Identifying priority areas for the conservation of antelopes in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, using the complementarity approach D AVID B RUGIÈRE Abstract The Republic of Guinea has one of the highest harbours c. 50% of the total species of African antelope diversities of mammal species in West Africa. However, its (East, 1999) and, because of a high level of habitat degra- protected area network is poorly developed and little dation, habitat conversion to land crops, encroachment by quantitative information has been available to help guide livestock and hunting pressure, antelope populations are national conservation strategies. I therefore examined the more threatened in this region than elsewhere in Africa distribution of antelopes and related species (families (East, 1990, 1999). Thirteen of the 15 West African countries Bovidae and Tragulidae) across 17 sites, including four have lost at least one (and up to four) antelope species protected areas, to determine how the existing protected within the last 50 years (East, 1990). Conservation of area network contributes to the conservation of antelope antelope populations in West Africa is therefore a species and where action should best be focused for the continental priority (East, 1999). The Republic of Guinea conservation of this group. A total of 21 species of antelope (hereafter Guinea) is one of the largest West African have been recorded in the 17 sites; four of these species are countries but its mammalian fauna is one of the least known absent from the four protected areas. An iterative heuristic (Barnett & Prangley, 1997). Despite recent improvement in complementarity approach was used to determine an this knowledge (e.g. Brugière et al., 2005; Granier & irreplaceability index, which accounts for both species Kourouma, 2009) the status of antelopes in Guinea remains richness and species rarity, for each of the sites. The Kankan poorly known. The protected area network in Guinea is Faunal Reserve and Nimba Strict Nature Reserve have the underdeveloped and excludes a large array of habitats and second and fourth highest irreplaceability indices, respect- species (Brugière & Kormos, 2009). The development of a ively. The two other protected areas have moderate to very representative protected area network is regarded as a low irreplaceability indices, showing that they protect priority by national authorities (IUCN, 2008). To provide species widespread throughout the 17 sites. The Ziama key information on the most important sites for antelope Forest has the highest index (because it contains a high conservation in Guinea I assess how the present protected number of species and of globally threatened species), area network contributes to the conservation of the highlighting the significance of this site. I discuss the country’s antelope species and identify priority areas for importance of the other sites and the threats affecting conservation of these antelopes based on complementarity antelopes in Guinea, and make recommendations to principles. improve the study and conservation of antelope species in the country. Study area Keywords Antelopes, Bovidae, Republic of Guinea, irre- 2 placeability index, priority sites, Tragulidae, ungulates The Republic of Guinea covers 245,857 km from its western edge on the Atlantic coast south-eastwards in an arc into the interior of West Africa (Fig. 1). The country has five Introduction ecoregions: Western Guinean Lowland Forest in the south, Guinean Montane Forest along the mountainous ranges in ub-Saharan Africa supports .70 species of antelope, the south and centre, Mangroves along the coast, Guinean Sa much greater diversity than that of any other group Forest–Savanna Mosaic in the centre, and West Sudanian of medium- to large-sized mammal species (East, 1999). Savanna in the north (Burgess et al., 2004). Human −2 Antelope communities in Africa play a key role in ecosystem population density is relatively high (38.5 km ; World functioning, both in the savannah and forest biomes, and Atlas, 2010). The Western Guinean Lowland Forest is the are important for rural human communities, in particular as most threatened ecoregion in the country (Burgess et al., a source of bushmeat (Vbra & Schaller, 2000). West Africa 2004). Because of its large array of habitats, diversity in Guinea is high: on a species-per-area basis it has one of the – highest diversities of mammals in West Africa (Barnett & DAVID BRUGIÈRE BRLI SECA Consulting company, 1105 Avenue Pierre 1997 Mendes-France, 30001 Nîmes Cedex 5, France. E-mail [email protected] Prangley, ). Received 12 October 2010. Revision requested 16 December 2010. Until recently there have been few studies of the Accepted 10 February 2011. antelopes of Guinea. Based on an overview of literature © 2012 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 46(2), 253–259 