Mbe Mountains Annual Report 2015

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
MBE MOUNTAINS ANNUAL REPORT: 2015
February 2016
Jonathan Eban and Inaoyom Imong
Summary
From January to December 2015, a total of 54 patrols were completed in 375 patrol days
covering a total distance of 2,538 km. 58 wire snares were confiscated, 80 expended shotgun
cartridges were removed, and 1 hunting camp was destroyed. Encounter rate of wire snares
and expended cartridges in 2015 decreased from 2014. Levels of hunting and other illegal
human activities in Mbe Mountains have continued to decline since 2009, and are much lower
compared to adjacent protected areas such as the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary and Cross
River National Park. This could be attributed to improved patrol strategy employed, increased
commitment of CAMM to the conservation of the Mbe Mountains with a new management
committee of the association in place, and stronger community support enjoyed at Mbe.
During the year gorillas were sighted on five separate occasions and chimpanzees once.
Encounter rate of great apes, including direct observation and nest sites decreased in 2015
compared with 2014. This could be attributed to limited patrols in the in the western, more
mountainous part of the mountains mostly used by gorillas as a result of a ban on patrols in
the area by the Kanyang communities, who feel that they have donated the greatest area of
land to the sanctuary, to protest the refusal of Abo Mkpang and Bamba communities to adjust
the current boundary to expand the corridor between the Mbe Mountains and the Cross River
National Park. As part of efforts to build the capacity of CAMM and improve the conservation
of Mbe as well as provide livelihood alternatives for the people, WCS launched three new
projects in 2015: construction of CAMM headquarters in Bamba, goat farming as an alternative
to bushmeat hunting with 18 farmers so far trained, and a scholarship scheme to support
secondary school students (with 19 beneficiaries).
Introduction
Covering an area of about 85km² the Mbe Mountains constitute an important habitat corridor
between the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to the west and the Okwangwo Division of Cross
River National Park to the east. In 2006 the Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains
(CAMM) was established by nine landlord communities of Kanyang 1, Kanyang 2, Bamba,
Abo Mkpang, Abo Obisu, Abo Ogbagante, Bokalom, Wula 1 and Wula 2, see Figure 1, and
since then the Mbe Mountains have been managed as a community wildlife sanctuary by
CAMM with support from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Cross River State
Forestry Commission.
WCS has been actively involved in the Mbe Mountains since 2005 working to strengthen the
protection of the area and its wildlife by promoting community conservation. Much of this work
has been funded by the Great Ape Conservation Fund of the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service. With technical assistance from Dr. Rich Bergl of the North Carolina Zoo, a
CyberTracker-based monitoring project was introduced in the Mbe Mountains in 2009. A wellorganized protection program has now been established which has successfully reduced
levels of hunting in the Mbe Mountains. This report presents summary data from 2015 and
compares this data with data from previous years. More detailed information can be found in
the WCS quarterly reports from Mbe which are available online at www.wcsnigeria.org
Methods
Patrols were carried out by two teams of 6-7 eco-guards led by the Mbe Project Manager and
the Senior Eco-guard. Each team completed two 10-day patrols per month. During the last
quarter of the year only two out of the three base camps in Mbe were used by eco-guards due
1
to the prolonged protest by the Kanyang community. Human activity and wildlife data were
collected using CyberTracker and SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) introduced
in Mbe in December 2015 after successful pilot-testing at Afi.
Figure 1: Map of Mbe Mountains showing the nine landlord communities
Patrol Effort
During 2015 a total of 54 patrols were completed in 375 patrol days covering a total distance
of 2,538 km (Table 1). The drastic reduction in the number of patrols and number of patrol
days completed is due to a change in patrol strategy from three teams completing 9-12 sevenday patrols per month to two teams completing four 10-day patrols per month. The change
was necessary to improve eco-guard supervision and patrol monitoring. This also resulted in
a decrease in the number of kilometers covered, but improved eco-guard supervision and
patrol effectiveness.
2
Table 1: A comparison of patrol effort in the Mountains 2009-2015
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Number of patrols
NA
NA
41
98
158
115
54
Number of patrol days
343
438
405
698
830
615
375
1,451
2,205
2,196
2,494
4,768
3,818
2,538
Total distance (km)
Hunting pressure
A total of 80 expended shotgun cartridges were collected and 58 wire snares were confiscated.
1 hunting camp was destroyed (see Figure 2 for location of hunting signs recorded and
Appendix 1 for details). Encounter rate of wire snares and expended cartridges in 2015
decreased compared to 2014. Hunting pressure in 2015 declined substantially compared to
previous years (Table 2). This could be attributed to improved patrol strategy and increased
commitment and support from CAMM. Hunters were encountered twice during patrols in 2015
and reported to CAMM as well as directly to the communities of the persons involved.
