Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Central Africa > Central African Republic > Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Summary

• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area.
• It has been estimated that 2,059 great apes occur in the site.
• The great ape population trend is stable.
• The site has a total size of 6,865 km².
• Key threats to great apes are hunting, logging, and increased risk of disease transmission from humans.
• Conservation activities have focused on anti-poaching patrols, eco-tourism, and supporting community health.
• The site forms part of the Sangha Trinational transboundary conservation complex

Site characteristics

Dzanga-Sangha is located in the southwestern corner of the Central African Republic, bordering Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, also found in the Central African Republic, and Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of the Congo. The site forms part of the Sangha Trinational (TNS) transboundary conservation complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The TNS also encompasses Lobéké National Park in Cameroon, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic and Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. The Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special reserve was established in 1990; in 2007 it was renamed the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area (DSPA). In 2019, the World Wide Fund for Nature signed a co-management agreement with the government (Dzanga-Sangha). The DSPA is formed by a mosaic of ecosystems, including rivers, marshlands and bais, which support rare and endangered species such as forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, sitatungas and bongos (Dzanga-Sangha).

Table 1. Basic site information for Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Area	6,865 km²
Coordinates	3.173628 N, 16.296941 E
Designation	Complex of Protected Areas
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, wetlands (inland) – bogs, marshes, swamps, fens, peatlands

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

From 2012 to 2016 the great ape population in the DSPA has remained stable (N'Goran 2017).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes troglodytes & Gorilla gorilla gorilla	2012	2,310			DSPA	Line transects (Distance)	N'Goran 2017
Pan troglodytes troglodytes & Gorilla gorilla gorilla	2016	2,059			DSPA	Line transects (Distance)	N'Goran 2017

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes in Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Growing demand for bushmeat from distant urban areas (Dzanga-Sangha).	Ongoing
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Since 2014, two companies have each been granted a logging and administrative permit. Logging by the two companies will be completed by 2020. At that point, their concession permit can be extended or renewed (Dzanga-Sangha).	Ongoing
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	8.4 Problematic species/diseases of unknown origin	Present, but threat severity is unknown		Increased risk of disease transmission from humans (Dzanga-Sangha).	Ongoing
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Anti-poaching patrols (Dzanga-Sangha).	Ongoing
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	12.1. Habituate primates to human presence to reduce stress from tourists/researchers etc.	Visitors have the privilege of tracking gorillas and mangabeys who are used to the presence of humans, thanks to the Primate Habituation Programme (PHP) (Dzanga-Sangha).	Ongoing
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	13.2. Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g. better education, infrastructure development)	Support community health through a mobile unit and health care centers; supporting schools with money for teaching materials, teacher salaries, and student fees (Dzanga-Sangha]).	Ongoing
	13.4. Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Eco-tourism project (Dzanga-Sangha).	Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Dzanga-Sangha

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

N'Goran, K.P. (2017). Summary Report on WWF BIOMONITORING activities from 2014 to 2016 Status of Forest Elephant and Great Apes in Central Africa Priority Sites. Available online: https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/WWF_CA_Biomonitoring_Report.pdf

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 30/12/2020