of the most important areas where the Budongo Forest Project can contribute to long term conservation in Uganda and I was very pleased to see all of the MSc students to date have continued with employment in protected area management or biological research.

There are many people who need to be thanked for helping me with the research and establishment of BFP: Chris and Vernon who set the place up and contributed greatly to its management whilst I was there, the Forest Department and Game Department who allowed us to do research, people at Makerere who were always supportive and particularly all the field assistants who 'busted their butts' (got to get some yankee lingo in here somewhere) to collect all the data and create such a great working environment at Sonso.

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Of most importance to conservation was the identification of primate hunting for meat, particularly amongst groups originating from Zaire. Although the research has proved a valuable introduction to local nature resource needs, the full cultural significance of local uses of forest products required much longer-term anthropological research. Nevertheless, the findings have been used regularly by other researchers and staff for the planning of other projects and in researching the potential for long-term conservation of biological diversity in the forest.

The research was written up for the degree of M.Sc. by research at the Institute of Biological Anthropology, Oxford University, and supervised by Prof. V. Reynolds. Results may also be found in three publications.
 
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My aim was to carry out a study of chimpanzees for two weeks that would provide conclusive data. Examining intestinal helminth parasites meant that I could collect enough data to at least find out the type of parasites that are harboured by the chimpanzees of Budongo forest. I also wanted to get additional information on the level of parasitic infection of the chimpanzees, and factors which may influence the parasite type and burden. The study was based at the research station at Sonso.

I was able to collect 33 samples in this short period which was very good. I got plenty of support from a lot of people which i am very grateful for, especially as this was my first time to work in the field. I am very grateful to Dr. Appleby and Prof. Vernon Reynolds who gave me the idea of studying parasites in chimpanzee dung. I was greatly assisted by the field assistants, Kugonza Dissan and Tuka Zephyr who took me into the forest to collect the dung each morning, and identified some of the chimps for me so that I knew which chimp passed the particular dung. Sometimes the field assistants would collect samples for me and I was also assisted by Dr. Andy Plumptre who had collected and preserved come samples from Kanyo-Pabidi area earlier on so that I could ass them to my sample size for some comparison with Sonso where I got most of my samples. i did not have a field microscope, but luckily Dr. Jake Reynolds lent me his torch which acted as a light source. The microscope was then put on top of an upside down soda crate, and the torch placed under-neath it so I was able to see the parasite eggs. I also started off the study with no devices to measure the size of parasite eggs which is very important for identification, so Dr. Jake Reynolds obtained a stage micrometer for me in Makerere university, which enabled me to identify to come up with some conclusive evidence while in the field, on the exact type of eggs. Late Dr. Peter miller helped me to identify some of the parasites as he had some experience in it. Dr. Vernon Reynolds assisted greatly in writing the scientific report especially as this was my first time to write a scientific report. I was also fortunate to get as much literature as I could from the late Dr. Berkeley Hastings, a contact given to me by Dr. Andy Plumptre.

I would have wanted to get more samples from the Kanyo-Pabidi area to make a better comparison between Sonso and Kanyo-Pabidi. Also the time that I was there was too short to pick up more varieties of parasites. Consequently the study was continued in July 1996 by another veterinary student, Michelle Barrows from Glasgow Vet School, and more types of parasites eggs were found, so knowledge is being built up. I would have wanted to get more data on Khaya bark, and whether it affected the parasite burden of the chimpanzees, but was not able to because the sample size was too small. However in this study I was pleased with the outcome because I was able to come up with conclusive data by finding out the 2 most common parasites affecting the chimpanzees of Budongo forest, Oesophagostomum sp. and Strongyloides fulleborni. I was able to learn something about chimpanzee behaviour and ecology, which I will always treasure. All this knowledge has come in very useful in my present job, in Uganda Wildlife Authority, where I am responsible for the health of chimpanzees.
 
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The main part of my work was to make a comparison of the feeding ecology and ranging patterns of four groups of blue monkeys, two in an area of unlogged forest and two in an area logged in the 1950s. In addition, patterns of fruit leaf and flower production were to be recorded for an important subset of tree species which provided the main food items for blue monkeys in the two areas. Finally, within the home ranges of two groups (one in unlogged forest and one in logged forest) vegetation plots were to be laid out and enumerated to provide data on the structure and composition of the habitat and to investigate any differences which may have been important in determining home range size and requirements.

Initial work involving habituation of the necessary groups went well and data collection on the four study groups continued for a period of twelve months. the recording of tree phenology was carried out during the same period, and together with the data on tree species abundance and diversity, this allowed estimates of food availability within the ranges of the groups to be made. As had been suggested by the higher density of blue monkeys in logged forest, the habitat appeared to be more diverse with a higher production of blue monkey foods compared to unlogged forest. Range sizes were consequently smaller and groups in logged forest had a higher intake of fruit (probably their preferred food) compared to groups in unlogged forest.

The evidence therefore suggested that logged forest in Budongo was a more suitable habitat for blue monkeys. This was largely due to the nature of unlogged forest, described as 'monodominant' and low in species diversity, as well as the low intensity logging which was carefully carried out in the 1950s. Logged forest subsequently regenerated well and the resulting forest type was more suitable for an omnivorous primate like the blue monkey.
 
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I have also been interested in leaf sponging and in the instrumental use of leaves in other connections. Zephyr and I reported the first observation of leaf sponging by a Sonso chimpanzee in 1993. In 1996, with the help of other research assistants, we began to compile on a regular basis observations of leaf use. This work continues. I don't know when I will be able to make another visit to the BFP - the sooner the better, of course. I have not worked with any of the project's field assistants, but I owe particular thanks to Zephyr for helping in learning to recognise individual chimpanzees (and in learning much else). to Tinka John for identification of plant species, to Muhumuza Geresomu for certain procedural observations when we were both watching chimpanzees in 1994, to Joy and Richard for more or less continual assistance out of the forest, and to everyone and most particularly the trail crew for fellowship on holidays.