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GIS Based Wildlife Habitat Suitability Modeling within

the Jelinkon Community Resource Management Area around Mole National Park.

  

Lawrence A. AkpaluChristian Atsu Fumey-Nassah

Benard Asamoah

Shaded Cocoa farmAssessme

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The Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) is geared to wards developing mechanisms for sustainable use and management of natural resources outside protected areas

INTRODUCTION

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This could be achieved through integrating the use of natural resources into the existing land use practices with local communities who live at the fringes of PAs

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INTRODUCTION

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It is therefore important that we understand the relationships between the wild animals and their habitats

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And this has called for habitat evaluation

INTRODUCTION

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Habitat evaluation is the assessment of the suitability of land (or water) as a habitat for specific wildlife species

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INTRODUCTION

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To achieve this one needs a modeling to predict the suitability of land given a particular set of land conditions. Such model is called a habitat (environmental) suitability model

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INTRODUCTION

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In this study we have used remote sensing and GIS based techniques to model habitat suitability of some key species of interest to the Jelinkon Community Resource Management Area around Mole National Park.

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INTRODUCTION

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AGoal of the study Support forest fringe communities to

restore and manage habitats for the return of wildlife to the Jelinkon CREMA through appropriate conservation mechanisms

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVESA) To undertake habitat assessment

of the Community Management Resource Area

B) To delineate the sites that required specific planning and management interventions

 

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Jelikon is found in the Sawla Tuna district of the northern region. It is about 10km from the district capital, Sawla and 4km from the nearest boundary of the Mole National Park. Jelikion is located on the coordinates N09º 19.437, W002º 20.646. It has approximately 3328 households with an estimated population of 2626. here are seven different settlements which constituents the Jelikon community. The community is headed by a Chief ,whose primary responsibilities include conflict resolutions

Study area

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AMethodology

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METHOD

Planninig with Jelinkon community for the species selection

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Selection of wildlife speciesIt is worthy of note that the animals used in this study were selected by the community based on their protein requirement, medicinal and cultural values.

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Animal Preferred Vegetation Preferred Distance to water (km)

Preferred Slope Preferred Distance to Settlements (Km)

Grasscutter Grasslands, farmlands ≤2 10-30 500-1500near

Bushbuck Open vegetation and farms

≤2 10-30 Near 500-1500

Red-Flanked Duiker

Secondary forest and Forest

≤1 10-30 ≥1500

Kob Grassland ≤2 10-30  Waterbuck Open grassland and

open woodland≤3 0-50 0-500

Green Monkey Riverine woodland (forest)

≤1 10-30 500-1500 medium

Patas Monkey Open vegetation ≤2 30-50 Near 0-500Leopard   ≤4 30-50  Hartebeest Open savanna and

wooded grassland≤15 10-30  

500-1500Warthog Open grassland,

woodland savana≤3 10-30 500-1500

Lion woodland      Roan Antelope Open and lightly

wooded grassland and tall garssland

≤15 10-30 500-1500

Crested Pocupiner Wooodlands, grasslands and rocky areas

≤4 10-50 500-1500

       

Model criteria

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Distance to town model

Degree of slope model

Distance to water model Landcover classification

BUSHBUCK MODEL

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INTEGRATION OF MODELS/SUITABILITY MAP FOR BUSHBUCK

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RESULTS

S uitable & uns uitable areas in J elinkon C R E MA

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2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

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Area (h

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S uitable 8644.71 4198.27 6687.44 6447.76 2687.85 1417.94 5979.14 8644.71

Non S uitable 7320.65 11765.65 9274.88 9517.36 13275.64 14544.21 9981.44 7320.61

B us hbuc k L ionC res ted

porc upineR oyal Antelope L eopard K ob G ras s c utter Waterbuc k

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I. ConclusionSUITABILITY OF HABITATS FOR IDENTIFIED SPECIES

The chart shows that bushbuck and water buck have more suitable area than any specie at Jelinkon. This is probablydue to the fact that from Landcover map above, we see that Jelinkon has a lot of open areas and farmlands. Referring toCriteria above, bushbuck prefer habitats of such nature hence their dominance in Jelinkon where this habitat probablydominates. This habitat preference by bushbuck apparently confirms similar work done in the Western region byAsamoah-Boateng et.al 2008. It is also in line with Yaw Boafo’s work on wildlife species flash analysis work donein Western region in 2005. Yaw concluded that more bushbucks were found in secondary vegetation particularly onfarmlands and open areas.

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ARecommendation

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CREMA FOR THE PEOPLE

Necessary conservation

measures should be considered to ensure species

survival within the CREMA

Should have

strong policy

backing

EstablishOther

livelihood support

programmes within CREMAs

Proper habitat evaluation/suitability should be conducted

for all CREMAs

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AReferences

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For more information contactLawrence Atsu AkpaluMapping UnitResource Management Support UnitP.O.Box 1457Kumasilawkpalu@yahoo.comChristian Atsu Fumey-NassahWildlife UnitResource Management Support CentreP.O.Box 1457 KumasiFumey07108@itc.nl

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Thank you