Boé Sector

West Africa > Guinea-Bissau > Boé Sector

Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in the Boé Sector.
• It is estimated that approximately 1500 individuals occur at the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is estimated to be stable.
• This site has a total size of over 3,193 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are habitat conversion and a bauxite mining concession.
• The following conservation activities were conducted by Chimbo Foundation: involve the local community in primate research and conservation management; integrate religion/local taboos into conservation; conservation awareness; education.
• Boé Sector partly overlaps Dulombi National Park and Boé National Park.

Site characteristics

The Boé Sector covers 3,193 km2; Boé National Park and Dulombi National Park are partly embedded in the site (Wit & Reintjes 1989). The Boé Sector is the most north-westerly part of the Fouta Djallon massive in Guinea. The south eastern part of Dulombi National Park is the part of the Boé Sector west of the river Corubal, which can only be crossed by chimpanzees towards the end of the dry season.The landscape consists of flat plateaus with wooden savanna vegetation (van der Meer 2014). Relatively narrow, shallow river valleys with often steep shorelines are found within this plateaus. Old secondary and often slightly disturbed forest is found further from the river channels (White & Edwards 2000). Along the rivers or streams, gallery forest and isolated savanna vegetation is growing. Here, under constant water supply, the greatest species diversity is found. Furthermore, the origin of the rivers are often designated as a sacred place by the people and thus have a low human activity (White & Edwards 2000, Silva et al. 2007, Koops et al. 2012, van der Meer 2014, Ramachandra 2017). Cultivated land, such as cashew tree plantations and cultivated fields of rice, peanuts, maize, sorghum, and millet are expanding steadily. The climate is tropical, with an annual mean temperature of 28°C and annual rainfall of c. 1,500-1,750 mm (USGS, n.d.). The Boé Sector is located in the tropical dry forest climate zone. Daytime temperatures range between 30-33°C while nighttime temperatures vary from 18-23°C. It hardly ever rains from December to April and it is very wet from June through October. The area is sparsely populated, with around 12,000 people living in 85 villages, and still relatively well preserved. The region has contiguous habitats and it is considered to be a very important area for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in West Africa (Van der Meer 2014).

Table 1. Basic site information for Boé Sector

Area	3,193 km²
Coordinates	11.752282, -14.008097
Designation	Administrative unit
Habitat types	Moist Savanna, Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest (Gallery forest), Plantations

https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/habitat-classification-scheme IUCN habitat categories] Site designations

Ape status

The only estimate for the whole site available is 1000-1500 individuals and a density of 2.4 individuals/km2 (Serra et al. 2007). A chimpanzee nest survey along the Quebube River found 1800 nests in an area of 10km2 (Hoogveld 2013). Based on observations and data collected between 2011 and 2016 in the territories of Dijifilm and Paramanguel, which are also part of Dulombi National Park, the average group size was about 7, but groups up to 19 animals have been observed. It is possible that at least 25 to 30 chimpanzees are present in the territories of Djifim and Paramanguel (Wit, P. & Goedmakers, A. pers. comm. 2022).

Table 2. Great ape population estimates in Boé Sector

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% confidence interval)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes verus	2006	710	2.4		Boé Sector	Interview method	Serra, Silva, & Lopes 2007	29 non-systematically placed points
Pan troglodytes verus	2013	44 (16-120)	2.02 (0.75-5.45)	11.37	Southeastern part of Boé Sector (Ronde Hill, gallery forests of Paramaka and Jabere rivers)	Line transects (Distance), index survey, presence-absence sampling	Wenceslau 2014	Line transect total survey effort: 100 km; Camera traps identified at least 22 individuals, reconnaissance walk
Pan troglodytes verus	2016	80 (46–140)	0.77 (0.45-1.34)	3.519	Béli village in Boé Sector (104 km²)	Line transects (Distance)	Binczik et al. 2017	Total survey effort: 39 km, based on the results 1,465-4,415 chimpanzees are estimated for the whole Boé Sector
Pan troglodytes verus	2011-2016	25-30			Territories of Djifilm and Paramanguel, approx. 80 sq. km	Other	Wit, P. & Goedmakers, A. pers. comm. 2022	Based on patrols by community members.

