Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

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Summary

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• Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) & Cross river gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) are present in Takamanda Biosphere Reserve.
• The population sizes are unknown.
• The great ape population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 3,071.15 km².
• Key threats to great apes are poaching, logging, and increasing accessibility by roads.
• Conservation activities have focused on involving local communities in conservation and sustainable resource use, monitoring wildlife and law enforcement.

Site characteristics

Located in northeastern Cameroon, the site was first established as Takamanda Forest Reserve in 1934 to protect watersheds and conserve the area for timber production (Dunn et al. 2014). In 2008 it was upgraded to national park to protect the gorillas, as well as for its biological and transboundary importance (Dunn et al. 2014). The site and the neighbouring Okwangwo region in Nigeria are important areas for many large mammals; these include- in addition to the Cross River Gorilla and Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee- drills, Preuss's guenon, forest elephants, an buffalos (Sunderland-Groves & Maisels 2003). In 2026, UNESCO designated Takamanda National Park as one of 14 new biosphere reserves across 14 countries. It is now officially designated the Takamanda-Cross River Gorilla Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO 2026a).

Table 1. Basic site information for Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Species	Gorilla gorilla diehli, Pan troglodytes ellioti
Area	3,071.15 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.177757 , Lon: 9.340774
Type of site	Protected area (Biosphere Reserve)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest, Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest
Type of governance	Governance by government

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

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  Cross River Gorilla © UNESCO & WCS Cameroon

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  Cross River Gorilla © UNESCO & WCS Cameroon

Ape status

Gorillas are concentrated in three localities of the park. The first one consists of 25 sq.km in the east of the park, in the hills north of Kekpane. The second one covers only about 15 sq.km in an extremely steep and rocky area in the northeast of the park. The third site lies north of the Obonyi villages and extends across the Nigeria-Cameroon border into Okwangwo (Dunn et al. 2014).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Takamanda Biosphere 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
Gorilla gorilla diehli	2001				100	Takamanda Forest Reserve	Informed guess		Sunderland-Groves, Maisels & Ekinde 2003		CMR0103, CMR0104 CMR0105
Gorilla gorilla diehli	Unknown				45,881	Takamanda National Park East (Kekpane area)	Reconnaissance walk		WCS surveys as cited by Dunn et al. 2014
Gorilla gorilla diehli	Unknown				45,945	Takamanda National Park-North (Atolo area)	Reconnaissance walk		WCS surveys as cited by Dunn et al. 2014

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Bushmeat is still an important source of income and protein for villages at the site. Although traditional hunting rights were given to local communities and the use of firearms has been prohibited since 1934, firearm hunting is widespread throughout the area (Sunderland-Groves & Maisels 2003).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
4 Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Increasing accessibility by roads (Dunn et al. 2014). Road between the Takamanda forest and the Mone and Mbulu forests, allows access to the forests and, subsequently, increased export of agricultural and forest products, including bushmeat (Sunderland-Groves, Maisels & Ekinde 2003).	2003-Ongoing (2014)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Trafficking of bushmeat across the border with Nigeria and other parts of Cameroon. Gorilla meat is eaten, their bones are used in traditional medicine and as fetishes, and infants have been sold as pets (Dunn et al. 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
5 Biological resource use	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	Present (unknown severity)	Unsustainable harvesting of NFTPs (Dunn et al. 2014).	Ongoing (2014)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Illegal logging (Dunn et al. 2014).	Ongoing (2014)

Threats

Conservation activities

Transboundary cooperation between Okwangwo and Takamanda has been strongly promoted through activities such as regular joint anti-poaching patrols, an annual transboundary workshop, exchange visits and information sharing to capture poachers (Dunn et al. 2014). The landscape is characterized by a rich cultural heritage and long-standing traditions of coexistence with the natural environment. Bantu-speaking communities, including the Anyang, Becheve, Basho, and others together with Mbororo pastoralists, continue to maintain sacred forests, observe totemic taboos, and apply customary land-use practices that have historically contributed to local conservation. Livelihood activities across the region include the sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products, such as bush mango, njangsang, and wild honey, often undertaken through women-led cooperatives. In addition, younger generations are increasingly engaged in conservation and nature-based livelihoods as gorilla guardians, ecotourism guides, and advocates for the sustainable development of their communities and environment (UNESCO 2026b).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.11 Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g., SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of patrols	The CyberTracker system has been implemented for wildlife and law enforcement monitoring at the site. It has also been used for data collection during wildlife surveys (Dunn et al. 2014).		Ongoing (2014)
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site has been a National Park since 2008. In 2026, UNESCO designated the site as a Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO 2026a).		2008-Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness	4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use	The Takamanda landscape is shaped by Bantu-speaking communities and Mbororo pastoralists who maintain traditions like sacred groves, species taboos, and community-based conservation mechanisms. In addition, youth are increasingly active as gorilla guardians, ecotourism guides, and advocates for environmental education UNESCO 2026b).	Local communities	Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness	4.2 Involve local community in ape research and conservation management	Women’s cooperatives sustainably harvest forest products like bush mango, njangsang, and honey, while youth are increasingly active as gorilla guardians, ecotourism guides, and advocates for protecting both nature and community well-being (UNESCO 2026b).	Local communities	Ongoing (2026)

