Report of the fifth session of the ecological group: Lomé 29-31 May 1984

tONCHOCERCIASIS IN TTIE VOLTA CONIROL PROGRA]'[',TS RTVER BASIN A.NEA REPORT OF Tifi FIEIH SESSION OF TI{E ECOLOCIC,/.I GROIII Lon6. 2q-al May IqB4 CONTENTB Page A. INIRODUCTTON B. A}OPTION OF Tffi AGEIiIDA C. PROGNAMIIE O\TEA:T]N\.I D" REVIEW OF \TECTM CONTROL NESIII1S E. TNSECTICIXE DE\TEIOP}@}M F. AqUATIC MONITOIiTNG G* A}ULTICIDI}IG E. LONG-[EP.}{ STI?ATEGT r. ECOLOGICAL ASTECTS OT IIUMAN SETTLEI\ENT JJ A}IT OffiEA. BUSI}ESS K. ARRANGE}IENIS FOR TI{E ND(T MMTTNG t. A}PROYAL OP RNPORT M" CITISURE otr'ImETrlIG A. TIrIRODUCTION 1. The Ecological Group helil lts fifth session at Hotel Le 3enln, tom6, Republic of Togo from 2)-J1 May 1984. 2. Dr K.1{. Cr:noins chaired. the meeting which was attend.ed. by all other members of the Groupl and the technical secretariat (see Annex 1.). 3. The Chai:man welcomed. Dr It'I. Ya.suno, a new member of the Ecological Group. The Chai:man recalled. that Prof. Dn Koeman ha.s relxesented. the Group at the for:rth session of the JPC. nr C. L6v6que had attended. the Hytrobiologists meeting' in Ouagadoug:orl and. he would. attencl the EAC in Geneva in June. Dr Yasuno, following a briefing in Oragadougou joinecl. Dr Koeman on a vislt to the Kara site of the forthconing a.dulticicLing trials prior to the sessioa. 3. ADOPTION 3F TIIE AE}IDA 4. fhe follow"ing: a6end.a was adopted.: PrOgramme ove:rriew Review of vector control results Inseaticid.e developments Aquatic nonitoring A(lulticiiLine: Long-151P Stratery Ecological aspects of human settlement Any otJrer br:siness Arrargements for next meeting. C. INOffi,AMI'{E OTERVIEW 5. the Programe Director nnderlined the laportance now being attachett by the Participating Goverzrnents to the successful outcoroe of @P. Ee ilh:stxatetl thl.s wit&. reference to the Gorrertrment of Upper Voltars lntention to invite all accreditetl Ambassadors, tr'oreign Assistance ]lissions and, Representatlves of Intlustry to the opening of the forthconing N0Cs reeting even tho:gh it js not Upper Voltars tunx to host the meeti:rg:. Ee noted. increased. anE[reness amongst Gover:rments to the Ecolog:lcal implica- tlons of husn& settlenent antl relatecl socio-economic d.evelopnent activities mad.e feasible by the successful OCP operations. -2- 6. fhe ProsraIllme Director a,ssuretl the Grorp that ecolog:ical matters were taken most seriously within OCP which looked. to the Group for constrtrctlve crlticism ancl. advice. Ee was particularly pleased. that the Group, rtrtrlle recogn-izing that settlement aspects r.rere strictly beyond. its roand,ate, hait proposed. to consid.er further topical aspecte of this matter at this sess1on. D. REYIEW OF I/ECTOR CONIROL NESIITTS 7. The Group uras info:mecl of the Yector control results since the last EG meetiag. ft was pointed out that only 8 nonths had pa^ssed, ancl reference would be made only to the results ln the d:ry season which has been atypically clry wer nost of ttre OCP ?reao Ttris has neant that oirly 5f/, of the rlvere nornally treatecl. were treated.. Telcear was used. in rivers upto !0 aJ/eec. Tlre Progranne wouId. have been prepared. to extentl this ltnrt to 250 m)/sec in linited. area untlI aa alternative 1arrricid.e neeting the criterla of the EG woulcl have become operationally available. 8. About 9Vo of the Prograrmle atrea has been effectively controllodl, baserl on Annual lllra'r.qmissLon Potential (AtP) leve1s which were particularly low over the roajonity of the Prograrme area. 9. For the wet sea.son, temephos wotrld be usecl j-n all non-resistance areas in the savanna. Telorar would be applied routinely in the Atlaatie basins until river d.ischarge exceed.ed. JO aJf sec, when treatrnent wou1d. be resuned. t*ith chlorphci-n except in the lower Sand.ama where Telrrar would be used. up to 2r0 aJfsec. fhe wet sea:,on had. begun early in 1984, and. strong reinvasion has already been record.ed.. The experirnental treatment with tenephos of the Sa.nkarani river (Cuinea) would be monitorecl carefully to see to uhat extent reinvasion of the westerrr frank of the progra,mue was neutralised,. IIISEC TIC IIIE DEVETOPMET{T 10. The