Takamanda-Mone Landscape Project

New!!
A Sanctuary for the Cross River Gorilla

On April 3rd 2008, the government of Cameroon announced the creation of the world’s first sanctuary exclusively for the Cross River gorilla.  The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary (click here for map) is a small reserve, only 19.5 square kilometers in size, in a mountainous region of Cameroon. Nevertheless, it contains a genetically important segment of the entire Cross River gorilla population; it is estimated that the sanctuary currently contains approximately 20 individual animals. WCS has been promoting the importance of Kagwene for the conservation of the Cross River gorilla since 2003 when researchers first realized the value of the site and have recently constructed and handed over to the government an administration office with monies from the United States Fish & Wildlife Service.  This is great news for the future of the Cross River Gorilla.  WCS will continue its assistance to the process of creating and developing protected areas across this landscape such as the the proposed Takamanda National Park and the Mone Forest Reserve. Read more

In addition to being home to the Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla, the region that composes the Takamanda-Mone landscape which straddles the Nigeria-Cameroon border is a biodiversity hotspot of global significance. High levels of species richness and endemism are exhibited across a wide range of taxa and special attention has been drawn to primates, birds, amphibians, butterflies, fish and small mammals in particular. The Takamanda-Mone Landscape Project builds on the successes of the previous Cameroon-Nigeria Transboundary Project with the goal of conserving the important biodiversity of this area in collaboration with government, non-governmental organizations and local communities in Cameroon.

The Human Aspect
Human population pressure is considerable and the natural resources of the area are becoming increasingly exploited on an unsustainable basis. This makes the conservation and wise management of the landscape a high regional priority.

Threats
Both commercial poaching and subsistence hunting are the main threats to various fauna and timber exploitation, agricultural encroachment and the indiscriminate use of fire in grassland areas are responsible for the conversion of large areas of forest each year. This habitat loss is seriously affecting the ecological integrity of the region and is contributing to the loss of many species. The unsustainable cross border trade in different NTFP’s is also a challenge to natural resource managers. Lack of legislation to adequately protect important habitats, low levels of protection and lack of capacity in biological monitoring all highlight the need to support existing institutions in forest management.

WCS Activities

Kagwene Forest makes up part of the landscape

Field survey data collected within the Takamanda-Mone landscape by WCS between 2002 and 2005 concerning indicators of overall biological diversity and socio-economic aspects is now being used to identify and establish priority sites for conservation in collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) and other partner agencies.

WCS is taking a leading role in collaboration with the government in support of the creation of the proposed Takamanda National Park (624 Km2) with a western boundary which is contiguous with Nigeria’s Cross River National Park. Takamanda is known to provide refuge to 4 of the 8 presently known ‘population nuclei’ of the Cameroonian Cross River gorillas and the proposed park boundaries also encompass Cameroon’s only protected transition in vegetation from lowland rainforest through mid-elevation and sub-montane forests to montane forest and high altitude grassland. The creation of Takamanda National Park is one of the first steps in establishing a mosaic of protected areas and corridors linking important forest areas throughout the Takamanda-Mone landscape.

Important Next Steps
• Direct support for the MINFOF Forest and Environmental Sector Plan (FESP) though biological inventories, socio-economic research and land use planning;
• Continued biological and socio-economic surveys in sites of conservation priority (e.g. Proposed Takamanda National Park, Mbulu forest, Mone River Forest Reserve);
• Continued analysis of spatial, genetic and socio-economic data in order to identify potential wildlife corridor areas linking sites of conservation priority;
• To assist and advise government with the establishment of protected areas and wildlife corridors;
• Continued implementation of conservation education programs in rural communities across the landscape;
• Collation and dissemination of research results and lessons learned by the project both locally and internationally.