Biomonitoring acitivies of the WCF:
Objective
Text: Hjalmar Kuehl, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
WCF direction for West Africa: Dr. Ilka Herbinger
The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation has engaged in biomonitoring activities since 2004, mainly in the Ivory Coast. Biomonitoring is the technical term for repeatedly surveying the distribution and frequency of a species – in our case chimpanzees.
The most important questions the WCF tries to answer with its work are:
- Where do the last wild chimpanzee populations live?
- Are these populations stable or declining?
- How many wild chimpanzees are there still remaining?
- What are the threats to the local survival of the chimpanzees?
To answer these questions, the WCF cooperates closely with the local authorities (OIPR- Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves), non-governmental organizations (WWF, Conservation International) and other institutions (Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit).
Methods
WCF’s biomonitoring efforts start with cartography of areas where the existence of chimpanzees is either confirmed or suspected, the design of protocols for data acquisition, and the training of local ecologists.
During the data acquisition phase, teams of 5 to 7 people walk on previously determined routes and collect data on the presence of chimpanzees. Because of poaching, chimpanzees in most areas have become very shy making it rare to view them directly.
Luckily they leave lots of traces: food remains, tools, faeces and, above all, their sleeping nests, which – once built – can be found for months as spherical structures in trees. In the course of their work, WCF field teams also use modern technology such as satellite navigation systems, “GPS”, which helps them orient themselves in the forest.
Capacity Building
After each survey, the collected data need to be analysed. The WCF attaches great importance to the fact that its biomonitoring experts work according to strict scientific criteria. WCF experts both train local teams and supervise data acquisition and analysis. Existing survey methods are also regularly checked for accuracy and, if necessary, adjusted. The WCF also works to develop new biomonitoring methods.
Interpretation of the data for more efficient conservation measures
When the collected data from an area has been analysed and distribution maps of chimpanzee traces have been made, the results are interpreted with the utmost care.
One important question is always whether conclusions about sources of disturbance and threat can be drawn from the estimated distribution of chimpanzees. For instance, an increase in the number of chimpanzee nests with increasing distance from a town or a village is the clear sign of a poaching threat.
These kinds of results are then used to help local authorities focus conservation activities such as anti-poaching patrols on the areas of greatest threat.
In the last two years, the WCF has implemented biomonitoring programs at three national parks in Ivory Coast (Banco, Taï, Marahoue, see map).
Biomonitoring in National Parks
Taï National Park
Since July 2004, the Ivorian scientist Paul N’Goran has worked with the park administration in the further development, implementation and improvement of the biomonitoring program for the Taï National Park.
The existing biomonitoring program, which had for 8 years been limited to the peripheral areas of the park, has now been extended to the entire National Park. To do this, N’goran worked with the park administration to draw up exact maps, design a sampling protocol and determine survey routes.
The approximately 30 park guards and ecologists hired for the biomonitoring program and responsible for the data acquisition were prepared for the new methods during a training session in May 2005.
Since August 2005, data have for the first time been collected in the heart of the park. Preliminary results are due in the course of this year. In order to give the park administration information on the distribution and, if possible, number of other species, the survey was not restricted to chimpanzees but included a great number of other mammal species (e.g. elephants, monkey species, forest antelopes) as well as some bird and reptile species.
In a second project started in July 2004, the PhD student Kouakou Yao Celestin has been examining the reliability of survey methods. He tests methods by collecting data the study area of the Taï Chimpanzee Project, where the number of individuals is known exactly due to decades of behavioural observations . Comparing the survey esimates with the known number of the chimpanzees living in that area allows him to draw conclusions on the accuracy of survey methods. Preliminary results from these studies are expected in the course of this year.
Banco National Park
This park of only 35 km2 is nestled in the middle of Abidjan, a city with several millions inhabitants. For years there have been rumours that chimpanzees still live there. To verify these rumours, the WCF carried out a nest survey in 2004 and 2005 with the amazing result that there are still about a dozen chimpanzees.
Marahoué National Park
In parallel to the biomonitoring activities in the Taï National Park, the WCF has at the beginning of 2005 prepared for surveys in the Marahoué National Park. Findings from WCF’s work at Taï have proven extremely helpful in designing surveys in this area. Because there are no accurate maps of this park and its surroundings, the area had to be first carefully explored. Particularly important was the mapping of villages, camps and plantations. From this mapping effort it emerged that many illegal settlements have been constructed in the conservation zone within recent years. A first training session for park guards and ecologists is taking place in March 2006. The actual data collecting will follow immediately after the training.
Prelimary survey results and projections for the number of chimpanzees and other species resident in the Park will be available in the beginning of 2007.
The classified forests of Cavally and Goin-Débé
These two forests near the Taï National Park are leased for timber exploitation but were classified in IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and UNEP/UNESCO seminars as high priority conservation zones for the West African chimpanzees. Therefore, the WCF is working with SODEFOR (Société pour le Dévélopement des Forêts), which manages all the classified forest of the Ivory Coast, to develop a program to monitor logging activities in these forests and to evaluate their impact on their fauna, especially chimpanzees.
