Oxford University Exploration Club

Conservation Comores worked to bolster conservation efforts on Grande Comore and Anjouan in the remote Comoro Islands. Bird and butterfly surveys were carried out to identify priority areas and species for conservation, socio-economic research to identify the problems leading to deforestation and awareness work to show the importance of conservation to the Comorian people. Endemic species reliant on low altitude forest on Grande Comoro or high-altitude forest on Anjouan are the most threatened by deforestation caused by poverty and population expansion. Training days for village environment groups and press conferences were held to highlight the importance of conservation and the need for all levels of society to work together to achieve sustainable resource management, a message that will be supplemented by films and posters in the local languages. The ecological situation on Anjouan is desperate and urgent conservation work is needed if the many endemic species and the livelihoods of the Comorian people are to be saved. To this end, proposals are being drawn up to expand the expedition to a three-year project.