Republic of Guinea Nationwide

West Africa > Republic of Guinea > Republic of Guinea Nationwide

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Summary

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• It has been estimated that 33,139 (CI: 8,796-68,203) individuals occur in the Republic of Guinea.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 246,427 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are habitat loss and hunting.
• The following conservation activities were implemented at the national level: uncovering illegal trade in wildlife and strengthening law enforcement.
• Guinea harbors the largest remaining population of western chimpanzees.
• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in the Republic of Guinea.

Site characteristics

The Republic of Guinea is a coastal West African country that shares borders with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It has a total land area of 246,427 km² (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2019). Guinea has a population of 11,855,411, approximately 90% of them Muslim (July 2018, CIA World Factbook 2019). Based on topographic features four natural regions are being distinguished in Guinea: (i) Guinée Maritime or Basse-Guinée, in western Guinea, at the coast characterized by lowland plains and savanna ecosystems, (ii) Moyenne Guinée in the north-east dominated by the Fouta Djallon highlands with steep areas, savanna ecosystems and gallery forests, (iii) Haute Guinée in the east characterized by savanna plains, and (iv) Guinée Forestière in the south-east with some remaining rainforests and mountainous areas (Kormos et al. 2003). Guineas highest peak is Mout Nimba with an elevation of 1,752 m (CIA World Factbook 2019). Guinea features a diversity of habitat types from montane and lowland moist forests to dry savannas. Agricultural areas are also widespread. Due to the mountainous terrain many rivers have their source in Guinea (Kormos et al. 2003). Guinea has a high biodiversity including, leopard (Panthera pardus), lion (Panthera leo), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), forest elephant (Loxodonta africana), the Micropotamogale of Mount Nimba (Micropotamogale lamottei, a shrew), the viviparous toad of Mount Nimba (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis), and many primate species, such as Campbell’s guenon (Cercopithecus campbelli campbelli), Demidoff ’s galago (Galagoides demidoff), diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana), greater spot-nosed guenon (Cercopithecus nicitans), Guinea baboons (Papio papio), patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas), potto (Perodicticus potto), spot-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus petaurista), sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys atys), and western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius). Guinea has designated two National Parks: Haut Niger and Badiar. Moyen Bafing National Park is in the final stages of designation. In addition, there is the high-level protected area ‘Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve’ and several classified forests.

Table 1. Basic site information for Republic of Guinea Nationwide

Species	'Pan troglodytes verus
Area	246,427 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 10.84 , Lon: -10.94
Type of site	Unknown
Habitat types	Agricultural land, Savanna, Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes),Subtropical/tropical dry forest, Shrubland, Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest, Grassland, Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Guinea harbors the largest remaining population of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Sugiyama and Soumah conducted the first nationwide survey in Guinea by sending questionnaires to officers of the provincial governments, and concluded that only a few thousand chimpanzees remain (1988). A follow-up survey based on questionnaire, reconnaissance and transect surveys concluded that the chimpanzee population in Guinea was much larger with up to 23,000 individuals (Ham 1998). More recently the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation conducted transect surveys at 10 sites including a large-scale systematic survey across the Fouta Djallon Bafing Area and estimated that at least 18,000 western chimpanzees remain (WCF 2012). Based on the modelled density distribution of western chimpanzees across their geographic range Heinicke et al. (2019) estimated 33,139 (CI: 8,796-68,203) individuals in Guinea, with highest population densities in the Fouta Djallon (Heinicke et al. 2019, WCF 2012).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Republic of Guinea Nationwide

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	1988				1,420-6,625	Nationwide	Interviews		Sugiyama & Soumah 1988	Questionnaire survey
Pan troglodytes verus	1995-1997				11,949-23,123	Nationwide	Interviews		Ham 1998 as cited in Kormos et al. 2003	Questionnaire survey
Pan troglodytes verus	2009-2011				18,815 (8,581-42,156)	10 surveyed sites	Line transects		WCF 2012
Pan troglodytes verus	2015				33,139 (8,796-68,203)	Nationwide	Other		Heinicke et al. 2019	Based on density distribution predicted for geographic range of western chimpanzees using models and transect survey data

Threats

The most prevalent threats to chimpanzees across Guinea are habitat loss, caused by logging or fires, and hunting (Kormos et al. 2003, WCF 2012). Agricultural activities are also widespread (Kormos et al. 2003, WCF 2012). With Guinea being the largest exporter of bauxite, the increasing development of mining operations is likely to put more pressure on remaining chimpanzee habitat, as is the further development of hydropower plants.

Conservation activities

In 2012 the NGO WARA started the GALF project Guinée-Application de la Loi Faunique focused on uncovering illegal trade in wildlife and strengthening law enforcement in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEEF), the Ministry of State for Justice, and the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL. Since its launch 20 chimpanzees have been rescued (GALF WARA 2019). Currently, a new conservation action plan for western chimpanzees In Guinea is in the process of being completed (as of September 2019).

Challenges

Reviews of the management effectiveness of several protected areas in Guinea consistently listed lack of funding, capacity and training, and lack of technical means as impediments to conservation.

Table 5. Challenges reported for Republic of Guinea Nationwide

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
2 Resources and capacity	2.1 Lack of capacity/training	McCullough 2004, METT 2009b, UNESCO 2018a, UNESCO 2018b, METT 2009d
2 Resources and capacity	2.3 General lack of funding	METT 2009a, METT 2009b, METT 2009c, UNESCO 2018a, UNESCO 2018b, METT 2009d
2 Resources and capacity	2.5 Lack of equipment/transportation	METT 2009a, METT 2009b, METT 2009c, UNESCO 2018a, METT 2009d

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Republic of Guinea Nationwide

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

Nationwide surveys of chimpanzee status and distribution have been conducted by Sugiyama and Soumah (1988), Ham (1998) and WCF (2012). In addition, research has and is being done at various research sites including Bossou, Haut Niger, Moyen Bafing, and Seringbara (see sites for details).

References

CIA World Factbook. 2019. Guinea. CIA World Factbook Guinea

GALF WARA. 2019. GALF EAGLE website

Ham R. 1998. Nationwide chimpanzee census and large mammal survey Republic of Guinea

Heinicke et al. 2019. Advancing conservation planning for western chimpanzees using IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. – the case of a taxon-specific database. Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab1379

Kormos R et al. 2003. The Republic of Guinea, in Kormos, R. Boesch, C., Bakarr, M.I. & Butynski, T.M. [eds.] Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK

McCullough J. 2004. A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Forêt Classée du Pic de Fon, Simandou Range, Southeastern Republic of Guinea. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 35. Conservation International, Washington, DC.

METT. 2009a. Management Effectiveness Evaluations – Parc National du Badiar. Online: papaco.org

METT. 2009b. Management Effectiveness Evaluations – Parc National du Haut Niger. Online: papaco.org

METT. 2009c. Management Effectiveness Evaluations – Reserve de faune de Kankan et parc Diwasi. Online: papaco.org

METT. 2009d. Management Effectiveness Evaluations – Forêt Classée de Ziama. Online: papaco.org

Sugiyama Y, Soumah AG. 1988. Preliminary Survey of the Distribution and Population of Chimpanzees in the Republic of Guinea. Primates, 29(4):569-574

UNEP-WCMC, IUCN. 2019. Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN Online: www.protectedplanet.net

UNESCO. 2018a. Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve. Online: whc.unesco.org

UNESCO. 2018b. State of Conservation - Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve. Online: whc.unesco.org/soc

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