Summary

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Site characteristics

The DCF, located at the mouth of the Dodo River in southwestern Côte d'Ivoire, is home to the globally and locally endangered Pygmy Hippopotamus, a species facing a 20% population decline over two generations. Despite its small population of about 4,000 individuals, the presence of this species in the DCF offers hope for its conservation. The forest is also home to two species of African Pangolins, both classified as Vulnerable. The DCF is one of the few remaining coastal community forests in the region, though it receives no formal protection. The forest, which is diverse in habitat types—including rainforests, mangroves, savanna, and coastal thicket—supports a variety of wildlife. The surrounding village, located 18 km from the nearest city, Grand-Béréby, is primarily inhabited by two ethnic groups: the indigenous Kroumen and migrants, both of whom rely on subsistence farming, hunting, and artisanal fishing. Although some trees are protected for cultural ceremonies, hunting is permitted. The forest's rich ecological diversity provides various niches for wildlife, but it is under threat from human activity, including land use changes.

Table 1. Basic site information for Dodo Coastal Forest

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	46,94
Coordinates	Lat: 4.544618 , Lon: -7.113949
Type of site	Proposed protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, "Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes)"
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Dodo Coastal 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 verus	2019			0.5 nest/km	Dodo Coastal Forest (46,94 km²)	Reconnaissance walk	Soiret et al. 2019

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Dodo Coastal Forest

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Commercial hunting is a widespread activity in villages surrounding this coastal forest. However, in the DCF area, the villagers primarily hunt mammals for local consumption, and fortunately, the commercial bushmeat trade does not play a significant role in the local economy. Despite this, we observed a high frequency of hunting signs in the forest. These signs were most commonly found in the gallery forest, and poaching seems to be the most significant threat to all the primate species in the study area. The high encounter rate (ER) of chimpanzees at DCF may be attributed to a longstanding local taboo against hunting these apes, which has helped maintain a stable population in the area (Soiret et al. 2019)	Ongoing (2018)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1.3 Industrial farming (including palm oil)	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	The coastal forest at the mouth of the Dodo River, known as the DCF, has experienced unprecedented changes in land use over the past decade (CILSS 2016). Once intact, dense rainforests have been cleared and fragmented to make way for farms and plantations growing oil palm, rubber, cocoa, coffee, and coconut, as well as for charcoal production (Soiret et al. 2019)	Ongoing(2018)
5 Biological resource use	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	Medium (30-70% of population affected)		Ongoing (2018)

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Dodo Coastal Forest

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	The NGO CEM works with Eco-guards (community members) who receive allowances for patrols, data collection, and the installation of cameras in the voluntary reserve, as well as for the protection of turtles and their eggs on the beach.	NGO Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM)	Ongoing (2022)
4 Education & awareness	4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use	The NGO CEM carries out awareness-raising activities for the protection of the voluntary nature reserve, which is home to rich wildlife, and advocates for the creation of a marine protected area to conserve sea turtles (source: CEM NGO website; CEM NGO Facebook page)	NGO Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM)	Ongoing (2022)

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Dodo Coastal Forest

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
4 Institutional support	4.3 Lack of protected area status	Soiret et al. 2019	Ongoing (2018)
4 Institutional support	4.1 Lack of law enforcement	Soiret et al. 2019	Ongoing (2018)
	Other (lack of conservation education)	Soiret et al. 2019	Ongoing (2018)
2 Resources and capacity	2.3 General lack of funding	NGO CEM	Ongoing (2022)
2 Resources and capacity	2.1 Lack of capacity/training

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Dodo Coastal Forest

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
3 Engaged community	3.2 Local taboos in favor of conservation	Soiret et al. 2019	Ongoing (2018)
5 Ecological context	5.1 Ecological characteristics (e.g. terrain) conducive to conservation	Soiret et al. 2019	Ongoing (2018)

Research activities

The studies conducted at this site have confirmed the presence of exceptional wildlife and flora (Soiret et al., 2019), as well as sea turtles. Trained Eco-guards who monitor the fauna continue surveillance activities at the site. Their permanent presence serves as a deterrent to poaching activities and provides researchers with assistants to carry out their research. It should be noted that, at present, there are no ongoing research activities in the area. The only study conducted in the area was by Soiret et al. (2019). The NGO CEM focuses on conservation activities.

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Dodo Coastal Forest

Behavior	Source
Building nests in trees	Soiret et al. 2019

Exposure to climate change impacts

External links

Relevant datasets

References

Bamba, S. (2002). Identification et étude de la reproduction, de la distribution géographique et des facteurs de menace des tortues marines migrant sur le littoral ivoirien : cas de département de Grand Béréby. Thèse de Doctorat. Département de Biologie Animale, Université de Cocody-Abidjan, 150pp. CILSS (2016). Landscapes of West Africa - A indow on a Changing World. U.S. Geological Survey EROS. Peñate, J.G., M. Karamoko, S. Bamba & Djadji G. (2007). An update on marine turtles in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. Marine Turtle Newsleter, 116,7-8. Kouadio Y. J., Soiret K. S. P. , Kpan W. B., Yao N. O., N’guessan K. E., Kouassi K. P. & Gomez P. J. (2018). Valeur de conservation de la Réserve Naturelle Volontaire (RNV) de la Dodo, Sud-Ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire (Afrique de l’Ouest). International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences,12(6), 2784- 2796. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ijbcs.v12i6.24 Bohoussou K. H., Akpatou K. B., Kouassi Y. W. R. & Kpangui K. B. (2018). Diversité des Mammifères et valeur pour la conservation des reliques forestières au sein d’une concession agro-industrielle au sud-ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire ». VertigO, 18(1). http://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/19947 Soiret, S.P.K., Kouakou C.Y., Koffi B.J-C., Kadjo B., Kouassi P., Gomez P.J., Matsuda Goodwin R., & Kone I. (2019). The diversity and conservation of mammals in the Dodo Coastal Forest in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, western Africa: a preliminary study. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 11(6),13654–13666. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4641.11.6.13654-13666

Page created by: Zausa Diorne Date: 2024-11-23 09:50:00

Dodo Coastal Forest

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