doi:10.1017/S0030605311000391 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.229, on 29 Sep 2021 at 17:02:57, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000391 254 D. Brugie` re 14°00 W 10°00 W Senegal 17 Guinea Bissau 14 Mali 12°00 N 5 12 16 6 15 GUINEA 8 2 10 11 Sierra Leone 1 13 N 9 50 km FIG. 1 Guinea, showing the 08°00 N 17 1 Existing protected areas 3 4 7 sites (see Table for names Liberia Ivory and further details) for which Other sites Coast antelope diversity was assessed. (including grey literature) for 1946–1996 Barnett & Prangley Parks, Kankan Faunal Reserve, Nimba Strict Nature (1997) proposed a preliminary checklist for the mammals of Reserve) and nine sites are Classified Forests (forests Guinea that included 23 species of Bovidae (22 species of managed mainly for the production of timber). Three sites antelopes including one species extinct in Guinea, the have no legal status but two of these (Bakoy and Kogon) korrigum Damiliscus lunatus, plus the buffalo Syncerus have been proposed as components of transboundary caffer nanus) and one species of Tragulidae. When the protected areas (IUCN, 2008). The management of most Antelope Global Survey and Action Plan for West and of these 17 sites has been supported in recent years by Central African countries was published (Sournia et al., natural resource management projects funded by inter- 1990) Guinea was the only country of 22 for which no national donors. The species lists used come from detailed species account was available. This report listed a biodiversity inventories carried out in the framework of total of 18 species of antelopes occurring in Guinea these projects. We focus on species of Bovidae and (including the recently extinct korrigum). Between 2000 Tragulidae, hereafter referred to as antelopes. Species and 2010, although no country wide survey of the status of taxonomy follows Grubb (2005). antelopes was conducted, biodiversity surveys implemented in the framework of conservation projects were carried out at several sites (Pelosi, 2000; Ziegler et al., 2002; Brugière Data analysis 2005 2007 et al., ; Wright et al., a) and provide data of Priority areas for the conservation of antelope species were antelope occurrence. identified using complementarity principles. Analyses of complementarity use an iterative approach that maximizes Method unrepresented species among the species occurring in a set of study sites (Margules & Sharkar, 2007). This allows Selection of areas calculation of an irreplaceability index for each study site. The index accounts for both species richness and species A bibliographical review of sites with data available on rarity (i.e. species found in a small number of study sites). biodiversity was undertaken and 17 sites were selected for Based on the formula initially proposed by Hartley et al. inclusion in the analysis based on the availability of data on (2007) and modified here to take account of the Red List the occurrence of antelope species. These sites are status of the species, the irreplaceability index (IR)was distributed throughout the country and cover four of its calculated from: fi 1 ve ecoregions (Fig. ; no site with data on antelope t 1 × Rsp occurrence was found in the Mangroves ecoregion). Four IRs = Nsp sites are protected areas (Haut Niger and Badiar National i=1 © 2012 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 46(2), 253–259 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.229, on 29 Sep 2021 at 17:02:57, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000391 Antelopes in Guinea 255 where s is a study site, N the number of study sites where Wilson, 1990, in Barnett & Prangley, 1997). The biodiversity species sp is found, t the total number of species considered of these forests was intensively studied during 1991–1994 in the analysis, and R the Red List status of species sp. The (Butzler, 1994) and this duiker species was not observed, Red List status refers to the 2009 IUCN Red List category, suggesting that the species has gone extinct in these areas, assigned a score ranging from 5 to 1, with 5 for the most that it has been overlooked because of an identification threatened species (Critically Endangered) and 1 for the problem (Ogilby’s duiker can be confused with the bay Least Concern category. The higher the index, the higher the duiker Cephalophus dorsalis), or that its early mention in conservation significance of the study site. these two forests was in error. The second missing species, the red-fronted gazelle Gazella rufifrons was included in the national checklist only on the basis of its mention on the Results official list of protected species in Guinea. As there are no historical records of the species its occurrence in Guinea is A total of 21 species of antelopes was recorded in the 17 study unlikely. Our study confirms the occurrence in Guinea of sites (Table 1).