Yoko Council Forest

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Summary

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• chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are present in Yoko Council Forest.
• It has been estimated that 113 (CI: 45-280) individuals occur in the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 295 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are pastoral transhumance and hunting.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Yoko Council forest is located in central Cameroon. The chimpanzees found in the forest may be Pan troglodytes ellioti, but DNA tests have yet to confirm the subspecies (Kamgang pers. comm. 2023). The forest is owned by the council of Yoko, and villages around the council forest should normally benefit from the exploitation of its natural resources. Other endangered species found at the site include giant pangolins, white-bellied pangolins, black-bellied pangolins, and African golden cats (Kamgang pers. comm. 2023).

Table 1. Basic site information for Yoko Council Forest

Species	'Pan troglodytes
Area	295 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 5.063443 , Lon: 12.625930
Type of site	Non-protected area (Community Forest)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical swamp forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 2022, a study was conducted to assess the chimpanzee population density and distribution in the site, as well as habitat use, and threats (Kamgang et al. 2023).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Yoko Council Forest

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	2022			0.38 (0.15-0.94)	113 (45-280)	Yoko Council Forest	Full count		Kamgang et al. 2023	average chimpanzee nest density of 69.3 [95% CI 54.9-86.7] nests/km2

Threats

During a 2022 survey of the area, the signs of human activities were collected, namely poaching signs (traps, shell casings, hunting camps), pastoral transhumance clues (cattle droppings, camps, burning or degraded areas, cattle, and illegal logging) and fishing clues (fishing barriers, fishing camps). The main threats recorded were transhumance (frequency of observation: 75.33%), hunting (13. 66%), logging (8.81%) and fishing (2.2%), which were mainly observed in the south-west sector of the forest (Kamgang et al. 2023).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Yoko Council Forest

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Nomadic grazing; occupation of all savannah spaces by herds of cattle, sheep, Mbororo tracks and burns to facilitate the movement of herds and the renewal of pastures (Kamgang et al. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Traps, shell casings, and hunting camps recorded (Kamgang et al. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Illegal logging (Kamgang et al. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
3 Energy production & mining		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

GIZ (Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit) program ProFEC- Program Forest, Environment and Climate is working since 2020 in and around the Yoko Council forest. They support the council of Yoko with the elaboration of a management plan for the council forest, which will focus on conservation objectives. The management plan will be aligned with the biomonitoring plan, which is being elaborated by the GIZ for the council forest and validated by the council. Moreover, the same GIZ program is working with the communities around the forest to develop income generating activities (Kamgang pers. comm. 2023).

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Yoko Council Forest

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Yoko Council Forest

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 2022 study by Kamgang et al. (2022) estimated a chimpanzee nest decay rate of 77.3 days, for an estimated abundance of about 113 [95% CI 45-280] chimpanzees in the forest. Chimpanzees were found to be nesting in Marantaceae forests and swampy forests instead of savannah, mosaics-savannah forests, and galleries forests. 24 nesting tree species of chimpanzees have been recorded with Khaya grandifolia and Uapaca guineensis being the most used trees (Kamgang et al. 2023).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Yoko Council Forest

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Kamgang, S. A., Dongmo, E. M., Kirsten, I., Jefferson, P. M. J., Mveimané, A., Bastin, D., ... & Eric-Moise, B. F. (2023). The Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) of the Yoko Council Forest in Cameroon: Abundance, Activity Pattern and Threats. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 8(2), 38.

Page created by: Serge Kamgang & A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: NA