Ecological Grorp was, info::oed. of the nr:.nber of irlsecticirle fomu- lations r.jtrich had been recei.ved. fron Industry. Some had. shown potential as a slxoulium Ia:rrlcitle. The Group noted. that two fo:mulations of AzanetJrlfosr lqo W, were und.er tegt. Six out of more than twentlr B.t. E-14 forrqlatlons were being: fr:rther stuiliett. Three synthetic pyrrethroids antl one carbamate r+ere shouing'pronising results in the laboratorJr. A number of Insect Grorrth Regulator's (fcRrs) were also under test. E. 711. th.e Ecological Grorp was .pleasecl to note that the tentative timetable for the development of larricicles anal their entry into operational use proposecl by ttre Expert Atlvisory Comrnittee has been foll.owed in resfect of ttre Pe:methrin trials. Some d.elay wa.s noted in respect of the other two compoun&s (Azanethifos and. Bactiloos) which had provecL pronising in laboratory trials. 12. th.e Ecological Grorp consid.eretl in ctetail the monitoring of the planned. Permethrin trials on the 200 km. stretch of the Sassandra river and expressed. sr:rprise at the extent of the rrlarge scale field trials" planned.. ft wa.s explained. that an entire river systern had to be enployecl for such tria-ls to provicle realistic long terur monitoring of the control effects of the canclitlate larwicicle uncler operational cond.itions. Because of time constraints OCP had to gai-n concoromitant operational experience with each product, as it corlcl not be assumed. that it coultl be applletl in the same way a.s those proclucts presently r:sed. in the Progrs.rEnsr Given these ci.reum^stances the Ecological Group stressed. that very careful ervironmental norritoring of the operational trial wa.s particularly essential. 15. For such large scale trials OCP nust make specific add.itional resources available so as not to gsmpromise the ong'oing routine nonitoring over the rest of the Progranme area. The national hyd.robiolog'ical tearo should be clpsely assoclated. witJr the work, their participation being carefully itLentified. in the agreement with OCP. Eowever, OCP for its part shoulcl appoint an Invertebrate 3iologist and a nobile suppont team to nork with the national team. In addition arr ichtyologist would. be required for three to four weeks at the start of the monitorirlE operations. 14. A literature suryey on the toxicology and ecological impact of Pernethrin should. be camietl out as a matter of emergency. A first dtaft should be ready by nitl-July, and a definitive version by September 1984 each being subnittecl to the Ecological grorp for lmmed.i-ate revLew. 15. Ttre Group reccmmendetl that the hydrobiological monitoring be concen- trated. at three sites in the lo'urer, nirLdle and. upper reaches of the river section to be treated.. E'xlsting: nonitoring sites should. be chosen wherever possible. The lower site shoulil. be just above the entrance to the 1ake. Wockly Lnverteburate rnonitortng shoulcl take place in accortlance with the fu1I p,rotocol. Fe the fi::st nonth of the trial fish loonitoring should take pI-ace in a,cconda.nce with approvecl protocol at least neekly. -4- lherea^fter fj-sh non:itoring should. take place everXr two roonths, partlcular attention beirg g:iven to fish population tro\rements, to effects on the reproduction of ind.icator fish species, and also on young fish stages. 15. The Ecological Grorp also reconrmended that a stutly be undertaken on the posslble a,ccr:sulation of Permethrin in riverine seil.iments. The prefe:reil site for such an investigation r.rou1cl be just below the entrance to the lake. Sa,mples from other potential cleposition sites could be collected at the enil of the raiqy seasion. 17. The Ecological Group regretted. that OCP had not provided. nenbers nith a d.etailed. monitoring protocol backed. by the literatr.rre suryey before initiating the large scale fielcL trial and. requested. that, in futr:re this proced.r:re be followed. for all new proclucts other the B.t. H-Id being subnitted. to such trials. 