Akure Forest Reserve

West Africa > Nigeria > Akure Forest Reserve

Summary

Loading map...

{"minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"mappingservice":"leaflet","width":"300px","height":"200px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"zoom":5,"defzoom":14,"layers":["OpenStreetMap","OpenTopoMap"],"image layers":[],"overlays":[],"resizable":false,"fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"cluster":false,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clustermaxradius":80,"clusterspiderfy":true,"geojson":"","clicktarget":"","imageLayers":[],"locations":[{"text":"\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca class=\"mw-selflink selflink\"\u003EAkure Forest Reserve\u003C/a\u003E\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/b\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"mw-parser-output\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees\n\u003C/p\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","title":"Akure Forest Reserve\n","link":"","lat":7.31260300000000018627588360686786472797393798828125,"lon":5.02857600000000015683099263696931302547454833984375,"icon":""}],"imageoverlays":null}

• Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) may be present in Akure Forest Reserve.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is decreasing.
• The site has a total size of 70 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are logging, hunting, and habitat encroachment.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

The reserve is close to the town of Akure, in the state of Ondo, Nigeria. Its proximity to a major town and the old Lagos road running though are likely factors that contributed to the loss of biodiversity. However, a small area of natural vegetation remains, the Queen Elizabeth Plot. In 2004, a buffer area was established around this plot (Greengrass 2006).

Table 1. Basic site information for Akure Forest Reserve

Area	70 km²
Coordinates	7.312603, 5.028576
Designation	Forest Reserve
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded forest, subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

During a survey in 2006, local people reported the occurrence of chimpanzees in the reserve. Although there is a patch of suitable habitat within the reserve, the size of the area and high hunting pressure mean that the site is unlikely to sustain more than a few individuals (Greengrass 2006). An up to date survey is needed to confirm chimpanzee occurrence.

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Akure Forest Reserve

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes ellioti	2006				Akure Forest Reserve	Index survey (reconnaissance walk)	Greengrass 2006	Vocalisation heard; not completely sure it was a chimpanzee

Threats

Logging in Akure forest reserve ended several years ago; almost the entire reserve has been cleared and cultivated into teak and gmelina plantations and the taungya system of farming. One camp inside the reserve has, since 2005, officially been designated a town (Greengrass 2006).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Akure Forest Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High		Taungya farming (Greengrass 2006).	Ongoing (2006)
	2.2 Wood & pulp plantations	High		Teak and gmelina plantations occupy most of the reserve (Greengrass 2006).	Ongoing (2006)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Snares, hunting tracks and a hunting camp documented in a 2006 survey (Greengrass 2006).	Ongoing (2006)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Low		Logging at the site ended in the mid 90s, however, trees illegally are cut down from time to time (Greengrass 2006).	Ongoing (2006)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Akure Forest Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	Not reported
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Akure Forest Reserve

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Akure Forest Reserve

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Greengrass, E.J. (2006). A survey of chimpanzees in south-west Nigeria. Report to the NCF-WCS Biodiversity Research Programme.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 03/03/2023