Biomonitoring in the Proposed Grebo National Park, Liberia REPORT ON PHASE 1 IN THE PROPOSED GREBO NATIONAL PARK (February-July 2014) Prepared by Wild Chimpanzee Foundation In collaboration with Forestry Development Authority, Liberia November 2014 KOUAKOU Yao Célestin DOWD Dervla TWEH Clement ZORO GONE BI Irie Berenger VERGNES Virginie NORMAND Emmanuelle BOESCH Christophe Wild Chimpanzee Foundation [email protected] Tel: +231(0) 880 533 495 Report on the 1 st phase of biomonitoring in the Proposed Grebo National Park in 2014 by WCF and FDA Executive summary A- Generalities and methods of biomonitoring program This report presents results from the biomonitoring program in 2014 in the Proposed Grebo National Park (PGNP), undertaken by survey team members from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and local communities. They were supervised by two specialists from the st Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) during the data collection period from February 21 th until July 13 2014. 242.7 km of line transects were walked in PGNP to collect data relating to signs of presence of large mammals and aggression on flora and fauna, which was analysed to establish the diversity and abundance of these species. The design of the data collection was changed this year to allow for a more intense survey with groups of transects being more densely distributed, giving more accurate estimates of distribution and populations. B- Abundance and spatial distribution of large mammals in Proposed Grebo National Park (PGNP) Two types of information were recorded: direct observations of large mammals and other animals and their indirect observations (dung, footprints, vocalizations, feeding sites and sleeping nests for chimpanzee...). The diversity of large mammal observations, encounter rates of their signs of presence, as well as their distribution are compared for the three years of the survey, and revealed a stable population of chimpanzees (247 individuals +/- ) but a decreasing trend in monkeys and duikers. The northern horn in Grebo appears to be particularly an important habitat for endangered and vulnerable species and should therefore be included in PGNP. Wildlife is noticeably lower in abundance along the border with Côte d’Ivoire and the community owned land (known as native reserves). C-Threats to wildlife of the PGNP Hunting remains a threat to the entire PGNP and appears to be increasing in comparison with previous years. Moreover, habitat degradation in 2014 has worsened due to the increase in the harvesting of chewing sticks, which are exported to Ghana through Côte d’Ivoire. Camps of Ghanaians, sett in the park, were encountered along the Cavalla River along with piles of sticks to be exported. Active mining sites are found in the community-land area of the Bilibo community, and hunting here is also high, as it is along the border too. D-Conclusion and Recommendations Though PGPN still harbours exceptional biodiversity, threats to its survival remain rife. Hunting pressure is high and FDA needs to increase its law enforcement efforts there and continue to raise awareness in the local communities. Efforts on a cross-border scale must be initiated in collaboration with Ivorian authorities to stop the chewing stick trade, alongside preventing Ivoirians and other foreigners from hunting in the park. The legality of the mining in Bilibo needs to be clarified with the Ministry of Mines and prospections of new sites stopped within PGNP. The re-delimitation of the park to avoid community-land is also important and should be performed in conjunction with local communities and authorities. Kouakou, Dowd, Tweh, Zoro Goné Bi, Vergnes, Normand, and Boesch. (WCF ) i Report on the 1 st phase of biomonitoring in the Proposed Grebo National Park in 2014 by WCF and FDA TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2. METHODS .................................................................................................................................................. 1 2.1. STUDY AREA ......................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1.1. History of PGNP .......................................................................................................................... 1 2.1.2. The PGNP today ........................................................................................................................... 3 2.2. CHIMPANZEE AND OTHER LARGE MAMMALS SURVEY DESIGN ................................................................ 4 2.3. FIELD DATA COLLECTION ALONG LINE TRANSECTS AND LOCAL CAPACITY BUILDING ............................ 5 2.4. DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................... 6 2.4.1. Survey effort and encounter rates of species ...................................................................................... 6 2.4.2 Chimpanzee population status analysis .............................................................................................. 6 2.4.3. Spatial distribution and population dynamics of large mammals and their threats in the Proposed Grebo National Park .................................................................................................................... 6 3. RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 3.1. SURVEY EFFORT AND REVIEW OF OBSERVATIONS ALONG LINE TRANSECTS ........................................... 7 3.2. BOVID POPULATION ............................................................................................................................. 11 3.3. PRIMATE POPULATION ......................................................................................................................... 12 3.4. OTHER MAMMAL SPECIES .................................................................................................................... 16 3.5. THREATS OR FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY OF CHIMPANZEES AND OTHER LARGE MAMMALS IN THE NEW PGNP ............................................................................................................... 20 4. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................................. 23 5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................... 25 ACKNOWGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................................... 27 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................... 27 3. APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................... 29 APPENDIX 1 ...................................................................................................................................................... 29 APPENDIX 2 ...................................................................................................................................................... 30 LIST OF ACRONYMS CV: Coefficient of variation FDA: Forestry Development Authority GNF: Grebo National Forest IUCN: International Union for the Conservation of Nature PGNP: Proposed Grebo National Park TGSFC: Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex TNP: Taï National Park UTM: Universal Transverse Mercator WCF: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Kouakou, Dowd, Tweh, Zoro Goné Bi, Vergnes, Normand, and Boesch. (WCF ) ii Report on the 1 st phase of biomonitoring in the Proposed Grebo National Park in 2014 by WCF and FDA LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Diagram showing the location of the PGNP in relation to the GNF. ....................... 2 Figure 2: Location of the Proposed Park in the Grebo National Forest (2a) and the detail of the survey design (2b. et 2c.). ................................................................................................ 4 Figure 3: Numbers of all direct and indirect observations of animals along line transects during the 2014 survey in the PGNP. .................................................................................... 7 Figure 4: Spatial distribution of large mammal diversity observed in 2014. ........................... 8 Figure 5: The spatial distribution of the endangered species observed in 2014. ..................... 9 Figure 6: The spatial distribution of the vulnerable species observed in 2014.. .................... 10 Figure 7: Spatial distribution of bovids in the PGNP in 2014. ............................................. 12 Figure 8. Spatial distribution of monkeys in PGNP in 2014. ................................................ 14 Figure 9: Spatial distribution of chimpanzees signs of presence observed in 2014. .............. 15 Figure 10: Spatial distribution of elephants in 2014 for the new PGNP. ............................... 18 Figure 11: Spatial distribution of the signs of presence of pygmy hippopotamus in 2014 for the PGNP. ......................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 12: Spatial distribution