Update on Nigeria: Recent Work by the Wildlife Conservation Society
In Gorilla Journal 16 (June 1998) John Oates summarized the current information on the Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli in Nigeria. Since then our knowledge of the four sub-populations (Afi River Forest Reserve, the Mbe Mountains, the Boshi Extension Forest and the Okwa Hills - both sites located within the Okwangwo Division of Cross River National Park) has increased significantly. As a collaborative venture between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), the Biodiversity Research Programme was established in 2001 to facilitate and support biodiversity research in southeastern Nigeria. Particular attention is being given to endangered primates, including the critically endangered Cross River gorilla.
Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary
Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary was created out of the Afi River Forest
Reserve in 2000 specifically for Cross River gorilla conservation, and
is managed by the Cross River State Forestry Commission with support from
a 'partnership' of conservation NGOs including Fauna and Flora International
(FFI), NCF, Pandrillus and WCS.
Our gorilla monitoring work at Afi is currently based on sweep censuses
of the mountain every three months. The last census in March 2005 was
coordinated by newly recruited research officer, Inaoyom Imong, and with
five teams it was possible to survey the entire mountain in only 7 days.
A total of 22 gorilla nest sites were found including 10 recent (less
than 2 weeks old) nest sites. The data from this survey suggest the presence
of one group of at least 23 individuals concentrated in the southern-central
area of the sanctuary, and the possible presence of another small group
of about 4 animals. Evidence of gorillas was discovered in the Olum area
for the first time since a devastating fire swept through the area in
1997. Chimpanzees, drills and three other species of monkey were also
encountered. More censuses are needed to increase the reliability of our
estimates, and further insights should come from the genetic analysis
of faecal samples collected at Afi by Richard Bergl (Gorilla
Journal 29, December 2004).
Despite the creation of a wildlife sanctuary and support from a number
of NGOs, Afi is currently beset by a number of conservation problems including
poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation due to logging and agricultural
expansion. Fortunately no recent reports of gorilla poaching have been
received.
The Cross River State Forestry Commission, supported by the tourism plans
of the dynamic Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, is currently
advocating a program of gorilla habituation at Afi; with fewer than 30
gorillas remaining, however, we believe that until the mountain is effectively
protected against poaching the habituation of such a small and vulnerable
population is extremely risky. With support from the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service it has been agreed that FFI will coordinate
a full and independent review of the biological and socio-economic context
of gorilla-based tourism at Afi before any habituation programme is attempted.
Mbe Mountains
Occupying a key position in the landscape linking Afi Mountain Wildlife
Sanctuary to Cross River National Park and Cameroon, the Mbe Mountains
are community-owned land that currently lack any formal conservation status.
WCS has supported gorilla monitoring work in the Mbe Mountains since 2002,
and a small team of field assistants has been able to track two small
groups of gorillas, one of at least 7 individuals and one of at least
5. More recently a mountain-wide census of Mbe found recent clusters of
7 and 5 nests, and also discovered sites of 11 and 2 nests in other areas
of the mountain. This would indicate a total population of at least 25
individuals, similar to previous estimates.
In 2005 the Biodiversity Research Programme recruited five eco-guards
from the surrounding villages in an effort to reduce levels of poaching
and reinforce community rules and regulations that currently govern wildlife
management on the mountain. Based at a simple research camp high up on
the slopes of the mountain these eco-guards collect basic gorilla monitoring
data and their presence also acts to deter poaching. However, hunting
is not the only threat facing gorillas and other wildlife in the Mbe Mountains.
The mountains are poorly protected and are subject to logging, encroachment
for agriculture, fire, erosion and landslides. As farms from surrounding
villages slowly spread up the steep hillsides, the Mbe Mountains are gradually
becoming more and more isolated from the surrounding forest blocks. Deprived
of links to Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary and Cross River National Park,
the small population of gorillas that survive in the Mbe Mountains are
vulnerable to extinction. WCS is working closely with the USAID-sponsored
Sustainable Practices in Agriculture for Critical Environments
(SPACE) project to improve the protection of the Mbe Mountains. As part
of this collaboration a number of options for the most effective long-term
protection of the mountain, including a community-based conservation initiative,
are currently being considered. At the same time the feasibility of protecting
a forest corridor linking the Mbe Mountains through to Afi River Forest
Reserve is also under investigation.
