Lomami National Park

Central Africa > Democratic Republic of the Congo > Lomami National Park

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Summary

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• Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are present in Lomami National Park.
• It has been estimated that 9,500 individuals occur in the park and its buffer area.
• The bonobo population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 8,879 km².
• Key threats to bonobos are hunting and habitat loss due to expansion of subsistence farming.
• Conservation activities have focused on biomonitoring, anti-poaching patrols, and community involvement.

Site characteristics

Lomami National Park is situated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, between the rivers Tshuapa, Lomami, and Lualaba (FZS). The park was established in 2016, and it covers an area of nearly 9,000 km² and has a buffer zone of approximately 20,000 km². The region is covered by dense tropical rainforests, swamp forests and savannas (Batumike et al. 2020). The park is home to several endangered and rare or endemic species, including bonobos, forest elephants, giant pangolins, hippos, okapis, Congo peafowl, the recently discovered dryas monkey, and the Lesula monkey, discovered in the park in 2012 (Batumike et al. 2020, FZS).

Table 1. Basic site information for Lomami National Park

Species	Pan paniscus
Area	8,879 km²
Coordinates	Lat: -1.329433 , Lon: 25.069388
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical swamp forest
Type of governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

The Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) reported an estimated population of 9,500 individuals (5,800–13,700) in Lomami, including the surrounding buffer zone (IUCN & ICCN 2012).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Lomami National Park

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						Lomami National Park

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Based on village surveys around the park, there is a misconception about hunting in the buffer zone, as villagers often believe that they are allowed to hunt any species in the buffer zone, including bonobos (Batumike et al. 2020).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Lomami National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present (unknown severity)	Small-scale subsistence agriculture (cassava, maize and rice) (Batumike et al. 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Hunting for subsistence, including bonobos and other species of conservation concern (Batumike et al. 2020).	Ongoing (2020)

Threats

Conservation activities

In 2007, the first team set out to explore and document the region in and around the park. The data collected have been used to improve the protection of the park and gain a better understanding of the distribution of different species (FZS). In 2021, the ICCN and Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) signed a co-management agreement, which made FZS's Lomami Project leader the director of Lomami National Park.

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Lomami National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Regular patrols conducted jointly by TL2 project staff (named after the rivers in the project area, Tshuapa, Lomami, and Lualaba) and Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) rangers. During patrols, data on species diversity and distribution are also collected, as well as on the occurrence of illegal activities (FZS).	African Wildlife Foundation, Antwerp Zoo Foundation, ICCN	Ongoing (2022)
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site was declared a National Park in 2016.		2016-Ongoing (2026)
7 Economic & other incentives	7.1 Provide monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., REDD, alternative income, employment)	The Lomami Conservation Project offers sustainable income opportunities and helps involve the communities in the park development (FZS).		Ongoing (2022)

Conservation activities

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Lomami National Park

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Lomami National Park

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

Enablers

Research activities

In 2012, a new species of monkey, Cercopithecus lomamiensis, was discovered on the left bank of the Lomami River (FZS). The park harbours a remarkable diversity of mammals, and is also very rich in plant species- one new species of plant has also been found here, Xenostegia lomamiensis (FZS).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Lomami National Park

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 Lomami National Park

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]	25.2	26.4	26.2	26.6	27.7
Annual precipitation [mm]	1856	1870	1866	1832	1957
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	9.8	15	15	17.4	13.8
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	6.9	9.6	8.5	9.9	12

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Lomami National Park

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	15.5	0	13.5	0	16.5	0.01	28.5	0
Drought	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Heatwave	10	46.98	5	52.88	10.5	59.58	23	59.01
River flood	5	1.02	5.25	1.38	5	1.14	7.25	0.88
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	0.47	30	0.45	29	0.58	29	0.43

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  Precipitation anomaly in Lomami National Park

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  Temperature anomaly in Lomami National Park

References

Batumike, R., Imani, G., Urom, C., & Cuni-Sanchez, A. (2021). Bushmeat hunting around Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Oryx, 55(3), 421-431. doi:10.1017/S0030605319001017

Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS). (n.d.). Lomami National Park. Online: https://fzs.org/en/projects/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/lomami-national-park/

IUCN, & ICCN (2012). Bonobo (Pan paniscus): Conservation Strategy 2012–2022. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group & Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature. link

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

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2022-03-25