Table 2: Comparison of encounter rate of hunting signs in the Mbe Mountains 2009 to 2015
Encounter rate per 10 km
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Wire snares
1.3
3.02
0.6
2.48
0.27
1.91
0.23
Gunshots heard
0.45
0.29
0.15
0.16
0.02
0.05
0.05
Expended cartridges
1.56
0.68
0.34
0.41
0.08
0.27
0.310
Hunting camps destroyed
0.05
0.02
0.05
0.03
0.002
0.01
0.004
Number of patrol days
343
438
405
698
830
615
375
1,451
2,205
2,196
2,494
4,768
3,818
2,538
1.1
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.4
1.4
Total distance covered (km)
Rangers per 10 km2
Great Apes
During 2015, a total of 68 great ape nest sites were recorded. 35 of these were gorilla and 17
were chimpanzee. 16 could not be identified as gorilla or chimpanzee and were recorded as
unidentified great ape nest sites (Appendix 3). During the year, gorillas were sighted on five
occasions and chimpanzees on once, all in the central area of the mountains (Figure 6), where
most nest sites were also concentrated (Figure 7). There was a decrease in the encounter
rate of great ape evidence in 2015 compared to 2014. This could be due to the lack of patrols
in the western axis of the mountains around Kanyang village for a good part of the year
following a ban on patrols by Kanyang community. The ban was imposed by Kanyang in
protest against the refusal of Abo Mkpang and Bamba communities to adjust the boundary in
their areas of the mountains to expand the corridor linking the Mbe Mountains to the Cross
River National Park and perceived imbalance in the contribution of land to the sanctuary and
inequity in the sharing of benefits among the nine landlord communities. The Kanyang people
believe that they have made the greatest contribution of forest to the sanctuary but are not so
recognized in the sharing of benefits.
3
1
2
3
4
Figure 2: Location of hunting signs recorded during patrols in the Mbe Mountains in 2015
4
Table 3. Encounter rates of great ape sightings & nest sites in Mbe 2009 to 2015
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Encounter rate per 10km
2014
2015
Gorilla groups seen
0.03
0.02
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
Chimpanzee groups seen
0.03
0.03
0.04
0.06
0.03
0.01
0.004
Gorilla nest sites
0.02
0.17
0.14
0.31
0.17
0.23
0.14
Chimpanzee nest sites
0.02
0.01
0.07
0.08
0.11
0.18
0.07
Unidentified great ape nest sites
0.23
0.32
0.25
0.45
0.35
0.53
0.06
Number of patrol days
343
438
405
698
830
615
375
Total distance covered (km)
1,451
2,205
2,196
2,494
4,768
3,818
2538
Figure 6: Location of great ape nest sites and sightings in Mbe 2015
Support to CAMM and communities
During the last quarter of 2015 WCS organized a one day training on goat rearing and health
management for 18 persons from the Mbe communities, except Kanyang I who did not send
representatives due to their disagreement with other communities and CAMM over the Mbe
boundary and issues of benefit sharing. The training was organized to equip participants with
the skills to successfully manage the goat farming project being supported by WCS. The
chairmen of management committee and general assembly of CAMM Mr Stephen Tawo and
Chief Linus Otu also attended the training. Areas covered by the training include care and
management of goats, disease identification control and channels for information sharing for
intervention in the event of sudden outbreak of disease. Also this quarter, WCS launched a
scholarship scheme to support students from Mbe communities. Twenty two students were
selected from each of the nine Mbe communities and supported with ten thousand naira
(N10,000). Student going into the final year (Senior Secondary 3) were selected for the
scholarship to reduce the usually high financial burden on parents and guardians that
5
sometimes results in some students dropping out school fees and external examination fees
cannot be afforded.
With funding support from Paignton Zoo WCS is facilitating construction of a new CAMM office
in Bamba, started during the last quarter of 2015. Laying of the foundations has been
completed and parts of the walls raised. The building is planned to contain a sizable meeting
hall, an office, a guest room and a store and kitchen as well as toilets. Work on the office will
hopefully will be completed in the first quarter of 2016. When completed the building will
greatly enhance the activities of CAMM, providing a conducive place of meeting and basic
office equipment to facilitate administrative work by the management of CAMM. Two solar
panels were also purchased for the CAMM headquarters in Bamba to provide power and
enhance administrative work by CAMM.
