Nouabale-Ndoki National Park is part of the
Sangha Trinational Conservation Area that
includes protected areas in neighboring Cameroom
and Central African Republic (click image
for larger view)
The Goualougo Triangle
represents an intact ecosystem with important
biodiversity which was originally scheduled for timber
extraction. Following a global campaign by the Wildlife
Conservation Society, the Congolese Government annexed a
large portion of this area to the Nouabal-Ndoki National
Park in 2003
Like most forest blocks in west and central Africa,
mechanized logging and other closely associated human
activities are expanding at a rapid rate in northern
Congo. Commercial logging in this region began at a
relatively low intensity in the 1970's, primarily
focusing on extraction of mahogany (Entandrophragma
sp.). However, advances in forestry technology and
changes in timber product market values over the last
ten years have tripled the number of tree species in
northern Congo that are attractive to the international
market which suggests the impact of logging activities
is more severe on the ecosystems than previously
supposed.
In 1991, the
Government of Congo and the Wildlife Conservation
Society initiated the Nouabal-Ndoki Project to address
the need for implementing an ecologically and
economically sustainable conservation strategy.
Conservation activities were concentrated in the
Nouabal-Ndoki National Park which was founded in 1993.
The Nouabal-Ndoki National Park is contiguous with the
Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in Central African Republic
and is adjacent to the Lac Lobeke National Park, in
Cameroon. This system of protected areas is referred to
as the Sangha River Trinational Conservation Area which
forms the core of the efforts of several conservation
organizations and scientists aimed at forest
preservation and wildlife conservation in the northern
fringe of the Congo Basin.
In an effort to initiate more effective conservation
activities around the core conservation area
encompassing the NNNP, the Projet de Gestion des
Ecosystes Peipheriques du Parc (PROGEPP) was signed in
1999 between WCS, Congolaise Industrielle du Bois (CIB),
and the Congolese government's Ministere de l'Economie
Forestiere (MEF). This agreement aims at establishing
management systems that ensure the long-term integrity
of the forest ecosystem in the context of commercial
forest exploitation for the Kabo-Pokola-Loundougo
logging concessions. The evolution of this unique
partnership has led to the implementation of measures to
ensure the sustainability of managed production forests.
CIB is one of few companies in the Congo Basin to adopt
and adhere to formal measures of sustainable
development. Notably, the Kabo and Pokola forestry
concessions were recently certified by the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC). While considerable effort is
being made to reduce the negative impacts of logging on
forest ecosystems, little is known about the specific
effects of timber exploitation on great apes.
Part of our
long-term monitoring program includes assessing
the density and distribution of gorillas and
chimpanzees. The study area is divided into five
zones. Within each zone randomly placed
line-transects are surveyed and allow for
independent ape abundance estimates to be
generated and are being used to investigate and
quantify changes in ape abundance. (click
image for larger view)
In 1999, the Goualougo Triangle
Chimpanzee Project was initiated to increase our
knowledge of the central subspecies of chimpanzee and
use this information to address the threats facing these
apes in western equatorial Africa. The project has been
effective in implementing a comprehensive conservation
program based on field study, protection, training of
local conservationists, and management planning for the
conservation of wild chimpanzees in the Congo Basin. We
have recently expanded the scope of this project to
include a conservation and research focus on the western
lowland gorillas that coexist with chimpanzees
throughout most of central Africa. Despite the high
degree of ecological overlap between these sympatric ape
species, they differ in their susceptibility and
responses to various threats. The Goualougo Triangle
study area and existing infrastructure of this long term
conservation program present the unique opportunity to
simultaneously monitor central chimpanzees and western
lowland gorillas in different conservation conditions, a
pristine forest within a protected area - Nouabal-Ndoki
National Park, and a forest that is currently being
exploited for timber within the adjacent logging
concession.
Line
Transect Surveys
Repeated line transect surveys of ape
signs are being used to evaluate trends in ape abundance
and distribution within the logging zone adjacent to the
NNNP. Baseline surveys were conducted in 2004 before the
arrival of timber inventory personnel to minimize the
potentially confounding effect of comparing different
zones. Since 2006, we have been repeatedly surveying the
same transects at six month intervals to document ape
distribution in relation to forestry activities in the
zone.
Study Design.We have divided the study area into four
zones to obtain baseline information that will be
used to investigate and quantify future changes in
ape abundance due to mechanized logging.
Zone A (107 km2) is within
the NNNP and serves as a control condition for
studies of anthropogenic disturbance. Low-impact
reconnaissance and transect surveys have been
conducted in this zone, but there are no permanent
research sites. Zone A is also the location where we
conduct direct observations and phenological surveys
of one community of chimpanzees.
Zone B1 (90 km2) is also
within the NNNP. Zone B1 is the location of our
efforts to habituate wild chimpanzees.
Zone B2 (85 km2) is also
within the NNNP. We expect the post-logging ape
abundance and distribution in Zones B1 and B2 to be
affected differently due to natural geographic
boundaries in relation to future logging activities
in Zone C.
Zone C (90 km2) is located
within the timber concession and was recently
prospected by the local logging company. The
easternmost portion of this zone has recently been
exploited for timber, but extraction activities have
ceased for the present time.
Zone D (100 km2) is
located in a timber concession which was previously
selectively logged in the early 1970s. This zone is
currently being exploited for timber