Conservation activities

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  © UNESCO & A-Schuecke

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  © UNESCO & A-Schuecke

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  © UNESCO & A-Schuecke

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  © UNESCO & A-Schuecke

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community	3.2 Local taboos in favor of conservation	UNESCO 2026b	Ongoing (2026)
3 Engaged community	3.6 Local community engagement and support	UNESCO 2026b	Ongoing (2026)
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Not reported

Behaviours

Exposure to climate change impacts

As part of a study on the exposure of African great ape sites to climate change impacts, Kiribou et al. (2024) extracted climate data and data on projected extreme climate impact events for the site. Climatological characteristics were derived from observation-based climate data provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP, www.isimip.org). Parameters were calculated as the average across each 30-year period. For 1981-2010, the EWEMBI dataset from ISIMIP2a was used. For the two future periods (2021-2050 and 2071-2099) ISIMIP2b climate data based on four CMIP5 global climate models were used. For future projections, two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) were used. RCP 2.6 is a scenario with strong mitigation measures in which global temperatures would likely rise below 2C. RCP 6.0 is a scenario with medium emissions in which global temperatures would likely rise up to 3C by 2100. For the number of days with heavy precipitation events, the 98th percentile of all precipitation days (>1mm/d) was calculated for the 1979-2013 reference period as a threshold for a heavy precipitation event. Then, for each year, the number of days above that threshold was derived. The figures on temperature and precipitation anomaly show the deviation from the mean temperature and mean precipitation for the 1979-2013 reference period.

The estimated exposure to future extreme climate impact events (crop failure, drought, river flood, wildfire, tropical cyclone, and heatwave) is based on a published dataset by Lange et al. 2020 derived from ISIMIP2b data. The same global climate models and RCPs as described above were used. Within each 30-year period, the number of years with an extreme event and the average proportion of the site affected were calculated (Kiribou et al. 2024).

Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Value	1981-2010	2021-2050, RCP 2.6	2021-2050, RCP 6.0	2071-2099, RCP 2.6	2071-2099, RCP 6.0
Mean temperature [C]	25.3	26.4	26.2	26.5	27.6
Annual precipitation [mm]	2359	2468	2490	2470	2441
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	40.6	40	42	40.6	45.4
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	4.8	4.7	4.9	4.8	5.9

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Takamanda Biosphere Reserve

Type	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)
Crop failure	5.5	0.18	6	0.31	3.5	0.23	7.5	0.23
Drought	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Heatwave	3	100	5	100	3	100	5	100
River flood	1.5	0.17	1	1.87	1.5	1.15	2.5	1.23
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	0.74	30	0.74	29	0.74	29	0.74

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  Precipitation anomaly in Takamanda National Park

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  Temperature anomaly in Takamanda National Park

External links

WCS Takamanda-Mone Landscape

UNESCO designates 14 new biosphere reserves on World Environment Day

References

Dunn, A., Berg, R., Byler, D., Eben-Ebai, S., Etiendem, D. N., Fotso, R., …, & Williamson, E. A. (2014). Revised Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) 2014–2019. New York: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Wildlife Conservation Society. link

Sunderland-Groves, J. L., Maisels, F., & Ekinde, A. (2003). Surveys of the Cross River gorilla and chimpanzee populations in Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon. Takamanda: the biodiversity of an African rainforest, 8, 129-140. link

Sunderland-Groves, J. L., & Maisels, F. (2003). Large mammals of Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon. Takamanda. The Biodiversity of an African Rainforest, 111-127.

Kiribou, R., Tehoda, P., Chukwu, O., Bempah, G., Kühl, H. S., Ferreira, J., …, & Heinicke, S. (2024). Exposure of African ape sites to climate change impacts. PLOS Climate, 3(2), e0000345. doi:10.1371/journal.pclm.0000345

UNESCO 2026a. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-designates-14-new-biosphere-reserves-world-environment-day

UNESCO 2026b. https://www.unesco.org/en/mab/takamanda-cross-river-gorilla

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2021-11-29