AFRICA's FIRST Was Conducted by Irene Manley

CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL

NONTIMBER FOREST PRODUCT 2 STUDY

WILDLIFE SPECIALIST REPORTS: 3 BIRDS, SMALL MAMMALS, ELEPHANTS

CLIPPINGS: 4 NEWS AND UPDATES 6 UPDATES Jerry Punguse. Chief Officer of the .Ghana Department of Wildlife. on the canopy walkway at Kakum National Park.

Volwne II • N° 1 July 1995 ,

IfMOIIf ~'Nt;C documents activities in and around Kakum National Park, Ghana, associated with Conservation International's component of the US AID-funded Natural Resource Conservation and Historic Preservation Project.

AFRICA'S FIRST was conducted by Irene Manley. Company showed its support for the Since its opening to the public on walkway by donating expedition CANOPY W ALKWAY April 22, the walkway has attracted clothing to the construction crew, and 5,880 tourists and generated over both British Airways and Continen I7y Debra Sohm $270 a week. It is estimated that at tal Airlines donated cargo space. he only canopy walkway on the the current level of fees and visitation The official opening on Earth Day T African continent was completed in the walkway will produce an annual was attended by Ministers of the Kakum National Park on March 4th of revenue of over $14,000. Ghanaian government, the US am this year. Designed for. use by both tour The walkway is the product of ex bassador, and the director of US AID/ ists and researchers, the 3 SO-meter bridge tensive collaboration between the Ghana., This event attracted substan connects seven treetops in the Kakum designer and the builders. Dr. mar tial media attention, including a Forest via. a system constructed of rope, Muul designed the walkway and chose Ghana Broadcasting Corporation ladders, wooden planks and'safety net the·site. The leaders of the construc story that was also aired as part oi ting. Bird watchers and entomologists tion team, J~hnKelson and Tom CNN's World Report. C ..traversing the span have sighted species Ainsworth, took ~e plans for the that are difficult or rare to see at ground walkway and adapted them to Kakum. The chart on page 5 details the dra level. The first research on the walkway, They were as'sisted by Ghanaian car matic increase in visitors to Kahtm. focussing on dung beetles in the canopy, penters and climbers. The Patagonia NONTIMBER FOR 'ST P RODUCT STUDY by Brent Bailey ontimber Forest Produ .s and Conservation: An Ass sment from the Kakum Conservatic Area, Ghana was submitted to the ]SAID Ghana Mission in April. B sed on field work conducted during he first part of 1994, the study asse ses the j ~xtentandvalue of Nontimbe··Forest Products (NTFPs) through in rviews. ] with SOO households. Resu .s from the study will be used to sha e man ! agement practices in Kakum and en hance the park's village outre ch pro- grams. . A team of 8 Ghanaians from uni side of the F rk. versities in Cape Coast and Legon worked with project director Brent Virtu all. all farmers complain of lating climate and rainfall. and its Bailey to develop questionnaires, 10- crop dama e by animals, but those importance as a source of drink~ng .cate villages surrounding the 'park, with small acreages are at greater wat~~,villagers feel the park pro and meet with village elders to obtain risk of fo od insufficiencies when vides them with benefits. Further permission to conduct surveys in their raided by