Environment

Scientist on a quest to unlock the secrets of the rainforest.

Dr Isabella Bovolo - Hydrologist

Dr Isabella Bovolo’s explorations have taken her from the deepest, most remote parts of the Guyana rainforest to the coast of the Caribbean and beyond.

‘You can’t get down some of the river tributaries by boat, so you have to go by foot’, Dr Bovolo says, recalling one trip when she and colleagues from the Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) had to resort to machetes to hack their way through dense jungle.

‘We were assessing where to put some of the weather stations and river monitoring equipment that we’re going to be installing’.

Dr Bovolo, a hydrologist from Newcastle University, UK, has been on the hunt for vital data that will help scientists unlock the secrets of the rainforest’s changing climate.

She is preparing the way for a large-scale hydrology and climate monitoring programme focusing on a 1-million acre stretch of forest known as Iwokrama – inhabited by Amerindians, jaguars, giant otters, caimans and macaws.

The project is set to help establish Iwokrama, managed by the IIC with support from the Commonwealth Secretariat, at the forefront of climate research.
Weather stations and rain gauges

‘The rainforests in general are quite poorly understood’, says Dr Bovolo. ‘The idea is to learn more about the whole Earth system and to establish a baseline for future research. In other words, we need to understand what has happened in the past in order to understand what might happen in the future’.

Dr Bovolo has visited government institutes and university faculties, and met with private companies and voluntary organisations in the pursuit of statistics dating as far back as 1892 to today on rainfall, temperature, evaporation, humidity, wind and sunshine levels.

Each nugget of information is gleaned from a variety of devices, such as sophisticated weather stations or modest rain gauges. ‘Some are very simple manual devices like a funnel and a bottle usually in a metal casing’, explains Dr Bovolo. ‘The water collected in the bottle should be measured at eight o’clock each morning to show how much rainfall has fallen in the past 24 hours.'

‘Measurements have been taken by various people – enthusiasts, volunteers and organisations. The idea is to seek the data out and collate it so that we can see what gaps there are. Once we have collated it all we can start analysing it and looking for trends – monthly, seasonal, long term or spatial’. 

Sleuthing in the jungle
Working closely with some 50 organisations, including the Guyana Hydrometeorological Service and the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology in Barbados, Dr Bovolo and colleagues from the IIC are slowly, but surely, building up a picture of the climate of Guyana and the surrounding region.

‘It’s a bit like being a detective’, she says, ‘trying to find clues about possible information sources by talking to people and then following a trail of leads’.

The task has often sprung surprises, she admits. Data is sketchy and can be hard to come by, and Dr Bovolo frequently has to contend with inaccurate information. ‘There is very little climate data available for Iwokrama itself’, she explains.

‘In the rainforest interior some of the Amerindian communities have encouraged their school children to record weather observations on a daily basis. They only take measurements during school periods and there can be issues with the quality of data, but it’s better to have it than not’. 

Sustainable future
The findings will be published and circulated for use by scientists to help them better assess the value of the rainforests to the global ecological system.

‘We need to find out’, Dr Bovolo says, ‘what the rainforests are really worth to the local and international community in terms of rainfall generation, climate buffering, carbon storage, flood protection, biodiversity or soil conservation – and how vulnerable these rainforests are.

‘We hope to be able to show the rest of the world how tropical forests can be both conserved and sustainably used for ecological, social and economic benefits.

‘This is just the start of Iwokrama’s new long-term research plan. But it has the potential to yield some very important and exciting outcomes’.