18. Ttre Grorp recalletl the criteria for environmental nonl.toring as set out on page r0 of the report on the Ecologi-ca1 Grou.prs second. session. These crlteria ca}led for a resumption of the full monitoring protocol shoultl a new Ia^::vicid.e be introduced.. Even if the introduction of a new lanricid.e was linitecl to part of the OCP area the Group believed that the present OCP resources would. have to be strengthened to cope wittr the ad.tlitional workload. L9. Ehe Ecological Group endorsed the Contlngency PIan drawn up by the Piograrme prwitlecl that the reconmend.ations outlined in paragraphs 14 to 1J would be followed before introduci;rg any new product. It also requested that it be info:metl imecliately the plan was put j.nto operation. 20. The Group consid.ered that trtwo operationally usable Ia^:rricidesil were still not avallabIe to the Progra,rmre but, with the present state of d.evelopment of cand.id.ate larvlcid.es it antlcipated. that suitable foruuLations rould be available before OCP extend.ed. soutlt or west in 1985 in accord.ance with the tong-fer"n Stratery. F. AQUATIC MOI\IJTORING 2L. The Group rms pleased to learn that the problems previously id.entifiecl concerrring the collection and. treatnent of the routine aquatic monitoring tl.ata had been resolved.. TLre @P hydrobiologist has r:nd.ertaken a number of speclfic stud.ies the results of r.rhich were presented to the goupo The Grotrp was -5- encouraged. to learn that eight.people had undergone a tvo-month prelininarT trailing in aquatic moni.toring for activities in the i{esterr: extension areao 22. TLre Group again stressed the i-nportance of regula^r professional contact being naintained. r+ith the national teans. In view of the pressures of other work it wouId. recomtencl that a consultant be engaged. as necessarJr to pnd.ertake such contacts on behalf of the OCp team. 2r. It ras noted. that an attenpt had been made, following the suggestion of the EcologLcal Grorp, to sanple the riffle fish. The results uere unfortunate- ly rather poor due to the abno:rmally dry wet season. 24. Ehe Grorp attachecl consid.erable inporta^nce to the receipt a]read of its neetings of ttre reports of ttre hyclrobiological tgams and of special stuclies. It woulcl suggest that ttrese reports be nade available as soon as they becorne available rather then being clistributed. en bloc brrt appreciatecl the tine constraints between the meeting of the hydrobiologists, r"rhen the reports wexe pxesented., ancl that of the Group. ft suggested. that whenever trindetesrt were used. in any d.ocunent, the ttefinition or method. of calculating each index be given. 25. The Grou$ r.las informetl by its representative to the Hydrobiolog:ists' neeting thatthis last session had d.emonstratecL the interest of national teams in the'environmental su:rreillance and. the review of activities revealed. a,satisfying: iroprovement ln the scientific quality of the work they were und.ertaking'. 26. Some of the teeurs had been called by their national authoritLes to explain the efforts nor:ntect by OCP to safeguarcl the environment. Accorclingly it r^ras essential that they be kept well inforned of r,rhat was being r:.nd.ertaken in their countrlr. A1so, in this respect, their involvement in stud,ies on the impact of new lar:vicides was most I'nportant. 27. Meetings between specialists, such as that organized for ichtyologists before ttre hydrobiologists I neeting, were to be encoura,ged.. 28. The Group noted. ttre work undertaken by the Institute of lbopical Ecology to roonitor the tneated rivers in lvory Coast (Doc. WP/YW/HtBIO/84.1). The report denonstrated. the general obserration mad.e by a1I teams of the narked effect of the atypical hydrological cond.itions in 1981. 