Mpameso Forest Reserve

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Mpameso Forest Reserve.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 329.94 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are logging, poaching and bush fires.
• Conservation activities have focused on employment of forest guards to protect the area.

Site characteristics

Mpameso is a gazetted Forest Reserve consisting of semi-deciduous forest near Goaso in the Ahafo Region. The forest is in the middle and western part of Ghana. The forest is Adjacent to Bia Shelterbelt Forest Reserve.The reserve is currently under concession (Ofori-Amanfo, R., pers. obs. 2023).

Table 1. Basic site information for Mpameso Forest Reserve

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	329.94 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.858302 , Lon: -2.641882
Type of site	Protected area (Forest Reserve)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest
Type of governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

Local hunters and farmers claim that chimpanzees are present in the forest (Ofori-Amanfo, R., pers. obs. 2023).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Mpameso 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
Pan troglodytes verus						Mpameso Forest Reserve

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

The threats present in the reserve include poaching, illegal logging and occasional fires (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Mpameso Forest Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023	Ongoing (2023)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Low (up to 30% of population affected)	Illegal logging (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
7 Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Intermittent bushfires (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)

Threats

Conservation activities

The entire area is under concession and there are concession guards engaged to protect the area. Forest guards and officers monitor the forest. Periodic community consultations are also held (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Mpameso Forest Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime	2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Forestry Commission staff periodically patrol the forest and the timber contractors have engaged some guards to protect the forest against illegal logging (Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023).		Ongoing (2023)
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat			2023-Ongoing (2026)

Conservation activities

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Mpameso Forest Reserve

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
2 Resources and capacity	2.5 Lack of equipment/transportation	Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023
2 Resources and capacity	2.2 Lack of staff	Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023
2 Resources and capacity	2.3 General lack of funding	Ofori-Amanfo pers. obs. 2023

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Mpameso Forest Reserve

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

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Mpameso Forest Reserve

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

Behaviours

References

Page created by: Richard Ofori-Amanfo Date: 2023-11-09