THE CONSERVATION ATLAS OF

TROPICAL FORESTS

AFRICA

SIMON ANSTEY, WWF-International, Gland, Switzerland

E.O.A. ASIBEY, World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA

SERGE BAHUCHET, Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France

ROBERT BAILEY, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

ANDREW BALMFORD, Large Animal Research Group, University of Cambridge, UK

R.K. BAMFO, Forestry Commission, Accra, Ghana RICHARD BARNES, Wildlife Conservation

International, University of California, San Diego, USA

RICHARD BARNWEU., WWF, Godalming, Surrey, UK JOSEPH B. BESSONG, Forestry Department,

Yaounde, Cameroon NEIL BIRD, ODA, Kumasi Ghana A. BLOM, WWF, Epulu, Zaire K.T. BOATENG, Forestry Department, Accra,

Ghana DENYS BOURQUE, Quebec, Canada NEIL BURGESS, RSPB, Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK PETER BURGESS, Suffolk, UK JOHN BURLISON, Nature Conservancy Council,

Balloch, Scotland TOM BUTYNSKI, Impenetrable Forest

Conservation Project, Uganda G. CABALLE, Institut Botanique, Montpellier,

France JULIAN CALDECOTT, Cambridge, UK PIERRE CAMPREDON, IUCN, Bissau, Guinea­

Bissau RICHARD CARROLL, WWF, Dzanga-Sangha,

Central African Republic JAVIER CASTROVIEJO, Asociacion Amigos de

Doftana, Seville, Spain KEVIN CLEAVER, World Bank, Washington, D.C.,

USA NONIE COULTHARD, RSPB, Sandy, Bedfordshire,

UK MICHAEL CROSBY, ICBP, Cambridge, UK ALAN CROSS, UNEP/GRID, Geneva, Switzerland GLYN DAVIES, ODA, Nairobi, Kenya JEAN-PIERRE D'HuART, WWF, Brussels, Belgium CHARLES DOUMENGE, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland FRAN<;:OISE DOWSETT-LEMAIRE, Liege, Belgium JOSEPH DUDLEY, Department of Biology and

Wildlife, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, USA PAT DUGAN, IUCN Wetlands Programme,

Gland, Switzerland CHRIS ELLIOTT, WWF-International, Gland,

Switzerland JOHN FA, Irish Town, Gibraltar JULIA FALCONER, ODA, Kumasi, Ghana J. H. FRAN<;:OISE, Forestry Department, Accra,

Ghana K. FRIMPONG-MENSAH, Institute of Renewable

Resources, Kumasi, Ghana STEVE GARTLAN, WWF, Douala, Cameroon K. GHARTEY, Forestry Department, Accra,

Ghana DONALD GORDON, WCMC, Cambridge, UK

ii

Contributors ARTHUR GREEN, WWF, Korup National Park,

Cameroon GLEN GREEN, Geology Department, Macalester

College, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA MICHAEL GREEN, WCMC, Cambridge, UK JOHN HALL, School of Agricultural and Forest

Sciences, Bangor, UK ALAN C. HAMILTON, WWF, Godalming, Surrey, UK ALEXANDER HARCOURT, Department of

Anthropology, University of California, Davis, USA

JOHN HART, Wildlife Conservation International, Project Okapi, Epulu, Zaire

TERESE HART, Wildlife Conservation International, Project Okapi, Zaire

WILLIAM HAWTHORNE, ODA, Kumasi, Ghana PHILIPPE HECKETSWEILER, Institut Botanique,

Montpellier, France BARRY HEWLETT, Tulane University, New

Orleans, USA PETER HOWARD, Kampala, Uganda MARK INFIELD, WWF-International, Gland,

Switzerland GIL ISABIRYE-BASUTA, Kibale, Uganda MARTIN JENKINS, Cambridge, UK ANDY JOHNS, Kibale, Uganda PETER JONES, -Department of Natural Resources

and Forestry, Edinburgh University, UK SCOTT JONES, Bristol, UK CHRIS JUSTICE, NASA, Goddard Space Flight

Center, Greenbelt, USA FRANCIS KAsISI, WWF-International, Gland,

Switzerland RONALD KEAY, Cobham, Surrey, UK JACKIE KENDALL, NASA, Goddard Space Flight

Center, Greenbelt, USA OLIVIER LANGRAND, WWF, Antananarivo,

Madagascar NIGEL LEADER-WILLIAMS, Large Animal

Research Group, University of Cambridge, UK

DAMIEN LEWIS, London, UK MICHEL LoUETTE, Musee Royal de l'Afrique

Centrale, Belgium RICHARD LoWE, Botany Department, University

of Ibadan, Nigeria PETER LoWRY, Missouri Botanical Garden, St

Louis, USA H.F. MAITRE, Centre Technique Forestier

Tropical, Nogent-sur-Marne, France CLAUDE MARTIN, WWF-International, Gland,

Switzerland JAMES MAYERS, WWF, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania MANKoTo MA MBAELELE, Zaire Institue for

