Ebo Forest

Central Africa > Cameroon > Ebo Forest

Summary

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• Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are present in Ebo Forest.
• The population sizes are unknown.
• The population trends are unknown.
• The site has a total size of 1417 km².
• Key threats to great apes are illegal logging, poaching, and building of a road which will increase pressure on wildlife.
• Conservation activities have focused on community-led conservation initiatives, such as promoting alternative sustainable livelihoods, conservation education and community-based gorilla monitoring.
• Ebo forest is home to a population of geographically intermediate gorillas (the population is found between Cross River Gorillas and Western Lowland Gorillas) that is potentially a third subspecies of western gorillas.

Site characteristics

Located in southwestern Cameroon, the biodiversity and cultural significance of the Ebo forest is remarkable. Ebo is the most important tract of intact forest in the Gulf of Guinea Biodiversity Hotspot and an important carbon sink (approx. 35 million tonnes of carbon). Ebo forest is a haven for animal and plant species that characterise this biodiversity hotspot and that have been extirpated in other parts of the region, including a population of geographically intermediate gorillas that is potentially a third subspecies of gorillas in Cameroon. The forest is also home to one of the most important remaining populations of Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti). Culturally, the forest has been home to the Ndokbiakat clan of the Banen tribe for all of recorded history. The forest is full of archaeological history, including colonial roads, stone-built missionary buildings, and ancient village sites that were abandoned around the time of Cameroon's Independence in 1960. The burial sites of close relatives of patriarchs and matriarchs are situated in these village sites along with other cultural relics of the Banen tribe (Abwe & Morgan 2020).

Table 1. Basic site information for Ebo Forest

Area	1417 km²
Coordinates	4.315484, 10.329629
Designation	Non-protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical/tropical montane forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 2002, a new population of gorillas was found in the Ebo forest (previously only nests were seen). The Ebo gorillas are an isolated, relict population - their nearest neighbouring gorilla populations to the north are the Cross River gorillas, and the nearest surviving southern populations are western lowland gorillas, over 100 km south of the Sanaga river. As such, the Ebo gorillas really are of particular interest as they likely represent what might once have been a much more continuous distribution of gorillas over this region (Morgan 2010). The site holds one of the most important remaining populations of Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Abwe & Morgan 2020).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Ebo 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 ellioti' & Gorilla gorilla	2008-2009			Present	Ebo Forest	Index survey (reconnaissance walk)	Whytock et al. 2021	survey effort: 345 km
Gorilla gorilla	2019-2020			Present	North of Ebo Forest, 39 sq.km	Camera trap survey	Whytock et al. 2021

Threats

The main threats to wildlife in Ebo forest include habitat loss, poaching and the bushmeat trade (Abwe & Morgan 2020). In 2020, the Government of Cameroon proposed two Forest Management Units (FMU) for timber exploitation which completely cover the proposed Ebo National Park in Littoral Region, Cameroon. Widespread and systematic timber exploitation across the site would exacerbate habitat loss and poaching (Abwe & Morgan 2020). When civil society groups opposed the destruction of the species-rich forest, the government suspended the logging concessions (Atabong 2022). In 2022, bulldozers opened around 40 km of dirt road running north from the village of Kopongo, across a forestry concession and into the heart of Ebo Forest. A group calling itself the Ebo Forest Development Committee is behind the project, stating that the road is needed to connect villages around Ebo, give access to communities that were displaced from the forest in the 1950s, and stimulate the local economy. However, a local news outlet, Journal du Cameroun, reported that the road is actually being built by a logging company (Atabong 2022). As of April 2023, part of the forest (68,385 ha) has been reclassified for logging (Nkemnyi, S., pers. comm. 2023).

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  Hunting camp in Ebo forest © Nkemnyi Standly
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  Harvest of bark for medicinal purpose © Nkemnyi Standly
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  Ebo forest © Nkemnyi Standly

Table 3. Threats to apes in Ebo Forest

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	Low		Palm plantations and conversion of forest into farmland (Nkemnyi, S., pers. comm. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	High		Bulldozers have opened around 40 km of dirt road into Ebo Forest (Atabong 2022).	Ongoing (2022)
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Poaching for the bushmeat trade (Abwe & Morgan 2020, Whytock et al. 2021).	Ongoing (2021)
	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	Low		Extraction of non-timber forest products for local use and income generation (Nkemnyi, S., pers. comm. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High		Global Forest Watch data show accelerated forest loss in the logging concession south of Ebo, known as FMU 07 002, with more than 1,100 hectares of forest cover lost in 2021 (Atabong 2022). In 2023, part of the forest was reclassified for large-scale logging. Illegal selective logging also takes place (Nkemnyi, S., pers. comm. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
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