animals. Compounding more, many hope that Kakum's de communities. During a two-month their frustr;.tion of crop loss is a ban velopment as a tourist destination will period, the team worked from dawn on trapping animals on their farms, stimulate local. economies and bring to dark, often following foot path.. or hunt~ngvithin two kilometers of revenues to the local level. between villages, and at times fording the park boundary. The establishment The report concludes with a brief rain-swollen streams to reach remote of Kakum, and its ban on huntJng, section of recommendations based on. communities. appears to have benefitted previousl y respondents! concerns. Some are al Interviews yielded valuable infor overhunted wildlife populations. But ready being implemented by the park: mation about the composition of lo the wildlife rebound has spilled over staff and Conservation International. onto adjacent agricultural lands, and cal villages. Over SO percent of the Village-based rearing of grasscutters, heads of households are not from the creaJed difficulties for local residents. an abundant rodent highly prized for As the human population grows its meat, is being tested in two of the villages iii which they live, th01~gh and forested areas outside the reserve mos~come from the Central Region, local villages. A tourism plan that where·Kakum is located. Attracted to decrease, Kakum increases in impor defines the involvement ofvillages in the Kakum area to farm cocoa, most tance as a source ofNTFPs including the tourism trade is under develop bushmeat. Raphia palm fron~sfor ment. And creation of additional visi ".!lon-native" resident~send money back to their homes, and hope one roof thatch, cane for basket weaving, tors facilities in key villages is being day to return to their villages of ori and others. Many of these products considered. gm. This transfer of investment prof could be sold to generate extra house . Ultimately, Kakum's success will its out of the Kakum area limits the hold income. But they also frequently rely on strategies that generate rev success of community-based invest are used or consumed by households, .enue for effective management, share ment in schools and other village de eliminating the need to purchase these benefits wjth local communities, and velopment. goods in markets. Seventy-eight per reduce pressures on park resources. Until its esta11lishment as a park, cent of households report that since The report advocates broad-based col Kakum was a forest reserve for over park establishment, they had begun laboration among development and SO years. Outside the reserve, large to purchase goods which previously natural resource agencies active in patches of forest were· gradually were available for "free" from the th~Kakum vicinity to support biodi cleared, spurred by competition {or forest. Thus their cash needs have versity conservation and tourism, a land for cultivation of cocoa, oil palm, increased, while cash-earning oppor strong vittage-outreach program for citrus, and other cash crops. In 1994, tunities have decreased. the park, and adoption of a long farms around the park averaged ten Despite these difficulties. howev'er, range goal of fore~tgrowth for the acres in size; almost .a third worked many villagers see value in the park. region outside the boundaries of Citing the role of the forest in regu- Kakum. D