Threats

Chimpanzees in the Boé Sector in Guinea-Bissau are mainly threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation. Forests being cleared by farmers for shifting cultivation practices, mainly for rice and maize farming and cashew plantations (Wit & Reintjes 1989). The gallery forests and intact tree populations remain almost exclusively on steep slopes of river valleys with difficult access. Due to the high population growth in Guinea-Bissau (annual rate 2.44 %) new villages in the central region of Boé were established and increased the pressure on the already limited areas of intact forests (Chimbo Foundation 2015). Overall, the local culture inhabits pro environmental habits. The attitude towards primates among the local communities in Boé is in general positive (Hockings & Humle 2009). Hunting of primates is rare because of religious taboos (van Laar 2010) and some parts of the gallery forest, mostly around headwaters, are protected by traditional beliefs (White & Edwards 2000; Silva et al. 2007; Koops et al. 2012; van der Meer 2014). The ongoing loss of traditions and of respect for traditional institutions presents a threat to the survival of Boé’s cultural heritage and natural resource base. One of the bauxite mining concessions is situated at the middle course of Jabere river, neighbouring an area occupied by chimpanzees during the dry season. Effects on the populations are expected, because: 1) this site provides during the dry season one of the few places with permanent water availability, 2) water pollution in consequence by the mining operations, by the workers and washouts of sediments, (3) Noise pollution through explosions, heavy machinery and roads (Wenceslau 2014). Furthermore, an influx of workers could disturb the local culture and increase the pressure on the already limited resources available (Wenceslau 2014). Bush fires are occurring, sometimes due to fire setting by the Boenques, cattle herders in great part coming from Guinea (Wenceslau 2014), or on purpose by hunters, but also negligence of farmers and fishermen. During the late dry season herders burn grasslands. After the whole north flank of Ronde Hill was burned by a Boenque family, destroying an area of at least 300 ha, no new chimpanzee nests were spotted on the affected areas (Wenceslau 2014). Burning for opening an agricultural area is restricted to the plantation field but may spread easily. Cattle herders are in higher numbers and more permanently settling in remote areas that were relatively undisturbed before their arrival (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Boé Sector

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	Medium	Settling of cattle owners with their herds; about 60 families with 7000 head of cattle.	New villages were established (Chimbo Foundation 2015). Settlements in remote areas have caused disturbances since the 1990s (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Medium	70 ha of forest converted to cashew plantations between 2016 and 2020.	Small-holder Farming (Chimbo Foundation 2015). Cashew plantations increasing in area (Van der Hoeven 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	Medium		Temporary cattle camps at remote places; about 1/3 of cattle people are transhumant (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High		Bauxite mining sites are planned next to chimpanzee populations (Wenceslau 2014)	Planned
4. Transportation & service corridors		Absent
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Low		Hunting of chimpanzees is rare in Boé because of religious taboos (van Laar 2010).	Ongoing (2010)
6. Human intrusions & disturbance		Absent
7. Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	High	300 ha burned in 2013	Herding practices may provoke fast spreading and uncontrollable wildfires (Wenceslau 2014). But also farmers, hunters and fishermen may cause harmful bushfires.	Ongoing (2014)
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

IBAP (The Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas) established a National Park (PNB) and Wildlife Corridors in part of the Boé Sector east of the river Corubal and a National Park (PND) in the part of the Boé Sector west of the river Corubal. The Chimbo Foundation together with its local sister organization Daridibó executes a program of community-based sustainable conservation in the Boé, creating synergy between conservation and development (Chimbo Foundation 2018). The long-term objective of this programme is to guarantee the long-term survival of the western chimpanzee population in the Boé through community-based conservation. Chimbo works with 28 Village Vigilance Committees and 40 village Fire Brigades. 178 sacred sites are mapped by Chimbo and registered as ICCA’s. Students and visiting researchers work on different aspects of integrated conservation: inventories of flora and fauna, socio-ecological surveys, etc. Since 2021 ARCUS have financed a program to identify “drumming trees” aiming to increase their protection by the local population. The development of ecotourism in the Boé Sector started in 2012.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Boé Sector

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Other	Inventory of herdsmen to estimate numbers of settlements and reasons why they came to and settled in Boé (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).	2022
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Other	Since 2008, improved slash-and-burn practices; respect of larger trees; use of green manure (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	IBAP implements patrols and Chimbo works with 28 village committees who do patrols (Chimbo Foundation 2019).	Ongoing (2019)
	5.16. Implement community control of patrolling, banning hunting and removing snares	Chimbo works with 28 village committees who implement patrols (Chimbo Foundation 2019).	Ongoing (2019)
6. Human intrusions & disturbance	Other	Conservation awareness raising among herdsmen (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
7. Natural system modifications	7.2. Protect important food/nest trees before burning	Early fire program to protect forest (Chimbo Foundation 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use	Awareness raising activities include making people aware of danger of mining for chimpanzees (Chimbo Foundation 2018)	Ongoing (2022)
	10.2. Involve local community in primate research and conservation management	Chimbo Foundation 2018	Ongoing (2022)
	10.6. Integrate religion/local taboos into conservation education	220 sacred sites in Database since 2020	Ongoing (2022)
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	Since 2017, part of the site has been designated a National Park	Ongoing (2022)
	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	220 sacred sites in data base; 178 sacred sites (ICCA’s) integrated in World Data Base on Protected Areas (Goedmakers pers. comm. 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	13.1. Provide monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g. REDD, employment)	Local people are employed by Chimbo (Chimbo Foundation 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
	13.2. Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g. better education, infrastructure development)	Rice banks, secondary school education for girls since 2010.	Ongoing (2022)
	13.3. Run research project and ensure permanent human presence at site	Chimbo Foundation 2019	Ongoing (2019)
	13.4. Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Chimbo Foundation 2019	Ongoing (2019)
	13.5. Permanent presence of staff/manager	Chimbo Foundation 2019	Ongoing (2019)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Until now, the local cultural values of the Boé are mainly rooted in their relation with the natural environment (e.g. forest grooves, natural springs, and specific animal- and plant species) and are contributing to the protection of forests and primate populations. This traditional knowledge about the natural and cultural environment is held by the elders, but not always transferred to the next generations. An erosion of cultural values in the Boé among the younger generation can be observed. Food- and hunting taboos are no longer respected as before, for example, baboons have become much more difficult to observe as a result; sacred forests are threatened by expanding agriculture; alcohol consumption is increasing among the youngsters of these traditional Muslim communities (Chimbo Foundation 2018).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Boé Sector

