The Ants of AfricaThe Mt Nimba area of Guinea and Ivory Coast
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The Ants of Africa The Mt Nimba area of Guinea and Ivory Coast |
 
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TOP -------Wild------- --Bossou-- Nimba/Diecke |
Members of the Bossou research team have also been carrying out surveys and studies of neighboring chimpanzee populations in Séringbara and Yéalé in the Nimba Mountains and Yossono and Nonah, in the Diécké Reserve.  The Nimba Mountains 
The Nimba Mountains were established as a nature reserve in 1943 in Côte d'Ivoire, and in 1944 in Guinea. The nature reserve on the Côte d'Ivoire side is a "foret classee", under national ownership. The Guinea portion of the massif was accepted as a biosphere reserve in 1980, consisting of 17,130 ha. Both reserves now form a World Heritage Site, gazetted in 1981 for Guinea and in 1982 for Côte d'Ivoire. The reserve extends over 220 sq. km and its highest peak, Mont Richard Molard, is at 1752 m. The reserve on the Guinean side extends over 13,000 ha and 5,000 ha on the Côte d'Ivoire side. The Nimba Mountains are cut up by deep, richly forested valleys. There is great topographical diversity, with valleys, plateaux, rounded hilltops, rocky peaks, abrupt cliffs and bare granite blocks, and the whole area constitutes a vast water catchment. The Nimba Mountains have attracted the interest of scientists, including geographers, geologists, soil experts, botanists, zoologists and other specialists ever since the late 1930's (Kortlandt, 1986). Botanical, zoological and geological inventories have consequently been completed. The single most important work, a comprehensive and extensive record of the flora of the Nimba Mountains, was produced by Adam (1971-1983). |
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Thus, there are three vegetation types which dominate the Nimba
mountains (WCMC, 1982): The Governments of both Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire have also organized since 1982 various missions and training conferences together with UNESCO in order to redefine the problems of ecosystem protection in the Nimba Mountain region (Pascual et al, 1988; Pascual et al, 1989). All these publications and missions have enormously contributed to scientific knowledge of various species of fauna (Lamotte, 1982) and flora (Fournier, 1987; Schnell, 1987), and soils found in the Nimba Massif. Since 2001, Fauna and Flora International has also supported Tripartite Meetings between Liberia, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire in order to promote a more efficient and harmonious management of the entire Nimba Mountains' region. |
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Séringbara, Guinea Shimada (2000) had previously provided confirmation of the occurrence of chimpanzees in the region, after two short surveys of the area in 1999, during which nests and feeding remains of chimpanzees were found in the forest beside the village. Indeed, over 70 nests were then found in the area. In addition, vocalizations of chimpanzees were frequently heard. This strongly suggested the presence of a resident group at this site. This was further confirmed during Matsuzawa's and colleagues' visit to the Séringbara forest in January and February 2000 and Humle visits to this site between June and September 2000 and June and September 2001, during which they recorded further evidence of chimpanzees in the area, including nests, feeding remains and indications of tool use (Humle and Matsuzawa, 2001). There is no immediate threat to chimpanzees in this region, although some poaching is still going on in the reserve but not aimed at chimpanzees. Poaching incidences have reduced in frequency over the last three years. Fires in the dry season may be affecting the distribution of the chimpanzees but their influence has not yet been established. Local people (Manon) in the Séringbara and Bossou area consider the chimpanzee as the reincarnation of their ancestors and therefore the chimpanzee in this region benefit from some protection by indigenous people. Yéalé, Ivory Coast Goera (Gouela), Côte d'Ivoire
Diécké, Guinea |
The Nimba Mountains are characterized by evergreen forest of medium
altitude (Guillaumet & Adjanohoun, 1971). The region below 800 m
is entirely covered by primary tropical forest and, above 800 m, where
the mountain becomes steeper, the vegetation is interspersed with
montane forest and patches of high terrestrial herbaceous vegetation
and savanna.
structure of the soil and supporting numerous herbaceous plant
communities. The savanna is broken by gallery forests between 1,000m
and 1,600m. Parinari excelsa is a dominant species above
1,000m, where there is also an abundance of epiphytes.
During
Humle's surveys of the site, minimum nesting group size was one and
maximum was 21, therefore if infants are included, group size must be
at least 30 individuals, assuming that at least nine adults females
were present and carrying infants. Perhaps one or two more chimpanzee
groups reside in the forest above the Séringbara village on the
mountain slopes, but only further research will confirm exact group
numbers and size.
The
Diécké forest or "Forêt Classée de Diécké"
is located about 50 km to the west of Bossou. It is a reserve
extending over 700 sq. km in area, stretching about 35 km from north
to south and 35 km from east to west. The forest is under the control
of the "Centre Forestier" of N'Zérékoré.
The two study sites, which we have surveyed thus far, are located
beside two villages: Yossono (west of the reserve, 7°38' N and 8°30'
W) and Nonah (east of the reserve (7°33' N and 9°05' W)).
The explored sites consist primarily of primary forest covering small
hills, of which the highest peak is at 589 m above sea level
(Matsuzawa et al., 1999). It still remains undetermined as to how many
chimpanzees inhabit this reserve and how many communities pervade in
the area. But some preliminary behavioral data have emerged,
especially concerning tool-use at those sites (cf. Humle and
Matsuzawa, 2001). There were recent reports of hunting of chimpanzees
in the Yossono area dating back to July 2001, while hunting pressure
at Nonah does not appear to be as high. But hunting seems to be a huge
problem within this Reserve and may pose a considerable threat to the
chimpanzee populations living in that region.