2 from 116 bird species have been made. 'n order to develop 1 planned .:rop , WILDLIFE This d~tarepresents a core of record barrier. ings from which the final cuts for the Nchanji observed that many of the SP ECIALIST Kakum sound track-will be 'chosen. crops are destroyed near maturity and The sound track will be produced by recommended a study on crop harvest R EPORTS the Library of Natural Sounds at and a storage program. Other recom Cornell University. and distributed mendations include further study of through the Ghana Wildlife Depart land tenure, the introduction of agro BIRD SURVEY W ORK ment an.d Conservation International. forestry techniques, and experimen David C. Mayer It should be available next year. Some tation with chemical deterrents cur of the bird recordings have already rently being useo elsewhere in Af In late Apri11994, I began an eight been used in the production of a song rica. C month bird survey to produce a check about the destruction of.rainforests list of the birds of Kakum National in Ghana. Anthony Nchanji is with the Wi/d Park and Assin Attandanso Resource . One of the key components of the life Conservation Society - Cameroon Reserve. training program is to build the ca Biodiversity Project. About 275 bird species have been pacity of junior staff to lead bird tour reported from Kakum (179 con groups in Kakum. Many of the junior firmed), with an additional 70 staff already have a detaiied knowi SMALL MAMMALSURVEY "possibles." This brings the hypo edge of the local names, behavior, thetical list to a total of 345 species. and vocalizations of the fauna of W ORK The final bird lisnor Kakum will be Kakum. However, language remains Mari Oniland compiied into an annotated checklist a problem. Given the large time com- to be published as a supplement to , mitment for a comprehensive train- Professor Sam Yeboah completed Malimbus, the Journal of the West ing program in English, a different" a seven-month survey of small mam African Ornithological Society. This method W'as chosen. A key contain- - -mals and herpetofauna in December list will include a summary of the , ing the local Fanti or Twi name of of 1994. His report documents the status of aU birds recorded from , birds with a cross-reference to the capture of 178 individuals represent Kakum National Park and ' Assin English, French, and German names ing 16 species of small terrestrial Attandanso Resource Reserve, as well 'will be produced. These will be used mammals and sightings of small as sections on where to find birds and for training park staff and to help mammals, amphibia and reptiles. tips for birders. , tourists find names in their own lan- According to Dr. Yeboah's report, - Among the birds found in Kakum guages of birds identified by their the Obengkrom area is the richest in are two species that are vulnerable or guides. C -sm~l1terrestrial mammals and threatened with extinction through-, snakes--especially black cobras- out most of West Africa. These are David Moyer is an 'ornithologist compared to the Mfuom and the White-breasted Gufneafowl and ihdependent contractor who lives Antwikwaa areas. Shannon's diver (Agelastes meleagrides) and Yellow near [ringa, Tanzania. sity indices for small terrestrial mam ~als throated Olive Greenbul (Crinig~r' ranged from, 1.14 to 3.08 olivaceus). The guineafo'Wl is very (~impson'sindex; 0/45 to 0.84) for rare in Kakum due to past hunting ELEPHANT SURVEY WORK the three study areas. Population dell pressure, but the greenbul is rela Mari Omland sity 'for small rodents ranged from tively common. If illegal hunting can 120 to 238 animals per ha. Distribu be contained at Kakum, then the Anthony Chifu Nchanji was con tion of the invasive weed, Kakum/Assin Attandanso forests rep . tracted to survey elephant crop dam Chromolaena oderata. was found to resent a very important area for the , age around Kakum, as an add-on to influence the species diversity of long-term survival of the White his collaborative work in Ghana with small terrestrial mammals in forest breasted Guineafowl. 01'. Richard Barnes. Nchanji's June clearings. Yeboah caught only three Other tasks included producing a 1994 observations reveal that el species of fruit bats and concluded cassette tape of forest sounds (espe ephant crop-raiding around Kakum that insectivorous bats were poorly cially vocalizations of birds and mam is directly related to distance bet~eenrepresented. No statistical analysis mals), training of park staff to better the park boundary and farms. In ad was made on the data on reptiles and, enable them to meet the needs and ditil?n, some of the crops attract the amphibia because the, information, expectations of specialty bird tour elephants out of the forest and into nearly all of which was obtained from ists, producing several magazine and the farms. Non-target crops that are sightings, was not standardized. IJ journal articles on Kakum birds for cultivated along with targeted crops publicity, and gathering base-line are damaged as a result. Nchanji rec Sam Yeboah is with the Depart ecological data. ommends a long-term study of crop ment of Zoology at the Universtiy of Over 17 hours of sound recordings combination and separation on farms Cape Coast.

