Principal investigator video-taping some field observations.

The proposed Tofala Hill Wildlife Sanctuary (THWS) is located in the Lebialem-Mone Forest Landscape, South West Cameroon. With a surface area of about 15000 ha, the THWS is home to two great apes species (Gorilla gorilla diehli and Pan troglodytes ellioti) and 24 other identified large mammals. The rich biodiversity of this landscape is threatened by anthropogenic activities. Current conservation actions have not been able to successfully resolve challenges linked to the conservation of great apes in this habitat. Some of these challenges identified in the preliminary study of this project include conflict in forest resource usage and poor conservation strategies used by the implementation team. In line with the above, this project argues that locating access to forest resources in a political-economic framework provides a theoretical model of social change.

This project will contribute to sustainable great apes conservation in the THWS by training project staff on conflict management and participatory approaches to conservation, identifying and mapping the mechanisms by which forest access is gained, maintained and controlled and by analysing conservation strategies in the THWS using the logical framework approach. These analyses will be able to clearly bring out the challenges to effective conservation in the THWS. By analysing access, we will be able to delineate the issues of who does (and who does not) get to use what, in what ways, and when (that is, in what circumstances). This detail analysis will help in developing better actions and strategies in collaboration with all key stakeholders using the logical framework approach. Thus, this project ensures that research findings do not only end on paper but are translated into strategies and actions.