Community conservation outreach around the Ebo forest targets traditional authorities who play an important role in maintaining the cultural, political, social and economic integrity of their communities. Each community member has a stake in the management of resources around them, and their involvement in biodiversity conservation can lead to positive behaviours toward threatened species in particular and biodiversity in general. Since 2012, the "Club des Amis des Gorilles" initiative aims to encourage local communities around the gorilla habitat to be directly involved in monitoring for gorilla signs and threats in the forest around their villages, as well as raising awareness about the significance of gorillas and other species within and outside their communities (Abwe et al. 2015).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Ebo 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	5.17. Provide sustainable alternative livelihoods; establish fish- or domestic meat farms	A poultry project was initiated in the Mosse community in 2014 with more than 300 fowls produced. However, the demand was low within the small community and marketing the fowls was a challenge given the long distances to neighbouring populations and the poor state of roads (Abwe et al. 2015).	Unknown
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	10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use	promote positive behaviours towards gorillas, chimpanzees and other wildlife through sensitisation and conservation education within and outside communities (Abwe et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
	10.2. Involve local community in primate research and conservation management	The "Club des Amis des Gorilles" monitor gorillas and threats towards them within their habitat in order to record the human impact on this fragile population (Abwe et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
	10.3. Install billboards to raise primate conservation awareness	Billboards (Abwe et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
	10.5. Implement multimedia campaigns using theatre, film, print media, discussions	Conservation education messages in storytelling, songs, on T-shirts, posters, parades, presentations, banners and billboards are widely used. Storytelling sessions where elders tell heroic animal stories to youths and school children are organised regularly in Iboti and Locndeng (Abwe et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	13.3. Run research project and ensure permanent human presence at site	Three stations established as part of San Diego Zoo's Ebo Forest Research Project (Morgan 2010).	Ongoing (2010)
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)	With the support of EFRP, high yielding cocoa bean nursery projects have been carried out in Iboti, Locndeng and Locnanga. The seedlings from the nurseries have been transplanted into CAG and other community members’ individual farms (Abwe et al. 2015).	Ongoing (2015)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Ebo Forest

Challenge	Source
Lack of political will	Nkemnyi, S., pers. comm. 2023

Research activities

The San Diego Zoo's Ebo Forest Research Project established three permanently-manned research stations in the Ebo forest. The first station, established 2005, concentrates on the ecology and behaviour of the drill and chimpanzees, although botany research has been ongoing since 2005. The second research station was established in early 2008 to specifically concentrate on conserving and studying the small gorilla population, which occurs in a relatively small (c. 25 km²) area in this region of the forest. Finally, the Njuma research station was established in early 2009 to concentrate research on chimpanzees and Preuss's red colobus monkey (Morgan 2010). The forest has been a site of interest for researchers and students from several government institutions, such as the National Herbarium, which has led botanical inventories in the area since 2005; the universities of Buea, Douala, Dschang, Yaounde and the National Forestry School, Mbalmayo; as well as several researchers and students from universities across the world (Abwe & Morgan 2020).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Ebo Forest

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Re:wild- Ebo Forest: A Stronghold for Cameroon’s Wildlife

References

Abwe, E.E., B.J. Morgan. (2020). Gorillas of the Ebo forest threatened by proposed Forest management Units for timber exploitation. Gorilla Journal 60. 18-20.
Abwe, E. E., Mfossa, D. M., & Morgan, B. J. (2015). Community-led conservation action in the Ebo forest, Cameroon.
Atabong, A. B. (2022). Private road sparks fears for Cameroon’s Ebo Forest. Retrieved 23 May 2023 from Mongabay. Online: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/private-road-sparks-fears-for-cameroons-ebo-forest/ Morgan, B.J. (2010). The gorillas of the Ebo forest, Cameroon. Gorilla Journal 40. 16-18.
Whytock, R.C., E.E. Abwe, D.M. Mfossa, M.E. Ketchen, A.E. Abwe, V.R.V. Ngimdo, F. Maisels, S. Strindberg, B.J. Morgan. (2021). Mammal distribution and trends in the threatened Ebo 'intact forest landscape', Cameroon. Global Ecology and Conservation 31.

Page completed by: Nkemnyi Standly & A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: 19/07/2023