The Chairman of CAMM Management Committee, Stephen Tawo (left) and WCS
Mbe Project Coordinator, Jonathan Eban (right), supervising construction of the
CAMM office in Bamba
In addition, WCS continued to provide close mentoring support to CAMM. CAMM was trained
in writing funding proposals and assisted to develop and submit two funding proposals – one
to the UN-REDD GEF Small Grants program, the other to the Direct Aid Program of the
Australian Embassy. The proposal to the Direct Aid Program of the Australian Embassy has
been successful with funding approved to CAMM to support conservation activities in the Mbe
Mountains. Computer training, including Microsoft Office, email, and other social media, was
also provided for the Management Committee of CAMM to facilitate administrative work in
addition to ongoing training in the use of CyberTracker for law enforcement monitoring
provided for the Mbe eco-guards and training in SMART for the Mbe project coordinator. In
addition, through other funding sources, CAMM was supported to attend Cross River gorilla
conservation planning workshops in Calabar organized by WCS and assisted to prepare
presentations – helping to build their capacity.
Conclusion
Levels of hunting in the Mbe Mountains remain relatively low compared to adjacent protected
areas likely as a result of a well-organized and supervised eco-guard program and stronger
community support and increased commitment of the Conservation Association of the Mbe
Mountains.
6
Left: Scholarship disbursement to beneficiaries by the WCS Mbe Project Manager and the
Chairman, CAMM Management Committee, November 2015. Right: Cross section of
participants in a workshop on goat farm management for Mbe communities, November, 2015
Recommendations
 CAMM should make more effort to resolve the pending boundary issue raised by
Kanyang communities.

CAMM should evict all farm owners who have encroached into the protected area.

CAMM should employ more severe penalties for offenders to discourage illegal
activities in the Mbe Mountains.
Acknowledgements
WCS is formally registered in Nigeria through an agreement with the National Planning Commission
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. WCS is grateful for the support and cooperation from the nine
landlord communities surrounding the Mbe Mountains including Kanyang 1, Kanyang 2, Bamba, Abo
Mkpang, Abo Obisu, Abo Ogbagante, Bokalom, Wula 1 and Wula 2. WCS is also grateful for the longterm collaboration and support from the Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains (CAMM)
including the General Assembly, the Board of Trustees, the Management Committee and the Technical
and Stakeholders Supervisory Group. WCS acknowledges the key role played by the Cross River State
Forestry Commission who is the legal custodian of all forests and wildlife in Cross River State.
CyberTracker was first introduced in Nigeria by Dr. Rich Bergl of the North Carolina Zoo in 2009. Dr.
Bergl has provided close technical support for the project since then, refining and improving the
system further. We are immeasurably grateful to the Great Ape Conservation Fund of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and acknowledge the importance of the cooperative agreement signed
between the USFWS and WCS for the conservation of Cross River gorillas in 2010. We are also grateful
to all other donors who support our work in the Mbe Mountains including the Ape Conservation Fund
of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), Whitley Fund for Nature, Margot Marsh
Biodiversity Foundation, Paignton Zoo, Palmyre Zoo, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology, Kolmarden Fundraising Foundation and Berggorilla and Regenwald Direkthilfe.
7
Appendix 1: CyberTracker Data from Mbe Mountains 2009 to 2015
2009
2010
2011
2012
No. of wire snares
189
666
132
619
No. of gunshots heard
65
64
32
41
No. of expended cartridges
227
149
74
102
No of farms
20
8
3
16
No. of hunting camps destroyed
7
5
10
8
No. of arrests
11
10
7
2
No. of gorilla groups sighted
4
4
12
13
No. of chimpanzee groups sighted
4
7
9
16
Gorilla nest sites recorded
