Bia Conservation Area

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in the Bia Conservation Area.
• The population size is estimated at 34 weaned individuals.
• The chimpanzee population trend is decreasing.
• The site has a total size of 306 km².
• Illegal hunting is the main threat.
• Conservation activities have focused on anti-poaching patrols.

Site characteristics

Chimpanzee captured on a camera trap © Richard Ofori-Amanfo

The Bia Conservation Area (BCA) forms a 306 km² block in the moist evergreen and moist semi-deciduous forest zones of western Ghana, between the Bia River and the border with Côte d’Ivoire. BCA encompasses Bia National Park and Bia Resource Reserve; Bia National Park is 78 km² and Bia Resource Reserve is 228 km². The BCA was originally part of a larger (about 1500 km²) ecosystem for forest elephants known as the Bia Group of Forest Reserves. However, the Bia elephant range has reduced over time due to clearance for cocoa cultivation, and is now an isolated population in an ecological island of forest with hard boundaries and no transitional zone to farmland (PADP 2001). It is planned for the entire area to be upgraded to national park status (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).

Table 1. Basic site information for Bia Conservation Area

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	306 km²
Coordinates	6.481132, -3.112847
Type of site	Conservation area (national park, resource reserve)
Governance type
Habitat type	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest

Types of sites ⋅ Governance types ⋅ Habitat types

Ape status

Wildlife patrol team encounters with chimpanzee signs indicate a decreasing trend (Danquah, E., pers. comm. 2022).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Bia Conservation Area

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or visitation 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	2019-2020	Present			34	Bia Conservation Area (306 km²)	Line transects		Ofori-Amanfo, R. pers comm. 2023	Estimate for weaned individuals

Sampling methods ⋅ Analytical frameworks

Bia National Park headquarters © Papa Kwaw Quansah

Threats

A total of 3,721 illegal human signs which are threats to the subspecies were recorded in 2021 and provided an overall encounter rate of 5.69 human signs per a kilometre walk. Three major threats among these were cartridge case (45.9%), wire snare (29.4%) and illegal logging (14.2%) (Danquah, E., pers. comm. 2022). Poachers still hunt in the park and set snares that also affect chimpanzees. Although poaching is not very frequent, it is a main threat because of the site’s low chimpanzee population abundance. Farm raids by wildlife resulting in human-wildlife conflict with elephants the most, but chimpanzees are also involved; with chimpanzees being low in numbers compared to elephants, it means a major threat to the chimpanzee population (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Bia Conservation Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Low	Habitat encroachment due to agriculture (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).	1974-Ongoing (2023)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium	Cartridge cases and wire snares (Danquah, E. pers. comm. 2022). Poaching of wildlife which includes illegal entry with guns to kill wildlife and setting of traps like wire snares (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).	1935-Ongoing (2023)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	Low	Hunting for tree Hyrax with the use of fires, resulting sometimes in bushfires (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).	1935-Ongoing (2023)
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

Threats

Conservation activities

Bia Conservation Area is a protected area so there are dedicated staff who patrol inside the Park to protect the resources including the chimpanzees. There is also a community outreach team that goes to the communities to educate them about the need to conserve natural resources including the chimpanzees. Ghana's Wildlife Division is responsible for maintaining law and order within the protected area. Between February and September 2023, the park conducted a programme, with funding from the Africa Elephant Fund (AEF), in 11 human wildlife hotspot communities where wildlife (with emphasis on elephants) invade community farms and livelihoods resulting in human wildlife conflict situations sometimes resulting in reprisal killings of wildlife. These communities were sensitised and educated on ways to mitigate human wildlife conflicts. Community Volunteer Squads were then formed, trained and given implements and the necessary tools and education to prevent wildlife raids on farms which results in human wildlife conflicts (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Bia Conservation Area

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization	Year of activity
1. Development impact mitigation	Not reported
2. Counter-wildlife crime	2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Wildlife patrol teams regularly conduct law enforcement duties within and around the protected area (Danquah, E., 2022). Anti-poaching operations (day, night and long patrols) (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).		1974-Ongoing (2023)
3. Species health	Not reported
4. Education & awareness	4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use	Conservation education and outreach programmes in communities around the Park (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).		2000-Ongoing (2023)
4. Education & awareness	4.2 Involve local community in ape research and conservation management	Communities around the park are aggregated into 10 Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) where they have a constitution and management plans backed by the local government to regulate the use of their natural resources and also help protect the protected area from human entering (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).		1974-Ongoing (2023)
5. Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat			1935-Ongoing (2023)
5. Protection & restoration	5.5 Demarcate and enforce boundaries of protected areas	Fifty (50) missing, broken and defaced boundary pillars were replaced (out of a total of 115 boundary pillar points identified) to properly demarcate and delineate the park from fringe farms and prevent encroachment into the park (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).		2020
5. Protection & restoration	5.6 Habitat restoration	Enrichment planting has been carried out with some different kinds of indigenous tree species in some degraded portions of the Resource Reserve. The entire Bia Conservation Area boundary has been planted with indigenous tree species to prevent encroachment into the Park (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023, Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).		2018-2022
6. Species management	Not reported
7. Economic & other incentives	7.1 Provide monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., REDD, alternative income, employment)	The park has been employing community people around the park as staff since the park was established in 1974 up till now. In the last 5 years the park has employed about 10 people in communities surrounding the park (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).		1974-Ongoing (2023)
7. Economic & other incentives	7.2 Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., better education, infrastructure development)	Provision of school and other infrastructural development (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).		1974-Ongoing (2023)
7. Economic & other incentives	7.2 Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., better education, infrastructure development)	Tropenbos Ghana, UNESCO, NCRC, and SNV Ghana support income generating activities such as beekeeping and honey processing, palm oil processing, soap production, snail farming, and mushroom cultivation (Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023).		1993-Ongoing (2023)
8. Permanent presence	Not reported

