Zanaga

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Summary

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• Central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are present in Zanaga.
• The population size is unknown.
• The population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 25,570 km².
• Key threats to apes are illegal logging, hunting and mining activities.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

The site is part of the Birougou-Batéké-Zanaga landscape, which has been identified as a priority landscape for western lowland gorilla and central chimpanzee conservation (IUCN 2014). The site overlaps with one of the largest iron ore deposits in Africa, located in a strip 47 kilometres long and three kilometres wide in the Republic of the Congo, bordering Gabon. A core section of the GuineoCongolian Forest is found over this vast mineral deposit, where endangered species like western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, and forest elephants are found. Moreover, adjacent to the deposit lies the Ogooué River, one of Africa’s largest rivers by discharge (Stiles 2014).

Table 1. Basic site information for Zanaga

Species	'Pan troglodytes troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Area	25,570 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -2.468761 , Lon: 13.627850
Type of site	Logging concession
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Zanaga

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 troglodytes						Zanaga	Unknown
Gorilla gorilla gorilla						Zanaga	Unknown

Threats

Zanaga Iron Ore Company Limited is an iron ore exploration and development company, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The Company listed on AIM in November 2010 and trades under the symbol “ZIOC”. The logging companies operating in the area have already done a great deal of damage to the ecosystem diversity and composition of the forests surrounding the mine (Sitles 2014).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Zanaga

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Presence of a large scale iron ore mine project (on.com/project/ Zanaga Iron Ore Project) .	Ongoing (2023)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Commercial hunting is the biggest threat to wildlife in the area (IUCN 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Three Asian logging companies operating in overlapping parts of the mine concession. Loggers are principally interested in exploiting and exporting Okoumé (Aucoumea klaineana), a hardwood used for plywood (Stiles 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture		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

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Zanaga

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Zanaga

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 Zanaga

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

IUCN (2014). Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Western Lowland Gorillas and Central Chimpanzees 2015–2025. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group. 56 pp.

Stiles, D. (2014). The Zanaga iron ore mine – a test of best laid plans for preserving wildlife. Retrieved February 27, 2023 from Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2014/10/the-zanaga-iron-ore-mine-a-testof-best-laid-plans-for-preserving-wildlife/

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