Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve

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Summary

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• Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) are present in Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 8.5 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are logging, hunting, encroachment due to agricultural expansion, and uncontrolled harvesting of terrestrial plants.
• Conservation activities are not documented.
• The site is designated as a Ramsar site and features Lake Barombi, well-known for its high density of endemic species.

Site characteristics

The Lake Barombi Forest Reserve is located in eastern Cameroon and covers an area of over 850 ha. The site is named after an oval lake 2.5 km in diameter and 110 m deep, lying in a crater with a slope of 150 m at its highest point, and surrounded by tropical forest (Eno Nku 2004). The lake is famous among biologists for the occurrence of 12 endemic fish species, making it one of the places with the highest densities of endemic species per area in the world (Ramsar 2006). The site is also important due to the presence of freshwater sponges, one of which (Corvospongilla thysi) is also endemic. The lake is an important sacred site to the Barombi Mbo People and also used for fishing, transport, and farming of the surrounding land (Ramsar 2006). It is also a source of clean water for the metropolis of Kumba and its surrounding (Ramsar 2006). The site was designated as a Ramsar site in 2006.

Table 1. Basic site information for Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve

Species	'Pan troglodytes ellioti
Area	8.5 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 4.669490 , Lon: 9.382303
Type of site	Protected area (Forest Reserve)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Vocalisation documented during a recce survey (Eno Nku 2004).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes ellioti	2004	Present				Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve	Reconnaissance walk		Eno Nku (2004)	survey effort 4.5 km

Threats

The competition for farmland in the area that began in 1989 led to the extensive conversion of forest into farmland (Eno Nku 2004). A stripe of forest still exists along the lakeshore to shield the farms, but behind is extended plantations. Other threats include timber extraction, hunting, farming, fuel wood collection, overfishing, use of pesticides, and uncontrolled harvesting of NTFPs (Eno Nku 2004).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Habitat encroachment due to agricultural expansion (Eno Nku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Unsustainable hunting (Eno Nku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
5 Biological resource use	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Uncontrolled harvesting of NTFPs (Eno Nku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Timber extraction and fuelwood collection (Eno Nku 2004).	Ongoing (2004)
9 Pollution	9.3 Agricultural & forestry effluents	Present (unknown severity)	Pesticide spraying of cocoa-trees (Ramsar 2006).	Ongoing (2006)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
3 Energy production & mining		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Lake Barombi Mbo Forest Reserve

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Lake Barombi Mbo 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 reconnaissance surveys of Lake Barombi Mbo and Southern Banduku Forests Reserves, SW Province. Report to Wildlife Conservation Society & MINEF.

Ramsar (2006). Barombi Mbo Crater Lake. Online: https://rsis.ramsar.org/fr/ris/1643

Page created by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date: NA