Biodiversity in Central African Forests: an Overview of Knowledge, Main Challenges and Conservation Measures

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Biodiversity in Central African Forests: an Overview of Knowledge, Main Challenges and Conservation Measures CHAPTER 3 BIODIVERSITY IN CENTRAL AFRICAN FORESTS: AN OVERVIEW OF KNOWLEDGE, MAIN CHALLENGES AND CONSERVATION MEASURES Alain Billand CIRAD Introduction As in previous State of the Forest (SOF) reports, the term biodiversity is defined here as “the variability among living organisms in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Central African forests”. This definition includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems (according to Hooper et al., 2005). Such a broad definition of biodiversity neces- sitates great modesty on the part of anyone in- terested in acquiring knowledge of biodiversity Dubois © Grégoire and its sustainable management, including plan- ners and researchers. Actually, there continues to ested area in the Congo Basin. There are no spe- Photo 3.1: Area of swamp in be a significant shortage of scientific data on spe- cific biodiversity conservation measures, apart Gabon cies and highly complex ecological systems. from “ordinary” law, for other areas that have This chapter is divided into two parts: no particular status, calling attention to the remaining 60 % of land where biodiversity is • The first part summarizes what is known about under the greatest threat: the main groups and families of fauna. It sup- plements information contained in previous – These are the areas that are the least docu- State of the Forest reports (SOF 2006 and mented; 2008). These reports placed particular empha- – These areas are at the highest risk for defor- sis on improving expertise in monitoring em- estation; blematic biodiversity as well as its conservation: – These areas may have high economic poten- this concerns a small number of animal species, tial for agricultural expansion or increasing mainly large mammals. Conservation leaders urban sprawl, which may bring important focus on these emblematic species as they are social changes (e.g., urbanization); particularly vulnerable. They are in effect the only species to be systematically hunted to the – These areas lack adapted planning tools. point that they are threatened by extinction. Protected areas are the principal land use We will refer to previous editions of the report units dedicated to biodiversity conservation in to familiarize ourselves with the situation of the Congo Basin. This chapter does not present a elephants, primates and small monkeys, as complete overview of PAs in Central Africa, but well as large antelopes and duikers, especially it does provide recent information on their deve- those in the protected areas (PAs) and forest lopment, in particular as regards to transboun- concessions. Here, they will only be addressed dary protection. In addition, this chapter reviews in terms of general numeric data. the main principles associated with biodiversity • Work on biodiversity conservation in Central conservation in forest concessions. Africa has focused on PAs and, more recently, forest concessions and community forests. To- gether these represent about 40 % of the for- 63 Understanding biodiversity in order to improve management A partial assessment of biodiversity in Central Africa Scientists are a long way from finalizing an ex- has been spent on data collection. This means haustive list of the species present in Central Afri- that the best known collection of bats (Soricidae ca’s forest ecosystems. Additions are constantly and Chiroptera) is in Gabon as opposed to the being made to lists of species, genera and families. Republic of Congo. This is likely due to the fact The OFAC website works to assemble the most that more in-depth data collection has been car- up-to-date knowledge on species, which even at ried out in Gabon. its best only addresses one of three components of It should also be highlighted that scientific biodiversity (diversity between species). understanding rarely captures the knowledge of Quite a lot is known about large and medium- local populations. A species that is labeled “new to sized mammal species, even if the sun-tailed science” can very well be known, named and even monkey (Cercopithecus solatus) was only described collected for different purposes, by local popula- in 1984 and the false potto (Pseudopotto mar- tions living in the forest. A complete inventory of tini), which has been identified from a skeleton local knowledge does not exist. and skull found in Cameroon, still needs to be In order to try and assure accuracy by linking officially confirmed. For a long time the Salongo information presented with reliable sources of monkey (Cercopithecus dryas) was known through data, it was proposed that the State of the Forest two samples; however, a recent study (Lokasola, reports should record and report on specific sites 2008) of four groups of 15-31 individuals has where faunal inventories have been implemented provided more information on their diets and in the main areas of the sub-region. This approach social and territorial behaviors. For small species, permits an overview of areas where