Challenge	Source
Lack of law enforcement	IUCN & Chimbo 2016
Lack of financial means	Torres et al. 2010
Non-function of transmission of local culture to younger generations, eroding taboos through immigration	Chimbo Foundation 2018

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Chimpanzees nested mainly in semi-dense forest, to an even greater extent than reported by Fleury-Brugiere & Brugiere 2010 and Bersacola et al. 2018. Unique high preference for Khaya senegalensis and especially Parkia biglobosa for nesting (Wenceslau 2014).

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Boé Sector

Behavior	Source
Accumulative stone throwing	Chimbo annual report 2010, Kühl et al. 2016, Buys 2017, Kalan et al. 2019, Buys et al. 2022
Ant dipping	Kühl et al. 2019
Ant eating	Kühl et al. 2019
Bathing	Kühl et al. 2019
Honey eating	Kühl et al. 2019
Honey extraction with tool	Kühl et al. 2019
Stone throwing	Kühl et al. 2019

External links

Chimbo Foundation

References

Bersacola, E., Bessa, J., Frazão-Moreira, A., Biro, D., Sousa, C., & Hockings, K. J. 2018. Primate occurrence across a human-impacted landscape in Guinea-Bissau and neighbouring regions in West Africa: using a systematic literature review to highlight the next conservation steps. PeerJ, 6, e4847. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4847
Binczik, A., Roig-Boixeda, P., Heymann, E. W., & Waltert, M. 2017. Conservation of chimpanzees Pan troglodytes verus and other primates depends on forest patches in a West African savannah landscape. Oryx, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001090
Buys B. 2017. Drumming in the Boé. Unpublished report.
Chimbo Foundation. 2018. Chimbo Foundation. Online: chimbo.org
Fleury-Brugiere, M. & Brugiere, D. 2010. High population density of Pan troglodytes verus in the Haut Niger National Park, Republic of Guinea: implications for local and regional conservation. International Jounal of Primatology, 31, 383-392.
Goedmakers, A. 2010. Community based action: a fast track towards successful chimpanzee conservation. Chimbo Foundation Annual Report 2010. Available from: http://chimbo.org/ Hockings K & Humle T. 2009. Best Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Mitigation of Conflict between Humans and Great Apes. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.
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IUCN & Chimbo. 2016. The conservation of the Savannah Chimpanzees of Guinea Bissau and Senegal. Report of a workshop in Béli, Boé sector, Gabu region, Guinea Bissau, 14-16th of February 2016.
Kalan A et al. 2019. Chimpanzees use tree species with a resonant timbre for accumulative stone throwing. Biology Letters 15: 20190747.
Koops, K., T. Humle, E. H. M. Sterck, and T. Matsuzawa. 2007. Ground-nesting by the chimpanzees of the Nimba Mountains, Guinea: environmentally or socially determined? American Journal of Primatology 69, 407-419.
Kühl, H. S., Kalan, A. K., Arandjelovic, M., Aubert, F., D’Auvergne, L., Goedmakers, A., … Boesch, C. 2016. Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing. Scientific Reports, 6, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22219
Kühl HS et al. 2019. Human impact erodes chimpanzee behavioral diversity. Science. 363, 1453–1455.
Ramachandra G. 2017. Taboo based governance of sacred forests in the Boé, Guinea Bissau. Master Thesis. Wageningen University and Research.
Serra, A., Silva, C., & Lopes, E. 2007. Étude de faisabilité du projet «Développement touristique de la Boé au profit de la conservation des Chimpanzés et des populations locales». 1–50. Retrieved from http://chimbo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Etude-de-Faisabilite´-C.-Schwarz-Silva-2007.pdf
Silva, C., A. Serra, & E. Lopes. 2007. Étude de faisabilité du projet «Développement touristique de la Boé au profit de la conservation des Chimpanzés et des populations locales». IBAP and Daridibó, Bissau.
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Thierry van der Hoeven, Assessment of land cover and forest loss in prime Chimpanzee habitat in the Boé of Guinea-Bissau, West-Africa. Final thesis report. November 12th, 2020.
Van L aar, J.W.T. 2010. A Rapid Rural Appraisal of the Bushmeat Market in the Boé Region, Guinea-Bissau. Http://chimbo.org/ [accessed March 2010].
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Wenceslau, J.F.C. 2014. Bauxite Mining and Chimpanzees Population Distribution: A Case Study in the Boé Sector, Guinea-Bissau. Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas, Chimbo Foundation, Guinea-Bissau.
White, L. & Edwards, A. (eds.). 2000. Conservation research in the African rain forests: a technical handbook. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York.
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Page completed by:Annemarie Goedmakers & Piet Wit Date: 21/02/2023