Afi River Forest Reserve: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 05:28, 21 April 2026
West Africa > Nigeria > Afi River Forest Reserve
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Summary
- Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) & Cross river gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) are present in Afi River Forest Reserve.
- The population sizes are unknown.
- The great ape population trend is unknown.
Site characteristics
Table 1. Basic site information for Afi River Forest Reserve
| Species | Pan troglodytes ellioti, Gorilla gorilla diehli |
| Area | 312 km² |
| Coordinates | Lat: 6.198033916291155 , Lon: 8.97788933605928 |
| Type of site | Protected area (Forest Reserve) |
| Habitat types | Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest |
| Type of governance | Governance by government |
Types of sites Governance types Habitat types
Ape status
Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Afi River Forest 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 | 2008 | Absent | Afi River Forest Reserve | Reconnaissance walk | Imong 2008 | ||||||
| Pan troglodytes ellioti | 2008 | Absent | Afi River Forest Reserve | Reconnaissance walk | Imong 2008 |
Sampling methods Analytical frameworks
Threats
Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Afi River Forest Reserve
| Category | Specific threats | Threat level | Description | Year of threat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Agriculture & aquaculture | 2.1.2 Small-holder farming | High (more than 70% of population affected) | From a survey done in 2008, 244 farms were observed. Farm sizes varied ranging from as small as 15 m² to as large as ten hectares (Imong & Wood 2008). | Ongoing (2008) |
| 4 Transportation & service corridors | 4.1 Roads & railroads | High (more than 70% of population affected) | Transportation and service corridors in some of the areas of the reserve have been seen. It is slow but with significant deterioration (BirdLife International. 2024). The Ikom-Obudu highway passes through the Afi River Forest Reserve that acts as a corridor connecting Mbe Mountain and Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (Obeten et al. 2024). | Ongoing (2024) |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Medium (30-70% of population affected) | Hunting signs were recorded at 0.66 per km in a survey done in 2008. Few hunting trails and hunters were encountered during the survey. The reasons given that could explain the few encounters could be that levels of wildlife abundance is so low, and that hunting was done mostly at night when the survey team did not collect data (Imong & Wood 2008). Despite the numerous conservation efforts in the Afi, Mbe, and Okwango areas poaching activities are still being done because the income made from poaching is much better than the alternative provided for hunters (Abere et al. 2016). | 2008-Ongoing (2016) |
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting | High (more than 70% of population affected) | Evidence of past and ongoing logging was encountered throughout one of the surveys conducted. A total of 3,671 pieces of timber were counted during the survey (Imong & Wood 2008)
Reporters visited in August 2021 and observed several trucks loading logged timber day and night in and near ARFR. Due to the high demand for timber products especially in urban areas, deforestation has ravaged many areas of the reserve (Orji, S. 2021). |
2008-Ongoing (2021) |
| 7 Natural system modifications | 7.1 Fire & fire suppression | High (more than 70% of population affected) | Large areas have been subject to dry-season bush fires, including a severe one in 1989 (BirdLife International. 2024). In 2021 ARFR experienced fires according to data that was provided by NASA. This was the highest fire activity in years (Orji, S. 2021). | 1989, 2002, 2021 |
| 8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | 8.4 Pathogens | Low (up to 30% of population affected) | With humans, domesticated animals and gorillas living close together due to encroachment, there is a high risk of pathogens and parasites spreading to the gorillas. The small size of the Cross River gorilla populations makes them extremely vulnerable to the effects of introduced pathogens, and virulent infections could effectively eliminate them (Oates et.al 2007). | Ongoing (2007) |
Conservation activities
Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Afi River Forest Reserve
| Category | Specific activity | Description | Implementing organization(s) | Year of activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Counter-wildlife crime | 2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols | They do patrols but they haven't been as effective due to lack of sufficient funding for rangers that ought to be on patrols and lack of mobility (vehicles to conduct these patrols effectively). There is no great support from the government either (Orji, S. 2021). | Cross River State Forestry Commission | Ongoing (2021) |
| 4 Education & awareness | 4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use | WCS implements conservation education activities to control the forest behavior of people in the communities in the cross-river state. Evaluation (Obeten et al. 2024) has shown that the more environmental awareness is for the community, the more they tend to promote forest conservation. | WCS Nigeria | Ongoing (2024) |
| 5 Protection & restoration | 5.10 Use prescribed burning within the context of home range size and use | The government and NGOs have implemented measures to reduce logging and restrict bush burning in rural communities (Obeten et al. 2024). | Cross River Government and WCS Nigeria | Ongoing (2024) |
Challenges
Table 5. Challenges reported for Afi River Forest Reserve
| Challenges | Specific challenges | Source | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Site management | 1.1 Need for improved leadership | Imong & Wood 2008 | Ongoing (2008) |
| 1 Site management | 1.4 Conflict on land tenure | Orji 2021 | Ongoing (2021) |
| 2 Resources and capacity | 2.2 Lack of staff | Edet et al. 2017 | Ongoing (2021) |
| 2 Resources and capacity | 2.4 Lack of continuous/long-term funding | Orji 2021 | Ongoing (2021) |
| 4 Institutional support | 4.1 Lack of law enforcement | Imong & Wood 2008 | Ongoing (2008) |
| 4 Institutional support | 4.2 Lack of government support | Orji 2021 | Ongoing (2021) |
Enablers
Research activities
Documented behaviours
Table 7. Behaviours documented for Afi River Forest Reserve
| Category | Behavior | Observation type | Prevalence | Observation dates | Source | Habituation | Species | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not reported |
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. subm. 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 (see Kiribou et al. subm. for details).
Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Afi River Forest 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] | 26.6 | 27.7 | 27.5 | 27.8 | 28.9 |
| Annual precipitation [mm] | 2070 | 2193 | 2214 | 2187 | 2172 |
| Max no. consecutive dry days (per year) | 40.9 | 41.8 | 44.5 | 43 | 48.4 |
| No. days with heavy precipitation (per year) | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 6.6 |
Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Afi River Forest 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 | 0.73 | 4.5 | 0.87 | 3 | 1.15 | 9.5 | 1.31 |
| Drought | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heatwave | 7 | 100 | 7 | 100 | 4 | 100 | 6.5 | 100 |
| River flood | 2 | 5.48 | 2.5 | 6.43 | 2 | 4.39 | 3 | 5.65 |
| Tropical cyclone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wildfire | 30 | 0.61 | 30 | 0.61 | 29 | 0.59 | 29 | 0.62 |
External links
References
Imong, I and Wood, K.L (2008). Unpublished Report on Wildlife and Habitat Assessment Survey of the Afi River Forest Reserve, Cross River State, Nigeria. Cross River State Forestry Commission, Wildlife Conservation Society, Pandrillus, Fauna and Flora International, and Nigerian Conservation Foundation. Abo, Nigeria.
Oates, J.F., Sunderland-Groves, J., Bergl, R.A., Dunn, A., Nicholas, N., Takang, E., Imong, I., & Fotso, R. 2007. Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). IUCN Primate Specialist Group/Conservation International, Washington D.C.
Aigbe, H.I., Akindele, S.O., Onyekwelu, J.C. (2014). Tree Species Diversity And Density Pattern In Afi River Forest Reserve, Nigeria. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research. 3. 178-185.
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Afi River Forest Reserve (Nigeria). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/afi-river-forest-reserve-iba-nigeria on 28/11/2024.
Abere, S., Lateef, F. and Lameed, G. (2016) Assessment of Hunters and Other Rate of Illegal Activities in Afi-Mbe-Okwango Division, Cross River State, Nigeria. Natural Resources, 7, 287-294. doi: 10.4236/nr.2016.75025.
Orji, S. (2021). Deforestation soars in Nigeria’s gorilla habitat: ‘We are running out of time. Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/deforestation-soars-in-nigerias-gorilla-habitat-we-are-running-out-of-time/ on 28/11/2024.
Edet, D., Nchor, A., and Ekpe, A. (2017). Appraisal of Personnel Strength and Quality in Cross River State Forestry Commission, Cross River State, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Agriculture, Food and Environment. 13. 179-185.
Orji, S. (2023). Elephants invade as habitat loss soars in Nigerian forest reserve. Mongabay.
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/elephants-invade-as-habitat-loss-soars-in-nigerian-forest-reserve/ on 30/11/2024.
Okafor, N. (2024). Conservation of the Endangered Grey Parrot and Birds of Conservation Concern in Afi River Forest Reserve, Nigeria: Population Status and Conservation Campaign. The Rufford Foundation.
Obeten, U. B., Ayua, A. B., Aneshie, N. L., Etta, A. C., Obun, E. M., Ojong, A. A., ... & Onnoghen, U. N. (2024). Wildlife conservation society’s activities and biodiversity conservation in protected areas in cross river state, Nigeria. Journal for Nature Conservation, 78, 126575.
Page created by: Priscilla Stanley Shao Date: 2024-11-28 08:27:00