Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

Central Africa > Cameroon > Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

Summary

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• Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) are present in Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is decreasing.
• The site has a total size of 181 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting, agricultural activities and exploitation of NTFPs.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

Located in eastern Cameroon, the Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve covers an area of 18,100 ha and is located in the Meme Division of the South West Province (Eno Nku 2004). It is limited to the north by the Kumba-Ekondo Titi road, to the South by the CDC rubber and palm plantations, the Kumba-Buea highway to the East and the Ekombe Mbonji-Barombi Kotto road (Eno Nku 2004). The reserve was created in 1939 to protect distinctive flora and fauna with many endemic species such as the Microberlinia bisulcata (Tiger wood), Lophira alata (Iron wood), Nauclea diderichii (Opepe), Gebourtia mannii (Boubinga), Milicia excelsa (Iroko) (ERuDeF).

Table 1. Basic site information for Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

Area	181 km²
Coordinates	4.516667 N, 9.316667 E
Designation	Forest Reserve
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Signs of chimpanzees were not found during a survey in the early 2000s (Eno Nku 2004).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

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 ellioti	2004			Absent	Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve	Index survey (reconnaissance walk)	Eno Nku 2004	Survey effort 25 km

Threats

The populations of wildlife species at the site have declined over the years as a result of the illegal exploitation of forest resources and encroachment from all sides of the reserve (Eno Nku 2004). The absence of research, monitoring and management of the site is a great concern and has contributed to the decline of wildlife. During a survey in the early 2000s, a great number of snares, gun shells and gunshots were reported (Eno Nku 2004).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High		Plantations extending into the reserve (EnoNku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Illegal exploitation of wildlife has led to the extinction of many wildlife species, particularly large mammals which are regularly hunted for food and for the bushmeat trade (Eno Nku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	High		Exploitation of NTFPs (Eno Nku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
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 Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

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 Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

Challenge	Source
Lack of law enforcement	Eno Nku 2004
Lack of human resources	Eno Nku 2004

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Southern Bakundu Forest Reserve

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

IUCN Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti)

References

Eno Nku, M. (2004). Large mammal recoinnassance surveys of Lake Barombi Mbo and Southern Banduku Forests Reserves, SW Province. Report to Wildlife Conservation Society & MINEF.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 28/02/2022