TCI in the News
Press Releases for Terwilliger Consulting Inc.

Locustville - With its mountains, deserts, and Arab and Berber cultures, Morocco hardly seems like a place that would have much in common with the Chesapeake Bay region. Yet, south of Casablanca on the coast of North Africa is a lagoon with an ecology, economy - and problems - that closely resemble our own. Therefore, when NATO was assembling an international team of scientists and policy makers to help deal with the issues surrounding the Oualidia Lagoon, Karen Terwilliger's scientific and wildlife management experience - and her many years on the Shore - made her a natural choice.

The Oualidia Lagoon is approximately 4½ miles long and half a mile wide and runs along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The lagoon is considered environmentally important and has been listed as a RAMSAR site, a designation given to areas that are of global environmental concern due to due to their fragile and productive ecosystems. Much like the Chesapeake Bay, it supports a diversity of species that utilize the lagoon at some point in their lives. This area of Morocco - and specifically the Oualidia Lagoon - is an important stopover site for migratory birds. Oysters and clams from the lagoon serve as a source of food and livelihood for the residents of Morocco. Similar to the Eastern Shore, shellfishing, agriculture, and tourism comprise the economy of the area.

Unfortunately, the lagoon's problems also mirror those of the Eastern Shore. Although it is currently managed in a collaborative effort between the government and private owners, continuing declines in water quality have triggered concerns about its future. Until 1996, the Oualidia Lagoon was considered environmentally healthy, with no recorded sanitary or eutrophication problems and an abundance of harvestable oysters and clams. Since then, there has been a reduction in the overall biodiversity of the lagoon and a significant decrease in the oyster and clam populations. In response to the decline in water quality, the Moroccan government has declassified the lagoon; thus, bivalves from this source must now be purified and cleaned before human consumption.

The poor water quality of the lagoon is directly associated with sewage discharge through underground seepage waters. The lack of proper water treatment facilities and the dramatic influx of people during the summer months combine to intensify this issue. The Oualidia Lagoon area is a favorite hot spot and its popularity has given rise to a thriving tourism industry - sadly, at the cost of the lagoon. Approximately 6,000 residents depend on the Oualidia Lagoon year-around, a number that swells to 30,000 people in the summer tourist season. The seasonal increase of sewage discharge in turn increases the amount of bacterial coliforms, organisms that have a detrimental impact on oyster and clam cultures. Toxic algae blooms also affect oyster activity, and these blooms are amplified by excess nutrients provided by fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. Protection buffers are not required by Moroccan law, so the lagoon is unprotected by agricultural run-off.

The 20-member NATO team and its local partners used computer modeling programs to simulate toxic plankton production in the lagoon in response to nutrients coming from the lagoon's watershed and from the ocean. With a model they adapted especially for the Oualidia Lagoon, the team took the opportunity to train Moroccan scientists to use the program in future efforts to preserve the lagoon. At the end of their stay, the team submitted a report that provided an assessment of the issues and problems facing the people of Morocco in the management of the Oualidia Lagoon. The main problems identified were the lack of adequate sewage treatment plants, increasing tourism, agricultural run-off due to the absence of protection buffers, and the population increase in the watershed area. The report also provided recommendations for effectively managing the lagoon as a sustainable resource and a healthy ecosystem and suggested a framework for developing an integrated strategy for the future, including the establishment of a specialized watershed organization similar to the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

"It was a rewarding trip, to say the least," Terwilliger commented. "I wish everyone could visit these areas to better appreciate what we have in Virginia and especially on the Eastern Shore. And to get another look at how important it is for our livelihoods and our economy to conserve these resources."

Terwilliger previously participated in eight other NATO working groups in various countries. Terwilliger Consulting, Inc. specializes in natural resource conservation and communication with a wide range of services and products for both public and private sectors. TCI's office is located in Locustville, Accommack County. For more information, log onto www.natureconsultant.com.

Terwilliger facilitates coordination between Moroccan officials and their stakeholders
to identify top priority needs.

