Rio Muni

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Summary

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Leaflet

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) & western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Rio Muni.
• It has been estimated that 11,097 (CI: 8,719–13,592) great apes occur in the site.
• The great ape population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 26,017 km².
• Key threats to great apes are extensive commercial hunting, expansion of roads, and human encroachment.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Río Muni, the mainland region of Equatorial Guinea, is bordered by Cameroon to the north, and Gabon to the east and south. The area covers 26,017 sq. km; vegetations largely consists of Guineo-Congolian rainforest, mangrove forests in the southwest estuary, riparian palm forests along the coast, and some inselbergs in the east (Murai et al. 2013).The region has rich faunal diversity that includes gorillas, chimpanzees, various monkeys, leopards, buffalo, antelope, elephants, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and various snakes, including pythons (Britannica).

Table 1. Basic site information for Rio Muni

Species	'Pan troglodytes troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Area	26,017 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 1.700144 , Lon: 10.472875
Type of site	Non-protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The estimated great ape population in 2011 was 11,097, including a maximum population of 7,824 chimpanzees and a minimum population of 3,273 gorillas (Murai et al. 2013).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Rio Muni

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	2011				11,097 (8,719-13,592)	Río Muni	Line transects		Murai et al. 2013	Survey effort: 233.94 km

Threats

The expansion of roads across the region have facilitated heavy commercial hunting, which is in high demand with increasing population and wealth (Murai et al. 2013).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Rio Muni

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
1 Residential & commercial development	1.1 Residential areas	High (more than 70% of population affected)	In a 2013 study, proximity to cities and settlements were the strongest predictors of ape density, which decreased closer to human centres (Murai et al. 2013).	Ongoing (2013)
4 Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Expansion of the road network across the region facilitates commercial hunting and deforestation (Murai et al. 2013).	Ongoing (2013)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Extensive commercial hunting and large urban bushmeat markets in the region (Murai et al. 2013).	Ongoing (2013)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Forest concessions significantly increased since the discovery of oil reserves in the early 1990s; by 2001, forest concessions covered 1.7 million hectares (Murai et al. 2013).	1990-Ongoing (2001)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Great apes densities have been shown to negatively correlate with agricultural mosaic habitat (Murai et al. 2013).	Ongoing (2013)
3 Energy production & mining		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

Challenges

Protected areas in Río Muni cover 15.4% of the country’s land, but there are limited law enforcement activities undertaken to manage and protect these areas (Murai et al. 2013).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Rio Muni

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
4 Institutional support	4.1 Lack of law enforcement	Murai et al. 2013

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Rio Muni

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

Determinants of urban bushmeat consumption in Río Muni, Equatorial Guinea

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Rio Muni

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Murai M, Ruffler H, Berlemont A, Campbell G, Esono F, Agbor A, et al. (2013) Priority Areas for Large Mammal Conservation in Equatorial Guinea. PLoS ONE 8(9): e75024. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075024

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