Ejagham Forest Reserve
Central Africa > Cameroon > Ejagham Forest Reserve
Français | Português | Español | Bahasa Indonesia | Melayu
Summary
- Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) are present in Ejagham Forest Reserve.
- The population size is unknown.
- The population trend is unknown.
- The site has a total size of 748.5 km².
- Key threats include poaching.
- Conservation activities are not documented.
Site characteristics
Officially known as the Ejagham Council Forest Reserve, the site is contiguous with the northern boundary of Korup National Park and also shares a border with the Oban division of the Cross River National Park in Nigeria. The reserve is part of the proposed CRIKOT World Heritage Site, which encompasses protected areas in Nigeria and Cameroon, including Korup National Park, Cross River National Park, Takamanda National Park, Mbe Mountains and Mone River Forest Reserve. The region holds the richest butterfly diversity in Africa with over 1,000 lowland forest species. The area is also a stronghold for regionally endemic primates and contains an extremely high diversity of plants, reptiles, and amphibians (UNESCO).
Table 1. Basic site information for Ejagham Forest Reserve
| Species | Pan troglodytes ellioti |
| Area | 748.5 km² |
| Coordinates | Lat: 5.639550 , Lon: 8.961072 |
| 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
Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Ejagham 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 ellioti | 2002-2004 | 0.14 | Ejagham Forest Reserve | Reconnaissance walk | Forboseh, Sunderland & Eno-Nku 2007 | ||||||
| Gorilla gorilla diehli | 2002-2004 | 0 | Ejagham Forest Reserve | Reconnaissance walk | Forboseh, Sunderland & Eno-Nku 2007 |
Sampling methods Analytical frameworks
Threats
Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Ejagham Forest Reserve
| Category | Specific threats | Threat level | Description | Year of threat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Present (unknown severity) | Poaching for bushmeat trade (Forboseh, Sunderland & Eno-Nku 2007). | Ongoing (2007) |
Conservation activities
The site is part of the proposed Cross River-Korup Takamanda (CRIKOT) National Parks World Heritage Site, which is in the tentative list since 2020 (UNESCO).
Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Ejagham Forest Reserve
| Category | Specific activity | Description | Implementing organization(s) | Year of activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Protection & restoration | 5.2 Legally protect ape habitat | 1934-Ongoing (2026) |
Challenges
Table 5. Challenges reported for Ejagham Forest Reserve
| Challenges | Specific challenges | Source | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not reported |
Enablers
Table 6. Enablers reported for Ejagham 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 |
Research activities
Documented behaviours
Table 7. Behaviours documented for Ejagham 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. (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 Ejagham 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] | 25.9 | 27 | 26.9 | 27 | 28.2 |
| Annual precipitation [mm] | 2425 | 2500 | 2557 | 2551 | 2525 |
| Max no. consecutive dry days (per year) | 35.4 | 31.5 | 34 | 27.9 | 32.8 |
| No. days with heavy precipitation (per year) | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5 | 5.4 | 5.9 |
Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Ejagham 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 | 7 | 0.3 | 6 | 0.23 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 7.5 | 0.35 |
| Drought | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heatwave | 7.5 | 100 | 8.5 | 100 | 6.5 | 100 | 9.5 | 100 |
| River flood | 1.5 | 0.73 | 1 | 3.76 | 2.75 | 2.84 | 3 | 2.68 |
| Tropical cyclone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wildfire | 30 | 0.67 | 30 | 0.69 | 29 | 0.67 | 29 | 0.71 |
-
Precipitation anomaly in Ejagham Forest Reserve -
Temperature anomaly in Ejagham Forest Reserve
External links
References
Forboseh, P. F., Sunderland, T. C. H., & Eno-Nku, M. (2007). Priority setting for conservation in south-west Cameroon based on large mammal surveys. Oryx, 41(2), 255-262. doi:10.1017/s0030605307001743
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: 2023-06-01