- Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary was created to protect some 26,780 hectares in southern Cameroon, and is the only large functional protected area in the region.
- In addition to critically endangered western lowland gorillas, Mengame is a refuge for an abundance of wildlife, including forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) — also critically endangered — and endangered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
- Logging concessions and villages surround Mengame, and satellite data show forest loss encroaching on the sanctuary and trickling into it.
- Cameroonian civil society organization Action for Sustainable Development investigated encroachment into the reserve after noticing deforestation alerts via satellite data.
Spanning nearly a tenth of the vast Congo Basin’s rainforest, the transboundary Dja-Odzala-Minkébé (TRIDOM) landscape is a nearly unbroken green canopy, stretching across Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Gabon.
Human population density and deforestation rates are generally low, making the entire region a high-priority landscape for carbon sequestration and the conservation of endangered and critically endangered animals like forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
A quarter of the TRIDOM landscape is now under protection, encompassed by eleven protected areas. Of these, southern Cameroon’s Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary at 26,780 hectares is one of the smallest.
That may be why it receives little attention, says Genevieve Ndjiki, president of the Action for Sustainable Development, a civil society organization in Cameroon. Yet research indicates the sanctuary supports “important” populations of apes, even when compared to other protected areas in Central Africa.
Initially, Mengame was paired with the nearby proposed Kom National Park, a 68,050-hectare protected area to the east. But whilst Mengame was officially gazetted in 2008, the proposed Kom National Park was converted to a forest management unit sometime around 2021.
When ASD began monitoring Mengame via the Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform they became concerned when they noticed satellite-detected deforestation alerts appearing and proliferating in the reserve. And, realizing that the sanctuary didn’t have an outside conservation partner, they wanted to see what was going on.
In early 2023, with funding from GFW’s Small Grants Fund, they started a project on participatory monitoring in the sanctuary. Working in six villages in the region, they met with local community representatives, government rangers and civil society organizations to figure out what was triggering the deforestation alerts, and set up a monitoring system.
Communities around the reserve mostly practice subsistence agriculture, fishing, hunting and artisanal logging. The team found that most of the deforestation alerts were triggered by the clearing of new plots for cacao, plantain or other crops.
Cacao beans are processed into cocoa powder, from which chocolate is made. Higher cocoa prices are driving increasing deforestation across the TRIDOM region, with cacao responsible for seven times more deforestation than other crops, according to a recent PLOS One study. Research elsewhere in West Africa finds that protected areas aren’t immune to the cocoa boom. Cacao cultivation is behind 37% of forest loss in protected areas in Cote d’Ivoire, and of 13% in Ghana, according to a 2023 Nature Food study.
Working with six communities, the ASD team sought to understand why agricultural plots were being cleared inside the reserve.
The community pointed out that the protected area had not been fully demarcated, and many of the original signs had disappeared. Many adults — some of whom were children when the sanctuary was created — weren’t aware of the borders, they said. The communities also felt that the land originally set aside for their use was no longer sufficient, Ndjiki says.
While following up on deforestation alerts, the team found recent signs of gorillas, including feces and nests, in the reserve, often close to farm clearings. That reinforced their belief that the sanctuary deserves more attention.
“The sanctuary is still rich” Ndjiki says.
The ASD team trained government eco-guards and community members to identify potential sites of deforestation via GFW satellite data. They also helped set up a committee made up of various stakeholders. The idea is that the committee can alert the government conservation agency of any suspicious activities or infractions in the reserve, including through a Whatsapp group.
The cooperative project has been a positive step, but challenges remain. Ndjiki says the conservation agency is present in the area but there are few eco-guards, and they lack vehicles and equipment.
ASD has been contacted by NGOs working in the region, as well as international tourists, who wish to support continued monitoring and conservation activities in Mengame, Ndjiki says. Right now, there’s no infrastructure in place and the area is very remote, but she said she’s glad to see the sanctuary is at last getting more attention.
“The sanctuary has a very high potential,” Ndjiki says.
Citations:
Kalischek, N., Lang, N., Renier, C., Daudt, R. C., Addoah, T., Thompson, W., … & Wegner, J. D. (2023). Cocoa plantations are associated with deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Nature Food, 4(5), 384-393.
Ngouhouo-Poufoun, J., Chaupain-Guillot, S., Ndiaye, Y., Sonwa, D. J., Yana Njabo, K., & Delacote, P. (2024). Cocoa, livelihoods, and deforestation within the Tridom landscape in the Congo Basin: A spatial analysis. Plos one, 19(6), e0302598.
Banner image: A team from Action for Sustainable Development investigating deforestation alerts on-the-ground in Mengame Gorilla Sanctuary in southern Cameroon. Image courtesy of Genevieve Ndjiki.
Editor’s Note:This story is powered by Places to Watch, a Global Forest Watch (GFW) initiative designed to quickly identify concerning forest loss around the world and catalyze further investigation of these areas. Places to Watch draws on a combination of near-real-time deforestation alerts, automated algorithms and field intelligence to identify new areas on a monthly basis. In partnership with Mongabay, GFW is supporting data-driven journalism by providing data and maps generated by Places to Watch. Mongabay maintains complete editorial independence over the stories reported using this data. Sign up for GFW’s monthly email updates featuring these stories.
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