Cross River NP: an example of community management in the Mbe Mountains in Nigeria

The NaturAfrica West Africa regional programme supports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in implementing conservation activities in the Cross River National Park landscape in Nigeria, on the southern border with Cameroon.

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In addition to its work in Cross River National Park itself, WCS has also been working in the Mbe Mountains for 20 years (see map). Thanks to the NGO's long-standing involvement, local communities have decided to protect the area. Under the leadership of village chiefs, 86 km² of dense forest rich in biodiversity has been conserved. The area is home to the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) and the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti), both of which are endemic, as well as other remarkable wildlife species. It is because of this natural wealth and the services provided by ecosystems such as climate regulation, water supply and fish-filled rivers that the communities have decided on a strict conservation model for the Mbe Mountains. As the village chief of Wula, His Royal Highness Damian Aria, said: ‘We want to preserve this wealth for future generations, so that children can still see monkeys and gorillas.’

This community-based approach to forest conservation is quite unusual and deserves to be replicated in other landscapes where NaturAfrica is working. It is probably the result of WCS's long-standing commitment to protecting the site and the communities' awareness of the inestimable value of the biodiversity of which they are the guardians. These efforts complement the work of the Nigeria National Park Service for landscape-level forest conservation.

To learn more about the Mbe Mountains, visit the WCS Nigeria website. https://nigeria.wcs.org/Wild-Places/Mbe-Mountains.aspx 

Renaud Bailleux

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Above: The Mbe Mountains seen from the sky. 
Below: Renaud Bailleux, NaturAfrica West Africa regional coordination (left) with HRH Damian Aria, chief of Wula village, Cross River State. 
Bottom: Chimpanzees in Nigeria-Cameroon (copyright EBAN_JO @WCS)

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