29. The work of Dr J.M. Elaaxd., oRSToM (Doc. OcP/vcu/IJ,fnT3/a4.2) rast highly conmended. The Ecological Group believed. that the biotic ind.ex proposed. wa.s to be prefe:red. to the Shannon ind.ex wrd.er the general cond.itions prevailing in the Programne €rrea. [he Group understoocl this d.ocr:ment to be the sr:rmar7 of the authorrs d.octorate thesis and. requested. that the fuII text nay be mad.e available to each member. ,o. Document N,P/vcV/trtBIo/84., by the same author reviewecl the recolonl- zation potential of stretches of water treatecl with insecticid.es. lELre Group noted. that no account wa.s taken of the work carried. out by Walsh oa refug:ia (d.ocunent ref. no. ) arrd that the reccmmendations on page I conformed. to ttrose already advanced. by the Ecological Group. )1. Whlle the Grotrp accepted. the conc}:sions of the d.ocr:ment OCP/VCII/EIBIO, 84.4 fron 0RST0I'1, it questioned. the statenent that chlorphcj-n was nuch more toxic thaa Tenephos for non-target fauna [rrittrotrt some add.itional quallflcationrf . The Grorp noted. that the d.ocu.ment ignored. its deliberations which had lecl it to apprwe the use of chlonphoxin in the wet season rnrhen there was only nininal d.ifference betrrrcen the effect of the two compound.s on the non-target organisrns. 12. fhe Grotrp stud.ied with particular interest the report of the a.nnual hytlrobiologists neeting (Doc. WP/YCU/EYBI}/84.5). The Grouprs comments on certain of the reccnrmend.ations therein set out in, para ll G) to (e) were as follows: (") It agreed that the hyttrobiologists should only be reqr:ested. to moni-tor tests on nel, cand.id.ate larrricides once the potential suitability of the compountl for sirulir:rn control had been proven. (U) llre Ecological Group agreed. that sanpling shoulcl be related. to conparable hydrological cond.itions rather than to fixecl calend.ar clates. (") n6 g6nrmgnf,. (a) Follold.ng clari.fication by its representative to the WcLrobio- logists meeting the Group confi:med. that the chollnesterase test was effective only as a bio-a.ssay for organophosphorous arrd carba.nate compor:nd.s. No biological monitoring nethods existed. for assessing the level of internal exposure of fish to other groups of conpound.s presently being testecl by OCP. -7 - the Hyclrobiologists should be encor:.raTad. to consult the Ecological Group for a.ssistance or inforaation on such natters. (u) The Grorp felt that national teems must be involved in the river trial stage of larvicide trials (see para 25). 33. The Ecological Group noted. the surnnarSr of d.evelopments in the fish far:na cluring I98l ln watercourses in fvory Coast (Doc. o1p/vcv/ffyl,To/g4.6) and consid.ered. the three trypotheses presented. to account for reduced. fish populations. ft recomrnend.ed. that the situation should. continue to be monitored. closely in ord.er to d.eter"nine whether the fluctuations were due to the rrnusual trydrological cond.itions or to other fa.ctors. An ad.clitional sur/ey shoulcl be r:ndertaken at the end of the wet season to obtain infe- nation on the potrnrlati.on {ynanlcs of fish specles. As recommend.ed. previously, the Group assumed. that some lnfo:mation wou1d. also be availabl-e on the effect of permethrin on fish fry ch:ring the operational river triar. ,4. [he report on a.ctivitLes in Benin (]o". ocP/vca/84.8) r:naerlined. the importance which should. be glven to regular visits and. contacts between the national team.q and the Progrznrs irydrobiologists (see para 22). ,5. The d.ocument on the work d.one in Upper Volta (ocy/vW/84.g) raised, the question as to wtrether monitoring need be continued" beyond. the fifth year of maintenance, especlally in an area which had. only been subjected. to Tenephos'treatment. Etre Group hoped. that the National Goverrunents would. continue a monitoring prograrrne which would provid.e info::mation on environ- nental effects resulting froro the larvicicting and socio-economic activltles. It suggested. that this natter be raised. at the next meeting of the Eyctrobio- logists to fo:mulate a suitable protocol ancl to establish the crlteria for site selection. 