Malebo

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Summary

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• Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are present in Malebo.
• It has been estimated that 39 (CI: 30-53) individuals occur in the site.
• The bonobo population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 1044 km².
• Key threats to bonobos are hunting and habitat encroachment.
• Conservation activities have focused on habituation of bonobos for ecotourism, enforcing local taboos about bushmeat, and employing local villagers as bonobo trackers.

Site characteristics

The site is located in the Lake Tumba landscape in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The region is characterized as a forest-savanna ecosystem, with altitudes ranging from 300 to 700 m (Serckx et al. 2014). The types of forests found at the site include re-colonizing Uapaca sp., old secondary, mixed mature, old growth mono-dominant, riverine gallery and Marantaceae forests (Serckx et al. 2014).The region is also characterized by flood episodes during which water covers ca. 65% of the forest (Inogwabini et al. 2013).

Table 1. Basic site information for Malebo

Species	'Pan paniscus
Area	1,044 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -2.588389 , Lon: 16.469250
Type of site	Non-protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical swamp forest, Savanna, Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 2005, the presence of a bonobo population in the region was documented by the local NGO Mbou-Mon-Tour and by an extensive survey conducted by the WWF (Serckx et al. 2014). In 2007, a habituation program started. The bonobo population seems to be made up of two communities, inhabiting the Nkala and Mpelu forests (Serckx et al. 2014).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Malebo

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 paniscus	2011-2013			0.41 (0.32-0.56)	39 (30-53)	Malebo region (93.84 sq. km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014
Pan paniscus	2011			0.56 (0.27-1.13)	31 (15-61)	Mpelu forest in Malebo (54.26 sq.km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014
Pan paniscus	2012			0.21 (0.12-0.35)	11 (7-19)	Mpelu forest in Malebo (54.26 sq.km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014
Pan paniscus	2013			0.32 (0.19-0.53)	17 (11-28)	Mpelu forest in Malebo (54.26 sq.km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014
Pan paniscus	2011			0.63 (0.36-1.12)	20 (12-36)	Nkala forest in Malebo (32.45 sq.km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014
Pan paniscus	2012			0.51 (0.32-0.79)	16 (11-25)	Nkala forest in Malebo (32.45 sq.km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014
Pan paniscus	2013			0.55 (0.28-1.07)	17 (9-35)	Nkala forest in Malebo (32.45 sq.km)	Line transects		Sercx et al. 2014

Threats

Bonobos are largely respected in the area, and local communities refrain from hunting or eating them, as they believe them to be their ancestors (Inogwabini et al. 2007). However, as other groups and logging companies have moved into the area, this taboo has become degraded; thus, hunting and agricultural expansion now threatens bonobos and other wildlife (SynchronicityEarth).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Malebo

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	Present (unknown severity)	During a survey conducted between 2011-2013, six villages and twelve farms were directly adjacent to the forest and plantations were located inside the forest (Serckx et al. 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.3 Livestock farming & ranching	Present (unknown severity)	Cattle ranching in parts of the savanna patches (Serckx et al. 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present (unknown severity)	Hunting has grown since new people and logging companies have moved into the area (SynchronicityEarth).	Ongoing
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
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

WWF began working on bonobo conservation in the western part of the country in 2005. To protect the bonobos in this natural reserve, WWF has developed an ecotourism initiative called Picbou (Projet Intégré de Conservation des bonobos de l’ouest) since 2006. The project is implemented in collaboration with the local NGO Mbou-Mon-Tour (MMT). Three groups of bonobos have been habituated in the region to learn more about their socio-ecology and develop more effective conservation strategies. Simultaneously, the ecotourism project aims to bring income to the villagers in order to encourage them preserve their natural heritage (WWF 2017).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Malebo

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.9 Strengthen/support/re-install traditions/taboos that forbid the killing of primates	To protect the bonobos, the NGO Mbou-Mon-Tour (MMT) has established an awareness raising programme in local villages to revive the bushmeat taboo (SynchronicityEarth).		Ongoing
4 Education & awareness	4.2 Involve local community in ape research and conservation management	MMT employed local villagers as bonobo trackers (SynchronicityEarth).		Ongoing
6 Species management	6.1 Habituate primates to human presence to reduce stress from tourists/researchers	Three groups of bonobos have been habituated in the region to learn more about their socio-ecology to develop more effective and adapted conservation strategies (WWF 2017).		Ongoing
8 Permanent presence	8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	WWF has developed an ecotourism initiative named Picbou (Projet Intégré de Conservation des bonobos de l’ouest) since 2006. Picbou is implemented in collaboration with MMT (WWF 2017).		Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

WWF began working on bonobo conservation in the western part of the country in 2005. To protect the bonobos in this natural reserve, WWF has developed an ecotourism initiative called Picbou (Projet Intégré de Conservation des bonobos de l’ouest) since 2006. The project is implemented in collaboration with the local NGO Mbou-Mon-Tour (MMT). Three groups of bonobos have been habituated in the region to learn more about their socio-ecology and develop more effective conservation strategies. Simultaneously, the ecotourism project aims to bring income to the villagers in order to encourage them preserve their natural heritage (WWF 2017).

Table 5. Challenges reported for Malebo

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Malebo

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 Malebo

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Inogwabini, B. I., Mbende, L., Bakanza, A., & Bokika, J. (2013). Crop damage done by elephants in Malebo Region, Democratic Republic of Congo. Pachyderm, 54, 59-65.

Inogwabini, B., Matungila, B., Mbende, L., Abokome, M., & Tshimanga, T. (2007). Great apes in the Lake Tumba landscape, Democratic Republic of Congo: Newly described populations. Oryx, 41(4), 532-538. doi:10.1017/S0030605307414120

Serckx, A., Huynen, M. C., Bastin, J. F., Hambuckers, A., Beudels-Jamar, R. C., Vimond, M., ... & Kühl, H. S. (2014). Nest grouping patterns of bonobos (Pan paniscus) in relation to fruit availability in a forest-savannah mosaic. PloS one, 9(4), e93742.

WWF. (2017).DRC: Malebo site managed by WWF in the top 100 sustainable tourism destinations of 2017 in the World. Online: https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?314614/DRC%2DMalebo%2Dsite%2Dmanaged%2Dby%2DWWF%2Din%2Dthe%2Dtop%2D100%2Dsustainable%2Dtourism%2Ddestinations%2Dof%2D2017%2Din%2Dthe%2DWorld

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