Country: Cameroon, Africa
Location of base camp: N/A
Status: Takamanda Forest Reserve, Mone Forest Reserve, Mbulu – no current
formal status
Area – study area: Takamanda Forest Reserve: 05°° 59-06 21’N; 09° 11-09° 30’E (676km²)
Mone Forest Reserve: 05° 45-06° 02’N; 09° 24-09° 37’E (538km²)
Mbulu – contiguous forest area, east of Takamanda & north of Mone
Study period: February 1998 – February 1999; September 2000 – ongoing.
Focus of project: Research and conservation
Altitude: 100 – 2030 m
Rainfall: 4500mm p.a. (similar to Okwangwo, Nigeria)
Research presence: Permanent although rotating between areas.
Habituation: None
Types of questions: Abundance, distribution and as of late 2002, diet, ranging etc.
Conservation projects: Cross River Gorilla Research Project: Small scale education programme
As of 2000 a joint MINEF and GTZ project (Protection of Forests around Akwaya – PROFA) became active in the area.
Species studied in All large mammals surveyed in Takamanda
Addition to WLG’s:
Distance to closest Dependent on which area.
Village in km:
Types of vegetation Savanna, gallery forest, streambed, open understorey (primary), light gaps,
Present: marsh forest, mid-altitude forest, montane forest, rocky outcrops
Mammalian community: Large mammals: chimpanzee, elephant, buffalo, Mandrillus leucophaeus, C. mona, C.nictitans, C.erythrotis, C.preussi, C.pogonias Papio, anubis, bay duiker, blue duiker, yellow-backed duiker, water chevrotain, red river hog, wild cat.
Human influence:
Selective logging: Small-scale illegal logging by local communities outside of the reserve.
NTFP harvesting: Large scale local harvesting of bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), eru (Gnetum spp.), cattle stick (Carpolobia alba & C.lutea), chewing stick (Randia spp.)
Hunting: Large scale hunting using traps, snares and guns are used extensively
throughout all three forest areas.
Gorillas a target: No gorilla has been reported to have been shot in Takamanda since 1998
due to recent conservation efforts. Within Mone and Mbulu 1 gorilla has been known to have been killed in the past year. In the majority of areas local communities have set up their own hunting bans which prohibit the hunting of gorillas. Gorillas were never specifically targeted although were shot if encountered.
Agriculture: Dependent on which area although all villages have extensive farmland
surrounding the immediate village.
Tourism: None
Predators: Homo sapiens
Methods Used: Indirect evidence (trail, faeces, nests)
Contact Information: Jacqueline Groves, takamanda@aol.com