15. The Ecolog'ica1 Group noted. with interest the baseline tlata collected. by the Togo team as described ln documents ocP/vCU/HrBIo/g4.Io and. 84.1I. The Group lookecl forward. to reviewtng ad.d.itional d.ata on the fish fauna in 1984" of ,7. The Grorp noted. ln ttre report/the Ghanaian tea,m (Doc. Np/vcu/mrBlo/ 84.12) that r*rile certain fish species may be opportunistic in their feed.ing habits, seasonal changes were also to be expected.. Special attention should. however be gtven to those fish species vith specific feed.ing habits. -B- 38. The Ecological Grorp was pleased. to note the results of acetylcholl- nestera.se stud.ies, reported. ln.rlocr:ment OCp/VCU/ttl]:O/A4.L1. ttre Grorp recommend.ed that these studies be extend.etl to rivers where chlorahoxi.u was being: enployed. operationally. It worlil also encourage the grblication of the stud.ies on the effects of tenephos. It did not support the histological gtudies proposed (recornmend.ation No.2), a.s on the basis of crurent heovledge it r*as cloubtful whether histo-pathological lesLons wouId be f ound. ln fish org:ans. 19. lhe Grorp acloeowlectgetl that the d.ocr:ment (84.14) on the shet-te:em fuopact of Pe:methrin on non-target aquatic fan:na was but the start of a serieg of d.ocr:nents that the Group erpected. to receive on the subJect. Ehe Group felt that there wa.s a relatlonship between detachnent a.ncl nortality tnrt recogrdzed. that deterninlng this relationship wa.s not easy a,nd. depended. on the natr:re of the chemical product and its forrulation. 40. fhe Grouprs coments (para L7) resarttlng the nonitoring protocol applied. eqr:a.lIy to the eventual fiekl trials wittr Azanethifos (Doc. OCV/VCV/ HrBro/84-15) 41. I^/hile the Grorp hacl no specific cments on the d.ocurnent &P/vW/ HaBI0/84.15 it worltl relterate its ecological clearance of B.t. E-14 formulation in general. ftoproned forrtrlatione could. be put into opera- tlonal trials without seeklng Group approval. 4?. Ihe Ecolog:ica1 Group noted, that the lnesent hydrobiologLst was leaving OCP at a critical tine when the Progravrnre had. to responcl to pressures iroposed. by the increased nonitoring related. to the introduction of different compounds operationally as well as the detailed sr:rvelllance associatecl with the large scale fieltl trials with new cornpor:ndso Accord.ine:1yr it strongly recmmended. that the hydrobiological ullit be strengthened. at a high-Ievel to nanage the hograrmers response to the conplex questions r.vhich would. und.oubted.ly arise. G. ADUIITCIDII{G 41. The Group was j-nforaed. of the statr:s of the adulticitling triale planned. to d.ete:mine ttre effectiveness of this method. in cornbating reinvasion b;r savanna flies. As grountl spraying wa.s not feasible on an5r rea.sonable scale under ralr5r seaston cond.itions consid.eration r.ras givea to the various riversid.e vegetatlon systems that would require treatment on River Mo in Northera Togo together with the proposed. helicopter spraying procedures. -9- The vegetatlon structure to be treatecl variecl on the erosional and d.epositi.onal sid.es of the river, the gal1ery forest being: denser on the fo:mer but mee cmpler on the ratter. Particular problems wourcl be encountered. if vegetation cover on island.s had to be treated. because of inevitabls sqntaminatiqn. By adjr:sting the method of application such contenination cotrld. pnobably be kept to a ninimum in the other vegetational systems. The clensely vegetated tributary systens of the hfpe ttrat woul{ need. to be treated. were also d.escribed.. 44. The Ecological Group was informeci of the ongoing studies to d.eteruine potential sid.e effects of the pe:methrin applications. These stud.ies had. begun under ttre auspices of the Department of To:cicologr, Agricultrrral Universityr ltrageningen in close collaboration with OCP staff. [Lre obeer\ra- tions woulcl be carriecl out over a period. of approxinately three nonths axrd. consisted. of a pre-spray obsernatlon period. of four to five weeks aJcal a post-spray obse:rration perlocl of approxinately eight weeks. As the pe:methrin application would be d.irected. prinarily to the vegetation enphasie would. be on the nonitorirr,g of the terzestrial fauna. Eowever, some obsernations would. be nad.e on the possible tlirect impact on the aquatic fan:na. 45. Nine sampling stations hacl been created. for an assessnent of the terrestrial invertebrate fan:na. At ea.ch of these stations three malaise and. nine pitfall traps had been installecl.. In add.ition ttre fallout of invertebrates fron the tree canolrJr wou1d. be assessed. by placing fir:urel traps (eO cn) at various heights in the vegetation. Sorne rlrlft-nets would. be placetL ln the tributaries of the river Mo. Seme general obserrations would also be made on insectivoror:,s birds wittr special emphasis on the swallor.ls and swifts which occr:red. abunclantly in the axea. This lrglrld. indicate r,rhether the bircls moved. frm the area after spraying ha4 taken pIace. All samples taken d.ead or alive nould be preserved.. A prel.inina.ry treatment of the gamFles woultt be cauled. out in the laboratorSr of the OCp Sector office at Kara nith final aaalysis in the laboratory in the Netherlands. 