Conkouati-Douli National Park

Central Africa > Republic of the Congo > Conkouati-Douli National Park

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Summary

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Leaflet

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Conkouati-Douli National Park.
• It is estimated that 7,000 chimpanzees and 900 gorillas occur at the site.
• The population trends are unknown.
• The site has a total size of 5,049 km².
• Key threats to great apes are bushmeat hunting and mining.
• Conservation activities at the site include a reintroduction program for rescued chimpanzees.
• The site is designated as a Ramsar Site.

Site characteristics

Conkouati-Douli National Park (CDNP) was established in 1999, replacing the Conkouati Wildlife Reserve existing since 1980. CDNP is situated in the southwest corner of the Republic of Congo, bordering Gabon's Mayumba National Park to the north. Together, Mayumba National Park and CDNP form the Conkouati-Mayumba landscape, characterised by coastal lowland forest that extends into higher altitude forest in the mountains to the east, and descends to the inland savanna plain (Tutin et al. 2005). As a result of CDNP's broad habitat diversity, the park is the most biodiverse in Congo. In addition to chimpanzees and gorillas, CDNP is home to many threatened species, including forest elephants, mandrills, and forest buffalo. Marine species, such as manatees, turtles, dolphins and whales, are also found at the site. The coastline of the park, which comprises 35% of the country's coastline, is an important site for sea turtle nesting, particularly for Leatherback and Olive Ridley turtles (WCS; BirdLife International 2020). The site is also an Important Bird Area, with at least 288 species present (BirdLife International 2020). CDNP is also designated as a Ramsar Site and is registered on the indicative list of UNESCO World Heritage (Parcs de Noé).

Table 1. Basic site information for Conkouati-Douli National Park

Species	'Pan troglodytes troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Area	5,049 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -3.797862 , Lon: 11.487369
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, Savanna, Marine coastal/supratidal
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

An estimated 7,000 chimpanzees and 900 gorillas occur in the park (Parcs de Noé).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Conkouati-Douli National Park

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 troglodytes & Gorilla gorilla gorilla							Unknown

Threats

Lack of hunting controls and law enforcement combined with high demand for bushmeat in urban markets threaten the ape population at CDNP (IUCN 2014).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Conkouati-Douli National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Absent	Mining is now suspended in the park (BirdLife International 2020).
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Hunting driven by considerable demand for bushmeat from urban markets in Congo (IUCN 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Logging concessions present at the site, before and after it was declared a National Park (BirdLife International 2020; IUCN 2014).	Ongoing (2020)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Conkouati-Douli National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site was declared a National Park in 1999; before that, it was a Wildlife Reserve, since 1980.		Ongoing
6 Species management	6.8 Reintroduction of apes (captively-bred or rehabilitated indviduals)	The NGO HELP Congo has a reintroduction program, and has released several rescued chimpanzees into the Triangle site (a forested area bordered by the Conkouati lagoon within the park).		Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Conkouati-Douli National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
4 Institutional support	4.1 Lack of law enforcement	IUCN 2014
4 Institutional support	4.4 Lack of transboundary cooperation	IUCN 2014

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Conkouati-Douli National Park

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

A Longitudinal Study on Feeding Behaviour and Activity Patterns of Released Chimpanzees in Conkouati-Douli National Park, Republic of Congo

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Conkouati-Douli National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

WCS Conkouati-Douli National Park

Parcs de Noé

The National park of Conkouati-Douli

References

BirdLife International (2020) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Conkouati National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/12/2020.

Tutin, C., et. al. 2005. Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Chimpanzees and Gorillas in Western Equatorial Africa. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group Conservation International. Washington, DC.

IUCN (2014). Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Western Lowland Gorillas and Central Chimpanzees 2015–2025. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group. 56 pp.

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