Central Africa > Cameroon > Campo Ma'an National Park

Summary

Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Campo Ma'an National Park.
It has been estimated that 1,472 great apes occur in the site.
The great ape population trend is stable.
The site has a total size of 2,641 km².
Large infrastructure projects, extractives and agro-industries are putting enormous pressure on the park.
Conservation activities have focused on patrolling the area and habituation of gorillas to strengthen the potential for ecotourism.

Site characteristics

Established in 2000, Campo Ma'an National Park is located in southwestern Cameroon, bordering Equatorial Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The vegetation consists largely of coastal evergreen rainforest. Several species of plants have beeen recently discovered, which may be endemic (BirdLife International 2020). In addition to gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), other mammals found in the park include forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), and several species of primates, including mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), and black colobus (Colobus satanas). The African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) also occurs in the western part of the park. More than 165 species of fish have been recorded, of which four are endemic to Campo Ma'an. The park is also rich in reptiles (122 species recorded), and birds (200 species recorded in the site, and 100 species recorded in adjacent areas; BirdLife International 2020). The park was designated as an Important Bird Area in 2001 (BirdLife International 2020). Campo Ma'an National Park is surrounded by a buffer zone of several forest units called UTOs (Unités Techniques Opérationelles), where commercial logging takes place (BirdLife International 2020).

Table 1. Basic site information for Campo Ma'an National Park

Area	2,641 km²
Coordinates	2.389597 N, 10.206030 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, marshes

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Campo Ma'an National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Area	Method	Source	Comments
Gorilla gorilla gorilla	1997-2000		0.20	Campo forest	Line transects (Distance)	Matthews & Matthews 2004
Pan troglodytes troglodytes	1997-2000		0.63-0.78	Campo forest	Line transects (Distance)	Matthews & Matthews 2004
Pan troglodytes troglodytes	1997-2000		0.8-1.0	Ma'an forest	Line transects (Distance)	Matthews & Matthews 2004
Gorilla gorilla gorilla	1997-2000			Ma'an forest	Line transects (Distance)	Matthews & Matthews 2004	Gorilla density was too low to allow an estimation.
Gorilla gorilla gorilla & Pan troglodytes troglodytes	2008	1,039		Campo Ma'an National Park	Line transects (Distance)	N'Goran 2017
Gorilla gorilla gorilla & Pan troglodytes troglodytes	2014	1,472		Campo Ma'an National Park	Line transects (Distance)	N'Goran 2017

Threats

Areas immediately surrounding the park are being, or have been, logged (BirdLife International 2020). Large infrastructure projects, extractives and agro-industries are putting enormous pressure on the park. They include the Kribi industrial port complex, the Memve’ele Hydropower Dam, the Mount Mammelles iron ore exploration project, the rubber plantation of Hévécam and SOCAPALM oil palm plantations, and the construction of a railway terminal to transport iron ore to the Kribi seaport (WWF 2018).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Campo Ma'an National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity is unknown	In 2008, 1.05 hunting signs/km. In 2014, 0.44 sign/km (N'Goran 2017).	Hunting pressure is relatively high, but it decreased by more than 50% from 2008 to 2014 (N'Goran 2017). Evidence of poaching of gorillas (BirdLife International 2020).	Ongoing (2017)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Absent
7. Natural system modifications		Absent
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 Campo Ma'an National Park

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	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Park guards conduct regular patrols to halt poaching and human encroachment (WWF).	Ongoing
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	12.1. Habituate primates to human presence to reduce stress from tourists/researchers etc.	WWF supports a gorilla habituation programme.	Ongoing
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Campo Ma'an National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Campo Ma'an National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Kudu-Zombo Programme

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

BirdLife International (2020) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Campo Ma'an complex. Retrieved from http://www.birdlife.org on 25/11/2020.
Matthews A, Matthews A. Survey of gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in Southwestern Cameroon. Primates. 2004;45:15–24
N'Goran, K.P. (2017). Summary Report on WWF BIOMONITORING activities from 2014 to 2016 Status of Forest Elephant and Great Apes in Central Africa Priority Sites.
WWF. (2018). The saving of Campo Ma’an National Park. Retrieved from: https://wwf.panda.org/?325912/The-saving-of-Campo-Maan-National-Park

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 06/12/2020

Campo Ma'an National Park

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