45. the Ecological Group rms pleasetl with the d.etail of the presentation reflecting the careful attention being cl.irectecl toward. aII aspects of the adulticid.ing triaI. They uere especially grateful to have the opportr:nifu to proviiLe input to the fo:mative sta6e of the protocol. The eoupling of the field. testing of the adulticidling procedures with the stu{y of resi4ual effects was considerad by the Group to be particularry inportant. -I0- 47. The Gror.rp referred. to paragraph 22 of the report of its for:rth session, reiterate the need. for detaileil stutlies to be pursued. into the resting sites of the reinvading flies to enable a more specific approach to adulticitling to be r:ndertaken. This study shoulit address in particular the spatial (local and stratified) and. d.iurnal patter:rs of d.istribution. H. LO}IG-TERM S1NAMGY 48. A:r outline of the principal elements of the Lon6'-Te:m Stratery proposal r.ra.e presentecl to the Group. AnalSrsis of the hogranmsts activities had. shown the operatLons coulcl be <tivided. into a J-year attack planr a two-year consolid.ation phase arrd a five-5rear maintenance phase by the encl of r+hich tine larvicid.ing activities lrere at a very low 1evel. The amor:nt of Ia^::vicitte used. d.r.:ring a year in the consoliclation phase r*as only half that required. in the attack phase for a simifar period of treatment and. by the beginning of naj.ntenance was only one fifth. Assurning the southerrr ancl western extensions to be implenented in I!85r control operatlons rrotrld rapid.ly climinish in the present OCP area all of which wou1d. have completetl five years of malntenanoe W 1992t a stage reachecl in the Wester:r Extenslon area in L997. The strategy prorrid.ed. potential intLications of larricLd.e requirements during the second. and. thircl financial phases bearing in mind. that the Southerrir Extensiotl wou1d. add. 51000 lo and. the Western Extension a further 22rOOO Io of river to the 181000 kn of the present OCP. 49. The Granp erpressed. satisfaction rrith the proposal as tleflnetl, the nethod.ologies usetl. in planning it and the ti-netable of events outlined. As the stratery was scheclulecl to be inplenented. in 1!85 this provitlett time for new insecticides to be cleveloped. and tested. and. the opportunity for relevant clata to be collected in the Western Extension atrea. The Group wa"s also pleased. to note the potentially rapicl red.uction in the quantitles of lar:vicicles required. in the present OCP area when the ertension operations had. been impleuented. I. ECOLOGICAI ASPECTS OF HIIMAN SETTI,EME}TT 50" The Ecological Group recalled its d.eliberatj-ons d.escribetl in lnras 24 and 2J of the report of its for:rth session and. noted. that it was apparent that a large anount of settlement, resettlement and agricultural d.evelopment was now taking place in the river valleys of ttre 6P area wtrere oncho transmission has been interruptecl. -1r- 51. A11 three techn:ical unlts of OCP were significantly involvetl in the stud.y of these morrements. 'trbom the epid.emiological point of view it was well io:or^rn that the gravity of the disease was inversely propor- tional to population d.ensity. Therefore repopulation of foruerly heavily affected. valleys night be a means of preventing: the rec::trd.escence of severe f o:ms of the disease. 0n the other hand. there vras a risk that development activities too close to the river bank could constitute a threat to the riverine environment. 