29
38
31
77
Chimpanzee nest sites recorded
3
3
16
19
Unidentified great ape nest sites
1
29
7
17
Time taken (hours)
1,669 2,736 2,998 3,299
Total distance covered (km)
1,451 2,205 2,196 2,494
No of patrol days
343
438
405
698
2013
127
10
37
5
1
10
22
15
80
53
27
5,208
4,768
830
2014
731
21
103
12
4
14
11
5
106
69
29
4,292
3,818
615
2015
58
13
80
65
1
4
5
1
35
17
16
2,833
2,538
375
Appendix 4: List of poachers apprehended in Mbe Mountains (January-December, 2015)
Date
Infraction
Offender(s)
Village
Items confiscated Outcome
09/7/2015
Gun hunting
Solomon Obun
Bamba
One shotgun and
Reported to
Enu (aka- Ricardo)
three live
CAMM
cartridges
09/7/2015
Gun hunting
Goodness Obi
Bamba
Potter to Solomon Reported to
CAMM
30/09/2015 Farming
John Ushie
Bamba
One machete
Reported to
CAMM
1/10/2015
NTFP
Richard Ator
Kanyang II 14 heads of eru
Reported to
collection
and a machete
CAMM
Appendix 3. Great ape nest sites recorded in the Mbe Mountains in 2015
Date
Latitude
Longitude Species
Age
No. of
nests
16/01/2015
29/01/2015
15/02/2015
15/02/2015
21/02/2015
24/02/2015
24/02/2015
12/03/2015
15/03/2015
23/03/2015
17/04/2015
17/04/2015
27/04/2015
28/04/2015
12/05/2015
15/05/2015
18/05/2015
10/06/2015
7/07/2015
6.259277
6.26601
6.247002
6.292047
6.258777
6.279827
6.28113
6.25942
6.25815
6.25847
6.23773
6.23671
6.25985
6.24746
6.26774
6.2652
6.2831
6.260498
6.24775
9.091165
9.095182
9.066087
9.097778
9.092105
9.100778
9.100428
9.08922
9.07865
9.09086
9.06836
9.06682
9.07843
9.06610
9.08272
9.0878
9.09235
9.078217
9.08611
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
8
Fresh
Recent
Fresh
Recent
Recent
Recent
Recent
Fresh
Very old
Recent
Fresh
Recent
Fresh
Recent
Fresh
Recent
Old
Fresh
Fresh
4
4
3
2
6
3
9
6
2
5
3
3
7
2
10
8
3
13
7
Ground
Tree
nests
Dung
present
3
3
3
2
6
3
9
3
0
5
2
3
2
2
6
8
3
9
6
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
5
0
4
0
0
4
1
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
29/9/2015
29/9/2015
30/9/2015
1/10/2015
15/10/2015
16/10/2015
16/10/2015
16/10/2015
16/10/2015
12/11/2015
12/11/2015
16/11/2015
15/12/2015
15/12/2015
28/12/2015
28/12/2015
27/01/2015
29/01/2015
24/03/2015
24/03/2015
17/04/2015
15/05/2015
15/05/2015
10/06/2015
16/10/2015
12/11/2015
16/11/2015
25/11/2015
25/11/2015
26/11/2015
15/12/2015
18/12/2015
18/12/2015
15/01/2015
16/01/2015
28/01/2015
14/05/2015
12/06/2015
08/07/2015
09/09/2015
15/10/2015
17/10/2015
11/11/2015
11/11/2015
11/11/2015
11/11/2015
11/11/2015
25/11/2015
20/12/2015
6.261424
6.261522
6.268884
6.266876
6.232393
6.226867
6.261405
6.265352
6.265253
6.23295
6.23279
6.25735
6.25895
6.23317
6.23079
6.23295
6.240417
6.266872
6.237835
6.237694
6.23819
6.26673
6.26936
6.260711
6.22394
6.23292
6.2596
6.26679
6.26601
6.24714
6.23318
6.23224
6.23551
6.248427
6.254432
6.263835
6.2734
6.250503
6.26456
6.248923
6.23284
6.24022
6.2327
6.23218
6.23191
6.23194
6.23228
6.26207
6.23648
9.093618
9.092363
9.094927
9.092154
9.082293
9.074053
9.094315
9.09435
9.094583
9.07304
9.07255
9.08924
9.09355
9.07314
9.08292
9.08183
9.088115
9.091745
9.0660345
9.066345
9.06569
9.08823
9.08904
9.077953
9.07253
9.07325
9.08938
9.09068
9.09175
9.08879
9.07307
9.08027
9.08039
9.089223
9.092762
9.097115
9.09512
9.091424
9.08835
9.09104
9.08045
9.0845
9.08152
9.08166
9.08181
9.08194
9.08203
9.09292
9.07025
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Gorilla
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
Unidentified
9
Fresh
Recent
Recent
Fresh
Recent
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Recent
Recent
Recent
Recent
Fresh
Fresh
Old
Recent
Recent
Fresh
Old
Recent
Recent
Old
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Fresh
Recent
Old
Recent
Fresh
Recent
Very old
Recent
Very old
Very old
fresh
Fresh
Old
Old
Recent
Recent
Very old
Old
Very old
Very old
21
11
7
4
1
2
10
7
6
7
6
1
1
5
3
5
1
5
2
3
9
2
3
4
3
5
9
1
1
1
5
5
9
3
2
2
2
1
4
2
1
3
1
1
1
3
1
5
5
13
7
1
4
1
2
6
4
2
6
0
1
1
4
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
8
4
6
0
0
0
4
3
4
1
6
0
0
1
0
3
1
5
2
3
9
2
3
4
3
5
9
1
1
1
5
5
9
3
2
2
2
1
3
2
1
3
1
1
1
3
0
0
5
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No