WWF Jengi Southeast Forest Programme Newsletter July/August 2007 Bakas want chimps, for rituals

species in , making hunting of these great apes a criminal offence punishable by law. The villagers were speaking to a WWF team that went on the field to sensitise and involve them in natural resources management. The local people listened to explanation about their access rights and the different classes of pro- tected animal species. They were however, worried about chimps and gorillas featuring as Class A species. They proposed that Crested Mangabey, also a Class A specie, be demoted to class C, because they are so many and destroy maize farms. They suggested that a Class B spe- cie, Otter, be promoted to Class A because it is becoming rare in the area. Bakas being sensitised on different protected animal species (Ph. Anong) In another vein, Bakas complained that they have not aka pygmies living in villages south of Nki Na- been included in the local committee that manages forest tional Park have said they use and revenues adding that the boundaries of some community gorillas to perform some traditional rites like male hunting zones are too close to their villages. “We want Bcircumcision and the Jengi dance. They are thus these boundaries to be moved 5 km away,” they cho- requesting permission to, once in a while, hunt these ani- rused. Senior Field Assistant for Nki, Vincent Anong, led mals. Chimps and gorillas are Class A, totally protected the WWF team.

Inventory shows wildlife under threats in ZICGC t took three months of inventory work for WWF Jengi to establish the situation of fauna in one of the community hunting Izones (ZICGC 9) situated south of Nki National Park. According to Jean Paul Mahop, Jengi Sen- ior Research Assistant, though 18 different huge mammals were identified in the zone, the area is facing threats from all sides. “The zone has been invaded by poachers from Congo Brazzaville and part of it is be- ing occupied by a sport hunting operator. A logging company (Alpicam) carries out tim- ber exploitation in the area too,” explained Mahop. Poaching, he said, has scared elephants. antelope: Most sought after by spot hunters (Ph. David Rouge/WWF Jengi) “This has prompted most of the animals to retreat towards the Boumba River,” he said. the clearing. So the situation in this zone is precarious,” he However, the zone still harbours huge numbers of go- declared. rillas, duikers, and bush pigs. He proposed that the community based wildlife resource Mahop and his team also discovered a huge forest management committee, COVAREF, which manages the clearing (bai) on the west of the zone rich in salt that zone, could set up a surveillance team which will work with attracts animals. “We discovered animals have been anti-poaching teams in and Mambele to secure frequenting the clearing for food. But we saw poach- the zone. “If this is done, there is a possibility that things ers’ camps, an elephant carcass and bullet cases in might change in three years.” New anti-poaching strategy paying off

change of anti- park authorities on the move- poaching strategy ment of suspect poachers. in WWF Jengi has Given the vast nature of the A begun yielding Jengi Programme area, the fruits with the arrest of 19 strategy is being tested in poachers, the dismantling of Lobeke. “With the collaboration 589 snares, seizure of an AK of the Park Assistant for Lobeke 47 rifle and a short gun within we have been able to ensure three weeks in Lobeke park. that an average of 10 nights per One of the poachers, now guard is spent inside the park. facing trial, is accused of kill- This strategy will be extended ing an elephant. to the parks .” According to Ephraim Ebong, But the game guards are ill an anti-poaching specialist, equipped. Poachers from the strategy entails game Congo Brazzaville and Central guards penetrating the Africa Republic who carry auto- Lobeke, Boumba Bek and Nki matic rifles like AK 47, dwarf national parks at least 20 them. days a month. “We are focus- “The game guards need to ing attention inside the park to Game guards tugging at a fleeing poacher (Ph. Ngono) have basic equipment like reach the poachers before handcuffs and teargas. They they kill the animals. We realised most activities had need effective training on compliance and control been hitherto oriented towards confronting poachers (detention and defence) while hoping they will be armed in the villages or on the roads,” he explained. An in- with guns some day,” the anti-poaching expert said. telligence structure has been established to inform

Capturers slaughter parrots in Lobeke

apturers have resorted to beheading par- rots and pulling off the birds’ red feather tails. Two parrot capturers were recently C arrested inside Lobeke National Park with 79 parrots heads and 45 of the birds’ attractive red tails. This approach is a marked departure from the old ways, which entailed live capture of the bird. It poses serious threats to parrot conservation. Lobeke has a huge number of African grey parrots but over the years the capture of this talking birds has been on the increase. It is not yet clear why capturers have resorted to this methods - the notorious capturer es- caped in transit – however, it is believed the capturer was responding to buyers exigencies. Remains of slaughtered parrots (Ph. Ngono) In the south of Nki National Park, parrots have been mi- grating from a forest clearing called Mokounounou to a The birds have begun reappearing in some bais, clearing called Egaba in neighbouring Congo Brazzaville. though. “In one of the bais, Bangu, I found a huge Serge Kamgang, a research student, says the migration population of parrots. This is because the bai is rich in is prompted by perturbation of the forest clearing (bai). salt,” he stated.