52. Organized resettlement coulil be observed. in Ivc,ry Coa-st in large scale nrultipurpose a{Iro-Lnctustrial schemes (Upper Band.ama River basin, in the previor,sly heavlly infested. area of Senoufo) and in sugar planta- tlons (landana, Upper Sassandra, Cono6); in Upper Vo1ta (AW, on White, Black antl RecL Volta and Borgor.riba val1eys, previor:s1y aband.oned); ir, Togo (rrProjet Nord. Togo'r in Kara a.rea, Brogta:nme of assistance to 1oca1 fa:ming, worklng and expantling in close cooperation with ocp); and Ln I'{ali (Sikasso area d.evelopment, initiated before OCP implenentation but strongly expand.ed. becar:se of OCP action, wittr tremend.ous changes of the 1rca1'envlror:ment; area of ranching: of Madina Diassa on river Baotrl6). 53. Spontaneous resettlement wa.s the more cormon. It was widely distributed. along the Volta valleys in Upper Vo1ta, includi.ng tributaries like the Bor:g:or:riba, i-n the St. Pieme airea,, for exa^urpIe, thene was a riverine villa€e artificially createcl 2l years ago, abandoned. W its iphabitants 10 years later, reconstnrctecl in the late seventies and now significantly expand.ing:. On the Leraba river, in what was the worst area of oncho f,rarr,smission, a new villag:e was established. a few years ago after a first atteuqrt r.rtrich failecl because of reinvasion i-n 1978. Man;r such new spontaneor:s settlements wrere found. elsewhere in Upper Volta, Mali (ttiger tcibutaries) and in northerre Ivory Coast, in d.eserted. valle3rs r,*rere previor.rsly the closest permanent resettlements were 10 to 1l ko away fron the river. 54. In some €lireas this movement towards the river could. be a sor:rce of conflict with the national administrations and the environnental protection auttroritiesr especially where the riveri.ne tleserted. land. had been turnetl in the gaJne reserrres, national parks or forest management axeas. -L2- 55. A progranme includ.ing geographers, socio-economists, a6ronomists and botanists was bei-ng lnplenbnted in Upper Yolta with OCP support to study the evolution of the riverine environrnent in repopulatecl areas antl the possible antagoni.stic effects of repopulation on improvernent of hr:man welfare on one hand. antl on dep::ed.ation of environment on the other hantl. Other nnrltitlisciplinary stud.ieg cou1d. be implernented. in Northerzr Ivory Coast (Upper Santtana) where the changing processes are vsrlous anal well a.dvanced. and. wtrere control d.ata are easily available. 55. Ehe Ecological Grorp recognizecl that, whlle the settlement of, the valleys was accompanled. W the risk of environnental.changel tJrese lands were generally less {rag'iIe than the plateau regions froro which the settlers had cme. Eence the depopulation of the plateau lantls coultl have a positive envirorunental effect on ttrese atreas, because of recluction of population pressu.re. 57. [he Group also obse:eved. that populations in Africa generally were in ha^rrnony w"ith the environment and care should be taken that guitLance given to than on transferring to a new location d.id. not upset ttris equilibrism. Eowever, it coultl be that populations from outsitle the area could have a d.ifferent approach to the environment than local populations. 58. [he Gtorp welcmed the hqrammers initiative in consultlng vith the Goverrments on their plans for environnental and ecolog:ical conser- vation. 59. The Group was info::ured. of the stud.ies being carried. out by FAO to quantify the 1and. use changes in a pilot area of sone 1251000 square lono to the south of O:agad.ollgorlo Conparative studi.es of remote sensing inagery together with gromct f,ruthing were being employed. Later l:r 1984 it wa.s erpected. that higher resolution inagerlp would. be available vhlch wouId help to d.ete:mine the effects of socio-economic development on critical vegetation such as the gallery forests. More cietalled stutlles of areas particularly prone to such destructive influence could be rnade by nulti-spectral aerial photography. -l-1 - 60. Studies of the sma11 fa:m situatlon in both departure and lnetallatlon zones were started. last year. These stud.ies indicated. the improvement in the quality of life of fa:ming farnilies who had settled. either under crganized schemes or spontaneously. These stud.ies worlcl continue in 1984 and fa^:m antl hor:sehold. d.ata would. be fully anal;rsed.. 5I. The Ecological Group reaffirmed. its belief that