Conservation activities

Conservation implementation challenges and enablers

The Ghana Wildlife Division has few staff and resources to conduct effective and regular anti-poaching activities within and around the protected area. Inadequate staff, field equipment, vehicles etc. hinder effective protection of the chimpanzees.

Table 5. Challenges reported for Bia Conservation Area

Category	Challenge	Source	Year(s)
1. Site management	Outdated management plan	Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023
2. Resources & capacity	2.5 Lack of equipment/transportation	Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023
2. Resources & capacity	2.7 Lack of infrastructure	Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023
2. Resources & capacity	2.2 Lack of staff	Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023
2. Resources & capacity	2.3 General lack of funding	Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023
2. Resources & capacity	2.6 Lack of biomonitoring/survey data	Quansah P. K., pers. comm. 2023
3. Engaged community	Not reported
4. Institutional support	Not reported
5. Ecological context	Not reported
6. Safety & stability	Not reported

Challenges

Table 6. Enablers reported for Bia Conservation Area

Category	Enabler	Source	Year(s)
1. Site management	Not reported
2. Resources & capacity	Not reported
3. Engaged community	Not reported
4. Institutional support	Not reported
5. Ecological context	Not reported
6. Safety & stability	Not reported

Enablers

Research activities

Bia Conservation Area is part of the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee (PanAf).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Ape behaviors reported for Bia Conservation Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

Exposure to climate change impacts

As part of a study on the exposure of African great ape sites to climate change impacts, Kiribou et al. (2024) extracted climate data and data on projected extreme climate impact events for the site. Climatological characteristics were derived from observation-based climate data provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project ([ISIMIP www.isimip.org]). Parameters were calculated as the average across each 30-year period. For future projections, two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) were used. RCP 2.6 is a scenario with strong mitigation measures in which global temperatures would likely rise below 2°C. RCP 6.0 is a scenario with medium emissions in which global temperatures would likely rise up to 3°C by 2100. For the number of days with heavy precipitation events, the 98th percentile of all precipitation days (>1mm/d) was calculated for the 1979-2013 reference period as a threshold for a heavy precipitation event. Then, for each year, the number of days above that threshold was derived. The figures on temperature and precipitation anomaly show the deviation from the mean temperature and mean precipitation for the 1979-2013 reference period. The estimated exposure to future extreme climate impact events (crop failure, drought, river flood, wildfire, tropical cyclone, and heatwave) is based on a published dataset by Lange et al. 2020 derived from ISIMIP2b data. The same global climate models and RCPs as described above were used. Within each 30-year period, the number of years with an extreme event and the average proportion of the site affected were calculated (Kiribou et al. 2024).

Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Bia Conservation Area

	1981-2010	2021-2050, RCP 2.6	2021-2050, RCP 6.0	2071-2099, RCP 2.6	2071-2099, RCP 6.0
Mean temperature [°C]	27	28.1	27.9	28.2	29.4
Annual precipitation [mm]	1295	1253	1314	1258	1335
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	28.9	26.1	28.8	30.3	30.6
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	6.5	6.1	6.5	5.8	8.3

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Bia Conservation Area

	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)
Crop failure	6.5	3.41	3.5	2.27	3.5	3.41	12	3.41
Drought	1.5	50	0.5	50	1.25	50	0	0
Heatwave	8	100	7.5	100	8.5	100	2.5	100
River flood	0.75	0.09	1.5	1.03	2.25	1.66	0.75	0.85
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	0.44	30	0.42	29	0.44	29	0.46

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  Precipitation anomaly in Bia Conservation Area
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  Temperature anomaly in Bia Conservation Area

References

Kiribou, R., Tehoda, P., Chukwu, O., Bempah, G., Kühl, H. S., Ferreira, J., ... & Heinicke, S. (2024). Exposure of African ape sites to climate change impacts. PLOS Climate, 3(2), e0000345.
Lange, S., Volkholz, J., Geiger, T., Zhao, F., Vega, I., Veldkamp, T., ... & Frieler, K. (2020). Projecting exposure to extreme climate impact events across six event categories and three spatial scales. Earth's Future, 8(12), e2020EF001616.
Cite as: Danquah, E., Ofori-Amanfo, R. & Papa Kwaw Quansah (2023) Bia Conservation Area. A.P.E.S. Wiki. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from https://wiki.iucnapesportal.org/index.php/Bia_Conservation_Area Page completed by: Emmanuel Danquah, Richard Ofori-Amanfo & Papa Kwaw Quansah Date: 17/11/2023