WWF Jengi Newsletter, July/August 2007 edition for a living planet Groundwork for community forests in Nki WF has launched plan to set up community forest enterprises south of Nki National Park. A team W led by WWF Senior Field Assis- tant, Vincent Anong, was in Leke and Min- dourou, both villages south of Nki, recently, to explain to the people the law sanctioning the acquisition and exploitation of community for- ests. The villagers were taught the various stages to obtain a community forest and how to prepare a simple management plan. The team highlighted the advantages of community forests amongst which are sustainable management, reduction of unemployment and poverty allevia- tion. Executive bureau members of Legoué, Mingombe and The villagers welcomed the initiatives but re- Tembe Rivière community forest (Ph. Anong) quested technical assistance. They evoked the nity forest for the three villages. The executive bureau of need to have the necessary equipment to exploit the the association was elected and installed. forests. Community forests are portions of forest not more than It was recommended that locals be assisted in creating 5000 hectares attributed to local communities for exploi- associations that will enable them apply for a commu- tation for 25 years. WWF has put on rail 15 community nity forest. They also need help to draw up statutes and forest enterprises with six already being exploited. The internal rules of their associations. drive down south of Nki betokens WWF determination to The team later moved to three other villages (Lingoué, extend the scope of these enterprises in a bid to cage Mingombe and Tembe Riviere) where they helped set poverty, as proceeds from the forests go to finance micro up an association that would in turn apply for a commu- projects in villages. Photo of the month

Ph. David Rouge/WWF Jengi

n a bright afternoon in Petite Savane, one of the oon, appear freer than the air and were oblivious of our very rich forest clearings (bais) inside Lobeke Na- presence. Petite Savane is indubitably a mosaic of tional Park, Colobus monkeys indulge in acrobatic Lobeke’s wildlife potentials visited by chimps, gorillas, display. Exuding a sense of security far away from elephants, bongo antelopes etc. To reinforce wildlife I monitoring, WWF recently reconstructed and reinforced the poachers snares, these monkeys, amongst the to- tally protected species of animals (class A) in Camer- the watch tower in this forest clearing.

WWF Jengi Newsletter, July/August 2007 edition for a living planet 82.5% of Ngoyla-Mintom forest untouched

ield verification of land cover of the over 986,334 F ha Ngoyla-Mintom corridor (interzone), shows that 82.5% of the forest mas- sive remains intact. Ngoyla-Mintom constitutes Cameroon segment of the inter-zone that links pro- tected areas of Cameroon, Gabon and Congo Brazza- River Dja in Ngoyla area shows beginning of lowland forest (Ph. Ngalla) ville, in a trans-boundary conservation initiative styled TRIDOM. man settlement and bare soil, states the report. This gives Results of land cover verification, carried out by an inkling on the dearth of human activities in the zone. Patrice Ngalla, WWF Jengi Geographic Information The report proposed a physical demarcation of Ngoyla- System, GIS, Officer, will provide decision support to Mintom inter-zone that straddles the East (70%) and resource management of the corridor. South (30%) provinces of Cameroon. According to a report by Ngalla, 82.5% of the Ngoyla- The Cameroon government declared Ngoyla-Mintom cor- Mintom forest massive is covered by dense lowland ridor a conservation concession (an area where various forests (812963.76ha), that has not been subjected exploitation activities are allowed while minimising the im- to human influence. Some 148417.08ha of the inter- pact on the environment) in 2006. It is a superhighway zone are also covered by swampy forests, which the used by many important mammals species to migrate report states, “are forests permanently or periodically within TRIDOM protected areas. But the corridor is under under influence of water.” Raphia palms dominate intense pressure due to excessive poaching and illegal the swamps. logging. Mining has also begun taken a toll on this very Then there is the secondary forest composed partly rich forest massive. of agricultural land characterised plantations and gar- The land cover verification will provide data for the delimi- dens situated along roadsides. This covers some tation of the various use zones and establish a mecha- 70,000 ha of the Ngoyla-Mintom forest massive. nism for better control of resources exploitation. Only 7823.11ha of the inter-zone is composed of hu-

TRIDOM partners concert epresentatives of Cameroon and Congo to combat poaching, involving forces of law and order of Brazzaville, both countries that form part of both countries. Plans were set afoot to initiate local peo- the TRIDOM landscape, recently met to map ple in alternative activities to hunting. R out strategy to check poaching and illegal TRIDOM is a trans-boundary conservation model involv- logging. ing protected areas of Cameroon (Nki-Dja), Odzala Meeting in Tala Tala in Congo, the partners identified (Congo) and Minkebe (Gabon). It constitutes 14.7 million poaching, illegal logging, illegal mining and the ab- hectares of lowland forests. sence of a viable surveillance mechanism as problems bedevilling conservation efforts. Fore- most amongst these ills are the trafficking of ele- phants tusks and parrots by both countries. This practice is high between Ivindo-Garabisan in Publisher: WWF Jengi Southeast Forest Programme Congo and between Ntam and Lele in Cameroon. Coordinator: Leonard Usongo, [email protected] To arrest this situation, it was recommended that Editorial Adviser: Peter Ngea, [email protected] locals be involved in anti-poaching through the Editor: Pegue Manga, [email protected] Collaborators: Zacharie Nzooh, Louis Defo, Alphonse creation of village surveillance committees. Ngniado, Ndinga Hilaire, Expedit Fouda, Patrice Ngalla, Parties proposed the extradition of suspect Jean-Paul Mahop, Njounan Tegomo, Louis Ngono & poachers seeking refuge in both countries and Bassama Charles the setting up of a bi-national mixed patrol team Website: www.panda.org

WWF Jengi Newsletter, July/August 2007 edition for a living planet