Ivindo National Park

Central Africa > Gabon > Ivindo National Park

Summary

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) & western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Ivindo National Park.
• The great ape population size is unknown.
• The population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 3,000 km².
• Poaching is a key threat to great apes at the site.
• Conservation activities have focused on monitoring and research activities.

Site characteristics

Ivindo National Park is located in the central area of Gabon. The site was declared a national park in 2002. Archaeological findings near the park show human habitation as early as 120,000 BP (WCS). Within the park, the famous Langoué baï is found. Langoué baï is an ancient forest clearing, frequently visited by forest elephants, gorillas, forest buffalos, red river hogs, and a resident population of sitatunga (WCS). Langoué baï serves as the base for the Wildlife Conservation Society Gabon’s Forest Program, which protects and monitors populations of gorillas and elephants. Leopards, aardvarks, pangolins, and central chimpanzees are also found at the site. At least 397 species of birds have been identified at Ivindo, including the rare picarthes (Rayden & Essame Essono 2010).

Table 1. Basic site information for Ivindo National Park

Area	3,000 km²
Coordinates	0.184631 N, 12.650341 E
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Ivindo National Park

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 troglodytes & Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Threats

The park is surrounded by forestry concessions, which can have negative impacts if the forestry companies do not adhere to legal requirements for the control of illegal hunting (Rayden & Essame Essono 2010). A 2010 study found that a large number of the forestry companies are not legally compliant and improvements need to be made to control illegal hunting in the surrounding concessions (Rayden & Essame Essono 2010).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Ivindo 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		Hunting linked to the presence of forestry concessions around the park (Rayden & Essame Essono 2010).	Ongoing (2010)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Commercial logging around the park (Rayden & Essame Essono 2010).	Ongoing (2010)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Absent
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Ivindo 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	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	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site is a designated National Park.	Ongoing
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Communities were not consulted before the park was established, and are not involved in the park management (Lang, 2016).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Ivindo National Park

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Since 2003, WCS Gabon has had a near-permanent presence at the Langoué research station. Monitoring of gorillas first took place between 2001 and 2008; in 2013 monitoring and research activities were resumed. This research has shown a currently unidentified skin condition is prevalent in many groups, in some severe cases causing deep lesions (WCS).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Ivindo National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Parcs Gabon - Parc National de l’Ivindo
Gabon Wildlife Camps - Ivindo National Park

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

Rayden, T., & Essame Essono, R. (2010). Evaluation of the management of wildlife in the forestry concessions around the national parks of Lopé, Waka and Ivindo, Gabon. Report to the WCS.
Lang, C. (2016). Human rights abuses and livelihood impacts at the Ivindo National Park in Gabon. Online: https://medium.com/conservationwatch/human-rights-abuses-and-livelihood-impacts-at-the-ivindo-national-park-in-gabon-d8f00b511d3f

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 02/01/2021