3 CLIPPINGS MOVING ON ••• In February Makolm Stark completed his two-year con tract as the Conservation Advisor to Kakum National Park. We take this opportunity to thank Malcoim for his tenacious efforts to facilitate the USAID-funded pro'ect Tom Lamb was in Ghana this past December to photo at Kakum National Park. In addition to adVising the graph, PANAFEST, the opening of the Smithsonian Senior Staff of Kakum, Malcolm facilitated the work of Institution'S exhibit in Cape Coast castle, and the canopy specialists connected with 'the project and coordinated walkway. Postcards have, been produced for sale in material collection for the canopy walkway md othe. Ghana using Tom Lamb's, Bob Burch's and John infrastructure development. Malcolm' s wife, Annick, an Kelson's photographs. Tom previously lent his photo daughters Julia and Amy were integral parts of crs graphic -talents during the "charette," or design work extended family in Ghana. We wish them all well on their shop, conducted in Cape Coast in 1994 with the Ameri next adventure! can Society of Landscape Architects. ,

Debra Sohm, who has spent four years wi~ Conserva In early May, architect Emma Tackie of the Ghanaian tion International while completing a Bach~lorsdegree at design firm, rhayCAD, travelled from Accra to Seattle to George Washington University, has receiyed a Fulbright work with Johnpaul Jones and Chuck Hutchinson ~n Scholarship to Ghana for the 1995-96 school year. She the design plans for the V,isitor Center. will be based near the Kakum Conservation Area. The Ghana Program has benefitted greatly from Debby's loyal A Visitor Issue Summit was held in mid-February at CI assistance, and looks forward to seeing more of her on where issues such as the creation of a visitor use plan site! Best of lucK. Debby! " were addressed. Participants included: Gerry Patt~nJ,..::':':::':"'::'':'::':~'':':'=':~:';;;;L;. ___ -,,! ______-I and Bonnie Campbell, both veterans of the U.S. Na- Direct contact with Kakum National Park is now pos tioDlll Park Service; Bill Gartner, director of the Tour- sible via satellite. The new telephone number is 233 42 ism Center at the University of Minnesota; Karen Ziffer. 2583. Faxes can be sent to the MUCIA fax number. director of ecotouri'sm at CI; and the Ghana Program staff. A team of, Accra-based staff from the Ghana Wildlife Department (GWD) produced a draft Kakum Conserva Peter Roberts, a bird tour leader with Victor Emmanuel tion Area Management Plan. Alex Akwoviah, planner, Bird Tours travelled to Kakum in early July. - modelled the plan after those recently produced for sev eral other protected areas in, Ghana. Other members of

Erasmus Henaku and Afia Asamoah-Boateng, former the team include: botanist Mike Adu-Nsiah, soci~-econo assistant game wardens at Kakum, have accepted posi mist Andrew K. Agyare, and zoologist and former Kakum tions with the Ghana Wildlife Society. 'I.:hough they will staff member Moses Sarno All four worked on the IUCN be missed. we at CI are pleased that Kakum can serve as assisted project to produce management plans for the a training ground for the growing cadre of conservation protected areas managed by GWD. The final publication ists in Ghana. is forthcoming.

MUCIA (Midwestern Universities Consortium for In Aid to Artisans! Ghana (ATA/G) has assumed an advi ternational Activities), the administrative lead agency sory role in the management of the Kakum Gift Shop in for the Ghana Project, has relocated its offices out of May of this year. The gift shop is generating sales of over CEDECOM to separate quarters in Cape Coast. The new 200,000 cedis ($200) a week. This represents an expan address is PO Box 454. Chuck Hutchinson, former sion of the partnership with AT A/G beyond their ongoing director of CI' s Ghana Pro gram, is now technical advisor support of local artisans. to the overall MUCIA project based in Cap~Coast. The office number is 011 2334233041 and the fax number is "Message from the Rainforest'" is a musical tape pro 33042. Note: new phone lines to Cape Coast work well. duced by the Centre for Intercultural Learning and His bome phone number is 33278. Talent Development, Cape Coast, Ghana (CILTAD AGORO Project) - a Ghanaian-Danish cultural develop Mari Omland, formerly coordinator for the Ghana Pro ment project in music. dance and drama and nonprofit gram at CI, has been'promoted to Manager of the Ghana recording studio. The song features David Moyer's re Program. cordings of ambient sounds from Kakum and music, lyrics, and t;uking drums by Okyerema Kwamina Pra Carla Short will join CI staff as the Ghana Program accompanied by traditional Fontomfrom drums and Assistant. After graduating from Vassar College in Mbensoun horns from the Central Region. Proceeds will 1993, Carla worked in Freetown with the Sierra Leone be divided between Kakum and CIL T AD-AGORO. The Conservation Society. ' cassette will be available at the Kakum National Park gift shop.