the riverside vegetation zone represented the most critical nutrient supply area fon the aquatic organisrns of the river systen and therefore should. continue to receive careful attention with regard to d.isruptive a.ctivities associated with resettlement. As stated. in paragraph 24 of the report of its for.rrth session the Group agaln stresseal that rtthe preservation of the gallery forests is an essential prerequisite for the maintenance of the trytlrology of the rivers, the prevention of erosion of river banks and safeguartling of fisheries interestsfr (see also pma 15 of this report). J. ANT OIIF,R BIISTNESS 62. The Chai:man agreed. to represent the Group at the fifth session of the JPC ln Nianey. Drs tennon and L6v6que would. attend. the ffirobiologistsr neetin8: sched^ulect for February 1!85. Dr Koeman uor1d. visit the Sassandra area in August 1984 to obse:sre the Pennethrin f,rials. DE Yasuno world visit the Prograflne a^rea in Aprir 1!B! prior to the Grouprs sixth session. 6r. The Group nas pleaseti to note that in accord.ance w'ith its recornnend.a- tion (para 21 of the report of lts fourth session) the aquatic nonitorlng d.ata had now been valid.ated. and. wou1d repeat its request that an ind.epenclent analysls of the d.ata shoulct be avallable to it prior to its sixth session. 64. The Group requested to see that sectLon of the draft of the 10 yr review of Scientific results being lrepared. by the Progra.mre. 65. fhe Ecological Group felt that OCP should be proud. to be the only najor Irogra.me to clate with such an environmental monitoring elenent witluin its own structure. ft wor1d. recmend. that a sumarJr d.ocunent on environmental/ecological matters be published. in one of the naJor English- 1a'n6uage scj-entific publicatlonsl €ogo Natr.rre (tonaon), Dr l6v6que infcrred the Group that he had been approached by the Chairraa.n of a SCOPE worki.ng group to contribute an article on @P aquatlc monitoring.. _14 K. AXI,ANGEI,E}I16 FoR * *T MEETTNG 66. It was proposecl to hold the sixth session of the Ecologlcal Grorp at the encl. of April 1985 at Kara, in Northern Togo, t. APPRO/AL OF REPORT 67. TLre draft report of the fifth session of the Ecological Group nas approved. M. CLOSUNE OF ]4EETING 59. The ChaJ:man closed the neetirg by thanking all participantst secretarlr antl. interpreters fe their collaboration. 'iffi' " v^' mor,oercAr, GR@P flft& neettng L@6, 29-rL Ury 1984 Lnraex 1 LTSI OT PARTTCIPAI{TS llenbers of EcoloRlcal Group Prof. E.1,I. cnr-ins, Deparfuent of Bleheries & wilcLlife, hegon state Unlverslt5r, CwaILig. ftegoa 97rrl, VSA Profo Dr JjE.'Koernan, Eead, Deparfuent of Toxicolqryr AgriculturaL Urdversity, De Dreijen J2, 570) Wagenlnsen, Pays-Bas Dr Robert E. Lennon, Go-Devil Boad, P.O. Bc.74r tirrcoln, Iffi 04457, 6A Dr D. Lev6que, OEST0'I, 24, me 3ayard., 7500S Parig. Erance Dr M. Yasuno, National Institute for Derrlronnental Studies, Japan EbvLronmental Agency, Yatabe Tsukuba fbaraki, JOI Japon Technical Secretariat to Ecological Grqrp Dr Ebrah{n I{. Samba, Director, OnchocercLasls Control Progranrms, B.P. 549t Oua8ad.ougotr. Upper Yolta Dr D.A.T. Baldry, Entonologist, Yector control unit, @P, orragadoug:m., Upper Volta Dr J. Grnnercaltl, 1)eopenned.Lzin, It:stitute d.er Universit5t, Wilhelmstr. ,LD-740O IEbinsen, Fecleral Republic of Ge:marqr Dtr D. Kurtak, Entmologist, Yector Control Unit, !to J.DJI[. I{a:=, OCP Llaison Officer, World Eealttr Srrttzerland OCP, Orag:adouaou, Upper Volta Orgaaizatlon, 1211 geBqya l4r M. Ocran, EntmoJ.ogiet, Yector Control Unit, OCp, @i Iogo Dr D. Parrgr, $tobiologJ.st, Vector Control Unit, OCP, 0ua.qacl.oueou., Upper Vo1ta Dr B. PhilLppon; Entonologlst, Chief, Vector Coatrol Unit, OCp, guagadotrgqr Dr_G. Qu6lerurec, Pesticicles Sa^fe Use Developnent, Vector Bio1ory ControlDlvlsioa, 1,180, Geneva '- I\Dr P. lpnaud, htonologist, Vector Control llnlt, OCp, ton6, [ogo h 8. Subral htonolog:ist, Yector Control Unit, OCP, Ouagador:.eotr. Upper Volta I{r L- Yau6qgo, sTC, vector control unit, 0cp, o:aga.d.oreou, upper volta ObserYelt 'l'tr C.G. Grom, Senicn Officen, Agricultural Seryices Division, FAOr'Via c1elleTe:me tll Caracalla, OO1OO, Rome, Ita1y.