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October 2006
Local Wildlife Business Helps the World's Rarest Snake

Locustville - Harmony Hall, of Terwilliger Consulting, Inc., spent the past summer helping to save the world's rarest snake, the Antiguan racer (Alsophis antiguae). Currently, this snake is found only on two tiny, remote, tropical islands off Antigua in the West Indies. When rediscovered in the early 1990s, less than 50 Antiguan racers existed, and all were living on an island the size of a parking lot. In an effort to save the snakes, environmental organizations from around the world established a program of captive breeding, reintroduction, and predator management. As a result, conservationists were able to reintroduce the snakes to a second small island in 2002. This important step meant a significant increase in the size of the snakes' habitat and the supply of lizards that they depend on for food, thus greatly increasing their chances of survival.

Unfortunately, in January of 2005, the arrival of rats on the island threatened to undo this progress, jeopardizing the future of the reintroduced snakes. As an invasive species that originally came to the West Indies on the ships of European colonists, rats have no natural predators on the islands to keep them in check. In Antigua, snakes are the top of the food chain and keep the rest of the terrestrial ecosystem in balance. Rats severely disrupt this balance, eating not only snake eggs, but the eggs of both endangered lizards and the tropical birds that nest on these uninhabited islands. Before reintroducing the snakes, scientists had carefully eradicated all rats from the island and placed permanent rat bait stations to keep them from returning. But somehow, rats made it back to the island, survived, and multiplied.

In response to this crisis, an international crew of biologists was assembled to restore the natural balance of the island. Since Harmony had been the program's first field biologist and a part of the reintroduction team in 2002, she was asked to join in this effort. With four biologists from the United Kingdom, she camped on the uninhabited island for a month, working intensive 12-hour days. Far from being a tropical paradise, the island's hot, equator-type temperatures and thorny, poisonous plants made for very difficult working conditions.

"Everyone suffered from heat exhaustion at least once," says Harmony. "Nothing man-made lasts out there - tents, clothes, shoes, skin, nothing!" Luckily, she brought two pairs of field boots with her, since her first pair wore out completely after the second week. "But all that work was worth it," she adds. "The emergency rat eradication project was a complete success and 16 new permanent rat bait stations were strategically installed around the island."

photo: Harmony finds a shady spot to take notes

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August 2006
Local wildlife conservation business scores high success rate
and helps 6 states target future wildlife conservation needs.

Locustville - Terwilliger Consulting, Inc. (TCI), an Eastern Shore conservation and communication business, received notice of four approval letters from the National Team reviewing all 50 states' Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategies (CWCS) submitted by the October 2005 deadline. Karen Terwilliger, the founder and president, had her reputation to thank for being solicited by so many State Wildlife and Natural Resource Agencies to write these monumental strategies and to complete them with flying colors.

TCI, as the business is known in the conservation world, took on the task of writing the CWCS for Alabama, Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island.
These historic documents were written as comprehensive strategic conservation plans for the next 10 years with the goal of keeping common wildlife species common. The CWCS national effort was launched by Congress to help each State identify the wildlife species and their key habitats in greatest need of conservation. Each state then had to identify the most pressing issues and problems facing these natural resources and develop prioritized conservation actions as a preventative measure so that these species don't become endangered. This proactive approach, initiated by Congress and widely supported by many stakeholders and conservation partners across the nation, is viewed as an effective way to avoid costly future efforts trying to recover species on the brink of extinction. Terwilliger frames it "Would you rather invest in annual, preventative Dr. visits or an extended emergency room and nursing home stay? It's just a smart way of doing business".

The National Advisory and Acceptance Team (NAAT) reviewed all 56 CWCS in an elaborate and time-consuming process to ensure that each State and U.S. territory thoroughly detailed all required information. Approval of the CWCS by the NAAT was extremely important, because it would ensure that the States receive federal funding to implement their projects and programs detailed in the CWCS. Once the strategies were approved, they would be implemented by many partners with matching funds and serve as a State Wildlife Action Plan.

The NAAT was highly critical and about a third of the states had to go back to the drawing board to supplement their work with additional information. TCI is pleased to announce that Alabama, Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island have all received approval letters and are now well on their way to funding some important projects that are long overdue. Due to TCI's high success rate, two more client agencies, Virginia and Washington D.C., have solicited TCI to assist in the refinement of their state plans and /or development of outreach and promotional materials for these important programs.

VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and District of Columbia's Dept of Health and Environment are the most recent clients bringing the total to six.

Terwilliger Consulting, Inc. is located in Locustville, Accomack County, and for more information about their products and services, please visit their website at www.natureconsultant.com.

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February 2006
Terwilliger returns from historic NATO workshop