Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area.
• It has been estimated that 388 individuals occur at the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is decreasing.
• This site has a total size of 2,981 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees include displacement due to a large hydroelectric project, hunting, slash-and-burn agriculture, logging, and mining.
• The Bumbuna Conservation Area was established within the catchment area to protect some of the biodiversity. In addition, Loma Mountains National Park was established to offset the environmental impacts of the Bumbuna dam.
• The area features Sierra Leone’s first hydroelectric power plant, which has been operational since 2009.

Site characteristics

Situated in the central part of the country, the site contains Sierra Leone’s first hydroelectric dam, supplied by the Seli river (Thompson 2010). The power plant has been in operation since 2009, and current plans of the project involve the construction of a second dam 30 km upstream from Bumbuna, at Yiben. The site is located at the base of the Sula Mountains and it is characterized by a forest savanna mosaic. In addition to the Western chimpanzee, the area hosts other endangered species, including pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis), red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), and black-and-white colobus monkeys (Ganas-Sawaray et al. 2018).

Table 1. Basic site information for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Species	'Pan troglodytes verus
Area	2,981 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 9.07 , Lon: -11.72
Type of site	Non-protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Savanna, Artificial aquatic (water storage)
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Local communities have reported that the chimpanzee population is decreasing in the area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018). Furthermore, surveys conducted between 2006 and 2018 indicate a population decline in the Bumbuna Conservation Area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018). Based on survey data collected in 2017-2018, it was predicted that the entire catchment area hosts approximately 388 chimpanzees (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018). The 2017-2018 survey was complemented by recce surveys, camera trapping, and genetic analysis (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes verus	2006			0.44-3.6	33-58	Home range of 4 chimpanzee communities (i.e., not the entire catchment area)	Unknown		Nippon Koei UK 2007 as cited by Brncic et al. 2010	At least four communities present in the area
Pan troglodytes verus	2017-2018			0.13 (0.06-0.32)	30 (12-72)	Bumbuna Conservation Unit, and areas surrounding Bumbuna power plant and Yiben reservoir	Line transects & recces		Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018	Line transect survey effort: 79.5 km, reconnaissance survey, presence of 7 chimpanzee groups was confirmed

Threats

The Bumbuna hydroelectric project represents a major threat to the chimpanzee population in the area. The planned flooding of the inundation area will completely, or almost completely, reduce the home ranges of three chimpanzee groups, and four other groups ranging close the boundaries of the inundation area are also likely to be adversely affected (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018). The hydroelectric project also indirectly impacts chimpanzees. The displacement of some chimpanzee groups into the home ranges of other groups may lead to fatalities, due to the territorial nature of chimpanzees (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018). Displaced chimpanzees may also come into conflict with humans due to competition for the same resources (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018). Thus, in combination with the current rates of habitat loss and hunting, the development of the project puts an immense pressure on the chimpanzee population (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018; Nippon Koei 2005).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
9 Pollution		Absent
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Slash-and-burn agriculture (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018, MoEWR 2010)	Ongoing (2018)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Presence of livestock in the area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
4 Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Footpaths, logging roads, and abandoned motor roads (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Hunting signs present (e.g., gun shells, snares, lookout platforms); in addition, interview data revealed that chimpanzees are hunted in the area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
7 Natural system modifications	7.2 Dams & water management/use	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Displacement of chimpanzees due to flooding of inundation area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
1 Residential & commercial development	1.1 Residential areas	Present (unknown severity)	Villages are present in the area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Present (unknown severity)	Artisanal gold mining (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018, Nippon Koei 2005)	Ongoing (2018)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Signs of logging, forest in the area is highly fragmented (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Fishing in the area (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

The Bumbuna Conservation Area (BCA) is a small protected area (3,532 ha) that was established in 2008 with the aim of conserving some of the biodiversity in the reservoir area (MoEWR 2010; Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	Bumbuna Conservation Area was established in 2008, however the number of chimpanzees has declined in the area due to habitat loss (Ganas-Swaray et al. 2018)		Ongoing (2018)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Research activities

No information on research activities has been documented.

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Bumbuna Dam Catchment Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Brncic, T.M., Amarasekaran,B. & McKenna,A. 2010. Final Report of the Sierra Leone National Chimpanzee Census Project. Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Ganas–Swaray, J., Arandjelovic, M., Casado, N., Campbell, G., Garriga, R., Serckx, A. 2018. Primate and large mammal targeted surveys, Phase II Bumbuna Hydroelectric Dam, Sierra Leone: Priority species. Final Report. Online: www.selihydropower.sl

Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MoEWR). 2010. Bumbuna Hydroelectric Environmental and Social Management Project (ESMP).

Nippon Koei UK, BMT Cordah, Environmental Foundation for Africa. 2005. Bumbuna Hydroelectric Project Environmental Impact Assessment. Vol. 1: Executive Summary, 44 pp; Vol. 2: Environmental Impact Assessment, 299 pp; Vol. 3: Appendices, 364 pp.

Thompson, F. 2010. Sierra Leone's Hydro-Power Dam Lighting Up Freetown. Voice of America. Online: www.voanews.com

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