Cross River National Park
The Biodiversity Research Programme signed a new Memorandum of
Understanding with Cross River National Park (CRNP) in 2004 and since
then two joint surveys of the Boshi Extension Forest of the Okwangwo Division
of CRNP have been completed. Evidence was found for the continued presence
of at least 12 gorillas in that area although these findings are only
preliminary and further surveys are required. Similar to the situation
in Cameroon, gorillas in Nigeria seem to prefer the steepest most inhospitable
terrain and avoid more accessible lowland areas. A reconnaissance survey
of the poorly-known Okwa Hills area in April 2005 found evidence for at
least one group of gorillas in the very heart of the Okwangwo Division,
the largest nest site located contained 16 nests. This sub-population
was previously thought to be centered in the Takamanda Forest Reserve
in Cameroon, with Okwangwo forming only a peripheral part of the population's
range, but we now believe that this recent survey shows the sub-population
in the Okwa Hills to be clearly separate from the gorillas of Takamanda.
Unfortunately, the Okwa Hills and the Boshi Extension Forest are gradually
becoming more and more isolated from each other as farming activities
within the enclave communities of Okwangwo and Okwa threaten to sever
the forest link between these two gorilla sub-populations. These enclaves
were created when Okwangwo was originally gazetted as a forest reserve
in 1930.
The Biodiversity Research Programme currently provides support
(field rations and fuel for their ageing vehicle) to a team of 10 park
rangers based at Anape on the edge of the Boshi Extension Forest in the
Okwangwo Division of Cross River National Park. The team collects basic
monitoring data in addition to their normal anti-poaching patrols. Improved
training in gorilla monitoring techniques for these rangers is planned,
together with assistance for the production of a management plan for this
critically important protected area. As part of the planning process,
a study of the various long-term options for the management of the existing
enclaves is also proposed.
Like many other government services in Nigeria, the National Park Service
is chronically underfunded and routinely struggles just to survive. In
2005 Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe sent CRNP a quantity
of much-needed field equipment (comprising 30 tents, 102 day-packs and
33 sweaters) to boost morale and strengthen levels of protection. This
new equipment, and the tents in particular, will allow rangers to increase
the extent to which they were formerly able to protect the Okwangwo Division
of CRNP.
As reported in Gorilla Journal 26 (June
2003), Kolmården Zoo in Sweden recently donated funds to Cross River
National Park for the construction of a ranger post at the village of
Anape on the edge of the Boshi Extension Forest. The region is remote
and so isolated that all building materials have to be carried in on the
heads of local porters; as a result progress has been difficult and slow
at times, but we can report that the ranger post is now almost complete.
Rangers were previously based some distance from the edge of the park,
so the new ranger post should dramatically improve the levels of protection
provided for the Cross River gorilla and other endangered wildlife species.
Future Prospects
With as few as 90-110 Cross River gorillas remaining in Nigeria there
is clearly little room for complacency. But a new spirit of cooperation
now exists in south east Nigeria between government institutions responsible
for the management of key protected areas, such as the Cross River State
Forestry Commission and Cross River National Park, and conservation NGOs
such as WCS and FFI. We believe that this bodes well for the future.
Andrew Dunn
Photo: Andrew Dunn
John Oates hands over equipment for the rangers
to Alhaji Marguba, the Conservator-General of the Nigeria National Parks
Service.
Andrew Dunn is Project Manager for the WCS biodiversity research program in southeastern Nigeria, having taken up his appointment in March 2004. He has been working on biological survey and conservation projects in Africa since 1989, with a special expertise in large mammal monitoring. On behalf of WWF he acted as conservation adviser to the Gashaka-Gumti National Park in Nigeria from 1995-2000 and as park adviser to Korup National Park in Cameroon in 2000-2003.