NIGERIA'S MBE MOUNTAINS FUNCTION AS IMPORTANT WILDLIFE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000088 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, OES/PCI DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USAID/AFRICA/SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DAVID ATWOOD ACCRA FOR REO FISHMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EAGR TBIO EAID ECON NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA'S MBE MOUNTAINS FUNCTION AS IMPORTANT WILDLIFE CORRIDOR FOR THE ENDANGERED CROSS RIVER GORILLA REF: ABUJA 2292 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Regional Environment Officer (REO),ESTH Officer, and World Conservation Society Country Director visited Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) projects in Cross River State that support the conservation of the critically-endangered Cross River gorilla November 22 to 24. The team also met with leaders and members of the Conservation Society of Mbe Mountains (CAMM),a community-based conservation association, and local forestry officials, who highlighted the challenges of balancing local communities' economic development needs with protecting the gorillas and their forest habitats. -------------- THE MBE MOUNTAINS REGION -------------- ¶2. (U) The Mbe Mountains region is home to a number of endemic and endangered primates, including the critically endangered Cross River gorilla, the most threatened taxon of ape in Africa (N.B.: Fewer Cross River gorillas exist now than the more well-known Central African mountain gorillas END NOTE.) Fewer than 300 Cross River gorillas survive, spread across a mountainous area of about 12,000 square kilometers at the headwaters of the River Cross between Cameroon and Nigeria. About 100 Cross River gorillas live in Nigeria, dispersed across the northern part of Cross River State, while about 200 of this subspecies of gorilla remain on the Cameroon side of the border. Most gorillas reside within this area in 11 discrete sites, geographically separated from each other by 10 or more kilometers. Three sites are located in Nigeria: Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Cross River National Park, and the Mbe Mountains. The remaining eight sites are located across the border in Cameroon. ¶3. (U) The Mbe Mountains Forest Reserve, covering an area of about 80 square kilometers, is not only home to its own population of gorillas, but also constitutes an important wildlife corridor linking gorilla populations in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to the west and in the Okwangwo Division of Cross River National Park to the east. The WCS estimates that about 30 gorillas reside within the Mbe Mountains forest reserve. -------------- -------------- THE CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION OF THE MBE MOUNTAINS -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The U.S. team visited Wula, one of nine villages surrounding the Mbe Mountains, to meet with state forestry officials and leaders of the Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains (CAMM),an association of the nine villages that surround the Mbe Mountains and manage the communities' forests and wildlife. A general assembly of four persons from each village and a board of trustees govern the CAMM, established through USAID funding in ¶2006. Management and technical committees run the association's activities. ¶5. (SBU) The CAMM employs nine eco-guards who conduct patrols to protect wildlife and collect data on gorillas and other fauna using ABUJA 00000088 002 OF 003 cyber-trackers (hand-held digital devices equipped with Global Positioning System that allow patrolling rangers to record and transmit key data to a central database maintained by WCS). CAMM leaders, however, complained about lack of funding and capacity to conduct their conservation efforts. They said that nine eco-guards are too few to adequately cover 80 square kilometers of forest-covered area, especially considering that eco-guards remain under-equipped and under-trained. ¶6. (SBU) The CAMM depends upon outside financial support to conduct its activities. The U.S. team suggested looking into developing and implementing small, income-generating micro-enterprises that could help to finance the association's conservation efforts, such as allowing a limited amount of sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products, beekeeping, and pig-rearing in the forests. (N.B.: The U.S. team shared the communities' complaints with senior state officials in Calabar, who promised to help the association through Cross River State's newly-enhanced Community Forest Department. Mission Abuja has also transmitted a 75,000-dollar proposal from WCS for consideration by the DOD's Africa Command Biodiversity Fund to assist the capacity of CAMM, and the U.S. team understands that WCS may request additional support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for possible financial support from the U.S. Great Apes Conservation Fund as well. END NOTE.) ¶7. (SBU) CAMM leaders expressed a desire to integrate federal and state conservation laws into the community's laws and customs, which they believe will result in better acceptance and enforcement of the laws. The leaders noted the low level of conservation awareness in the community and expressed a desire to institute an environmental education component in their programmatic activities to address the problem. The CAMM leadership appealed to state officials for enhanced social services, arguing that local villagers would remain unlikely to support conservation efforts fully, unless they perceived concrete economic benefits, including improvements in schools, clinics, water and electricity supply, and infrastructure. ¶8. (SBU) The U.S. team also visited a ranger patrol station at the Obudu Cattle Ranch on the northern border of Cross River National Park and received a briefing on the rangers' activities. (N.B.: Another population of gorillas lives in this area. END NOTE.) The rangers reported success in catching and prosecuting potential poachers, and noted that enhanced protection activities had led to a decline in poaching and hunting activity. They complained about lack of adequate equipment and poor working and living conditions at the patrol station as major challenges. (N.B.: Rangers are posted at patrol stations for one week at a time on a rotating basis and they have to transport water and other supplies over difficult terrain. The U.S. and the WCS teams agreed that installing an underground reservoir for collecting and storing rainwater, along with a simple water purification system, would be the best solution, as the area receives substantial rainfall during the long rainy season. END NOTE.) -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The CAMM's community-based approach to protecting the Mbe Mountains forest reserve and wildlife represents an innovative grass-roots initiative that recognizes the communities' custodianship of the forest and its wildlife. Communities, however, lack the resources and capacity to carry out sustained and effective conservation of such resources. The newly-reiterated promise by the Cross River State Forestry Commission to provide support to the CAMM is encouraging. Until such support materializes, however, continued support from the WCS and other international NGOs is vital. The CAMM will need to become ABUJA 00000088 003 OF 003 self-sufficient through establishment of sustainable, income-generating micro-enterprises to allow the organization to promote the long-term survival of the Cross River gorilla. ¶10. (U) The REO in Accra cleared this cable. SANDERS