Emmanuel Akom
The project aims to contribute to the conservation and long-term survival of chimpanzees and other primate populations in the Upper Guinea forest zone.
Within Ghana, including the West African sub-region, the rainforests of the south-west have been delineated among a number of priority sites for conservation of threatened primates. Despites these forests, best known for their high primate diversity, currently six of the 10 primate fauna are listed as threatened by the IUCN. Notable among these is the endangered Western chimpanzee, known to have once occurred in 12 countries, but is currently patchily distributed in nine or ten countries in West Africa. Populations in this region are under high threat from hunting and habitat loss due to agricultural expansion, mining and logging.
Recording observations on large mammals in Ayum Forest Reserve.
With the current alarming declines in population within the proposed project area and elsewhere in the sub-region, there are fears that the chimpanzees and other diurnal primates might face extinction within the next few years if appropriate measures are not taken to safeguard their survival. By using a combination of standard and conventional survey approaches, the project will complete the first thorough assessment of the status of the western chimpanzee and other endangered diurnal primate species in Sui Forest Reserve in south-western Ghana.
Surveying for primates in the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve.
The project is consistent with the recommendations made in the strategy for the conservation of primates in Ghana (Oates, 2006) and objectives of the High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF) concept first introduced by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and currently being promoted by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The outcomes of the project will contribute to the implementation of these plans by providing critical information on the location, connectivity and potential viability of threatened primate populations in this area, thereby informing conservation planning and action. It will also contribute to their management as a High conservation value and lay the groundwork for an extensive education and awareness creation campaign in local communities on the conservation value and importance of primates and other forest fauna.