properly mea- especially small rodents, shrews and bats, the state sured data exists, including the date and metho- of knowledge is very different: dology implemented, as opposed to areas where • Several species are only known from a single data modeling has been employed using variable sample or a few samples collected in the same mathematical methods. location; The African Mammals Databank (L. Boitani • The aspects that differentiate some species are Institute of Applied Ecology, University of Rome, still badly defined and it is difficult to decide Italy, IUCN) gives an example of modeling whether some forms should be considered as which provides possible species distribution areas separate species or as sub-species; using recognized census points. Based on what • The specific affiliation of some populations is is known about the biological needs (habitats) still a problem; of the animals, this is extrapolated for the entire region, using a probabilistic model (http://www. • The environment and behavior of these species gisbau.uniroma1.it/amd/). An example of the red are largely unknown. river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) distribution area Given this state of understanding, it remains is presented at figure 3.1. It should be noted that very likely that additional species remain to be this method has a certain number of limitations discovered. Furthermore, apart from a few do- which are currently being addressed. In addition, zen species, which have been widely studied and IUCN intends to make another database avai- are generally very symbolic, the geographic dis- lable, this time at a global scale; however, this has tribution of the species described is still largely yet to happen. unknown. Another important characteristic of biodiver- sity knowledge in Central Africa is that existing data depends to a large extent on the effort that 64 Figure 3.1: Example of cartographic modeling of recorded red river hog distribution and area of potential habitat Source : African Mammals Databank Current state of knowledge: from species lists to geographic distribution maps A basic definition of biodiversity focuses on Based on these lists, numbers of species and establishing lists of species, which simply identify genera can be calculated and classified by country, the presence or absence of a species, normally giving an indication of the country’s wealth in from a national perspective. Obtaining informa- biodiversity. Numbers and geographical distri- tion on a scale that is more precise than the natio- bution of some of the largest animal species are nal one requires lengthy research into site surveys presented below. Vande weghe prepared most of and spatial extrapolation for areas where there are the data compilations on biodiversity. These are no inventories. In some cases, being listed is the available on-line on the OFAC/COMIFAC web- result of a single sighting or specimen. Lists do site with a series of tables and distribution maps not therefore necessarily provide an indication of (http://observatoire-comifac.net/, under the hea- species rarity. ding “Biodiversity”). 65 □ Fauna Reptiles Mammals Approximately 460 reptile species have been There are 552 species of mammals in the 10 recorded in the region. These are divided into Central African countries. In descending order, three orders (chelonians, crocodilians and squa- the six biggest orders by number of species are: mates). Chelonians (turtles) belong to 5 families, • Rodentia (rodents) none of which are unique to Africa. The three • Chiroptera (bats) types of crocodilians in the region all belong to • Soricomorpha (shrews) © Carlos de Wasseige de © Carlos the Crocodylidae family, which is also widespread outside Africa. The region’s squamates belong to • Primates (monkeys, galagos, pottos), consis- ting of 56 diurnal and nocturnal species: Photo 3.2: An orange-headed 17 families, of which only one - the Cordylidae - is lizard of the genus Agama, unique to Africa. 3 Lorisidae very common in urban areas The largest number of species in Central Afri- 12 Galagidae of Central Africa ca has been recorded in the Democratic Republic 37 Cercopithecidae of Congo (DRC). Of the 302 species that have 4 non human Hominidae been confirmed in DRC, 27 are endemic. This abundance is explained by the very large size of • Cetartiodactyla (hippopotamuses, whales, the country and the variety of its habitats. Propor- dolphins, suidae, giraffes, bovidae). There are tionately, Cameroon, which is five times smaller 48 known species in the 10 Central African than DRC, has the highest abundance and speci- countries: fic endemics, with 249 confirmed species, no less 2 Giraffidae than 22 of which are endemic. This abundance 1 Hippopotamidae can be explained by the wide variety of habitats, 1 Tragulidae ranging from high mountain ranges (over 3,000 meters in altitude) to the sea and from the Sahel 4 Suidae desert to dense moist forests. 40 Bovidae • Carnivora (cats, panthers, mongooses, jac- kals…). There are 41 known species of terres- © Grégoire Dubois © Grégoire Birds trial carnivores in Central Africa: For many bird families, DRC has the largest Photo 3.3: Nile monitor number of species.
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