Bangassou Forest

Central Africa > Central African Republic > Bangassou Forest

Summary

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• Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are likely absent in Bangassou Forest.
• The chimpanzee population is likely extinct.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 12,000 km².
• Hunting has been a primary threat.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Bangassou is located in southeastern Central African Republic. The site is characterized by a blend of dense forest and savannah landscapes (Williamson & Maisels 2003, Williamson et al. 2004).

Table 1. Basic site information for Bangassou Forest

Area	12000 km²
Coordinates	4.902833, 23.058449
Designation	Non-protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical dry forest, savanna, Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

During December 2003 and January 2004, a swift assessment of large mammal and human activity was conducted in Bangassou. This preliminary investigation served as a preparatory step for an inventory of Bangassou, which had been chosen as a site for the CITES MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) program. Although the site has been considered to be at the limit of the chimpanzee range, no evidence of chimpanzees was found during the pilot study (Williamson & Maisels 2003, Williamson et al. 2004).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Bangassou Forest

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 schweinfurthii	2003-2004	0	0	0	Bangassou Forest	Index survey (reconnaissance walk)	Williamson et al. 2004

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes in Bangassou Forest

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	Present (severity unknown)		The forest is inhabited by 20,000 people in 220 villages with associated roads, fields, coffee and palm plantations (Williamson et al. 2004).	2004-Ongoing
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present (severity unknown)		Agricultural land, including coffee and palm plantations present (Williamson et al. 2004).	2004-Ongoing
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Present (severity unknown)		Roads associated with the local villages (Williamson et al. 2004).	2004-Ongoing
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		The Bangassou forest has been heavily hunted and in risk of becoming an 'empty forest' (Varty 2005).	Ongoing (2005)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
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

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities in Bangassou Forest

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	Not reported
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	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Bangassou Forest

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Bangassou Forest

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 1981-2010, the EWEMBI dataset from ISIMIP2a was used. For the two future periods (2021-2050 and 2071-2099) ISIMIP2b climate data based on four CMIP5 global climate models were used. 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 7. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Bangassou Forest

	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]	24.8	26	25.9	26.2	27.3
Annual precipitation [mm]	2425	2486	2516	2533	2596
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	35.9	35.8	35	37.4	38.6
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	6.2	9.2	10	10.4	11

Table 8. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Bangassou Forest

	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	15	0.44	9.5	0.58	17	0.34	24.5	0.67
Drought	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Heatwave	3	62.5	4	70	4.5	68.06	7.5	80.49
River flood	1	0.16	1	0.69	1.5	0.56	2.5	1.49
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	0.65	30	0.65	29	0.64	29	0.66

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  Precipitation anomaly in Bangassou Forest
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  Temperature anomaly in Bangassou Forest

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.
Varty, N. (2005). Central African Republic. World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center, 314.
Williamson, L., & Maisels, F. (2003). Bangassou Forest, Central African Republic Conservation Status, Large Mammals and Human Impact. Unpublished report to WCS/MIKE.
Williamson, L., Bayogo, R., Guimiyessi, G., Ouangbao, P., Saboundou, A., Blake, S., & Maisels, F. (2004). Survey of elephants Bangassou, Central African Republic: conservation status & human impacts. Unpublished report to WCS/MIKE.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 15/01/2022