4 - PUBLICATIONS Paid Visits to Kakum National Park crs Lessons/rom the Field, "Build ing Local Capacity, ., focuses on train- . 20000 ing and features the Ghana Program . 18000 {::opies of Brent Bailey's study,Non 1SOOO a projec1ad timber Forest Products and Conser , 1995 vation: An Assessment from the 14000 Kakum' Conservation Area. Ghana, are available from the Ghana Pro 12000 gram. 10000 The article Djopetes Kakum; - A new species of Hairstreak from Kakum 8000 National Park in Ghana by Torben Larsen was published in the Novem 6OCO ber 1994 issue of Tropical Lepidopt era. Torben also wrote a small paper 4000 on the butterflies of Kakum which appeared in the Bulletin of the Ama 2000 teur Entomologists' Society. 0 Ornithologist David Moyer ha,s com 1991 1992 1993 1994 , 1995 pleted a six-month inventory of the birds of Kakum. A checklist of the species found in the park has been Visitors have increased more than 100'70every year since the Kakum Project printed and is available at Kakum. began. David's final report includes recom- .r------, mendationsforfutureresearch.high- 0 Ytfl.l WAJtff, It , .. fAt. "'Af(f ..... (fft (" lights avian species and information 7 of particular importance for, conser- IlAkt.c", ~(f""f"Sf vation, and suggests options for bird watching tourism in the region. Name The Kakum Conservation Area De velopment Guide by Chuck

Hutchinson Qutlines futu~e,plans for Address the Visitor's Center and other infra structure in Kakum. Copies are avail able/rom Conservation International. Phone/fax

D'JtAft 'I, fAt e-mail tAkt.c'"Lfl,A, ,1

_ Kakum Conservation Area - NTFP Report by B. Bailey Publications for Kakum Development Guide can be sent: - Lessons from the Field _ Kakum Clippings vol. .. c/o TJie Ghana Program Conservation International Diopetes Kalsumi-. by Torben Larsen 1015 18th St., NW Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20036 The Ghana Program Conservation International 101S 18th St., NW Suite lOQO Wa!;hington, DC 20036

5 labor to construct housing for UPDATES USAID/GHANA Kakum's Junior Staff. A total of $510,000 is scheduled for work in A team of seven evaluators con Kakum: additional U.S. funds have ducted a mid-term evaluation of the been obligated to Shai Hills Resource VISITOR FACILITIES AND Natural Resource Conservation and Reserve. Remaining funds will im Historic Preservation Project for prove feeder roads to the camps, -m I NTERPRETIVE E XHIBITS· US AID/Ghana during the months of proving access for communities May and June 1994. The final repon around the park as well as tourists. cr is in the early phases of plan issued in September reflected posi ning exhibits for new visitor 'facili· tively on the overaH project which ties in Kakum. At present there are USAID has extended unti1 August modest facilities in the temporary 1997. The extension grants the project visitor's center. The current exhibit additional time, but no additional displays some of the fauna found funds. within Kakum and its relationship . Dr. Steve Haykin, an economist, is with the forest. Exhibit space, how the USAID Mission's newly assigned ever, is limited, and-hopes are high Project Officer for the project. Steve for expanded facilities to properly joined the project just in time for the showcase the region's ecology. whirlwind of activ ides associated with Several new trails have been PANAFEST. Project Development -scouted and cut but the majority of Officer Denise Rollins remains inter the traffic remains on the Kuntap trail ested in our work and based in Accra (shon and long version). A total of but has taken on new responsibilities. eight guides are now on staff, han dling interpretation in the forest and US lWILITARY FOR at the exhibits. ThC?Kakum Development Gu ide ar BIODIVERSITY FUNDS tieu lates a plan for further developing V! !'li! M facHWel\ at K3kum National Captain Don Bolch and Jim Mad Park. The guide is intended to facili den from'the US Army Corps of En tate fundraising efforts in order to gineers visited Kakum with their augment the significant level offund- coun.terpart Lieutenant Colonel _ing already obligated by USAlD. Douey of the Ghanaian Army in Sep tember. The site survey included vis its to the nine protection camps where US Military for Biodiversity funds

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