Nature Conservation, Kinshasa, Zaire JEFF McNEELY, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland TOM MCSHANE,WWF-US, Libreville, Gabon ERICA MCSHANE-CALUZI, WWF-US, Libreville,

Gabon JEAN-BoNIFACE MEMVIE, Forest Service,

Libreville, Gabon HADELIN MERTENS, WWF, Kinshasa, Zaire ALAIN MONFORT, Liege, Belgium

DON MOORE, US Geological Survey, Eros Data Center, Sioux Falls, USA

TH. MULLER, National Herbarium and National Botanic Garden, Harare, Zimbabwe

DOMINIQUE N'Sosso, Ministry of Forest Economy, Brazzaville, Congo

JOHN OATES, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA

KATIE OFFERT, Nyungwe Forest Conservation Project, Rwanda

NICOLA O'NEILL, Swansea, Wales J.G.K. Owusu, Insitute ofRenewable Resources,

Kumasi, Ghana RISTO PAIVINEN, FINNIDA, Finland PRINCE PALMER, Forestry Division, Sierra Leone ALEXANDER PEAL, Forestry Development

Authority, Liberia JEAN-YVES PIROT, IUCN Wetlands Programme,

Gland, Switzerland ROGER POLHILL, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,

Surrey, UK DEREK POMEROY, Zoology Department,

Makerere University, Uganda G. PUNGESE, Department ofGame and Wildlife,

Accra, Ghana S.J. QUASHIE-SAM, Institute of Renewable

Resources, Kumasi, Ghana SIMON RIETBERGEN, IIED, London, UK ANNE ROBERTSON, National Museums ofKenya,

Nairobi, Kenya ALAN RODGERS, Cambridge, UK ALISON ROSSER, Cambridge, UK PER RYDEN, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland JACQUELINE SAWYER, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland GOTZ SCHREIBER, World Bank, Washington,

D.C., USA HEINRICH STOLL, Bremen, Germany DAVID STONE, Begnins, Switzerland SIMON STUART, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland ROBERT SUSSMAN, Anthropology Department,

Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, USA

IAN THORPE, School of Biology, University of East Anglia, UK

RAPHAEL TSILA, Ministry ofForest Economy, Brazzaville, Congo

K. TUFOUR, Forestry Commission, Accra, Ghana CAROLINE TuTIN, Lope Reserve, Gabon AMY VEDDER, Wildlife Conservation

International, New York, USA FRED VOOREN, Forestry Department, University

ofWageningen, Netherlands JOHNWAUGH, IUCN, Washington, D.C., USA CLIVE WICKS, WWF, Godalming, Surrey, UK ROGER WILSON, FFPS, London, UK RON WITT, UNEP/GRID, Geneva, Switzerland PETER WOOD, RSPB, Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK IpALAKA YOBWA, Forest Inventory and

Management Service, Kinshasa, Zaire

In addition authors and reveiwers are acknowl­edged at the end of each chapter.

THE CONSERVATION ATLAS OF

TROPICAL FORESTS

Editors

JEFFREY A. SAYER International Union for Conservation ofNature and Natural Resourees, Gland, SwitzerIand

CAROUNE S. HARCOURT WorId Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK

N. MARK COLUNS WorId Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK

Editorial Assistant: Clare Billington • Map Editor: Mike Adam W orId Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge

M MACMILLAN

~Theworld Conservation Union • WORLD CONSERVATlON

MONITORING CENTRE

AFRICA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This atlas was produced under the Forest Conservation Programme of IUCN, The World Conservation Union .. IUCN's work in tropical forests receives financial support from the government of Sweden. Much of the research, editing and map preparation was done at the World Coqservation Monitoring Centre which is supported by IUCN, the World.Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); the Centre is also part of UNEP's Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) towards which thls atlas is a contribution.

IUCN is especially indebted to The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. for the original idea for the atlas and for the generous fund­ing which has enabled the research for the project to be undertaken.

Thanks also go to IBM, for providing a computer which was used for running the geographic information system (GIS) needed to compile the maps, and to the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ofCalifornia whichprovided the ARC/INFO soft­ware for the project. Petroconsultants Ltd of Cambridge kindly made available 'MundoCart', a world digital mapping database which proved invaluable in the preparation of this atlas.

Contributors to the atlas are listed earlier and their labours are much appreciated. A work ofthis nature, however, inevitably rep­resents the labours of hundreds of people who have painstakingly documented the forests, researching their ecology and wildlife, and who have laboured over the production of the maps from field work to final printing. Heartfelt thanks are offered by the editors to all these unnamed people.

The editors would also like to thank all their colleagues at IUCN and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, without whose dedicated work this project would not have been possible. In WCMC, particular thimks go to Harriet Gillett and Donald Gordon for information on conservation areas, to Simon Blyth and Gillian Bunting for work on the maps and to Barbara Brown, James Culverwell, Brian Groombridge and Martin Jenkins for much appreciated and varied assistance. At IUCN, invaluable help was provided by Ursula Senn, Jacqueline Sawyer and Jill Blockhus. Finally, Paul Woodman at the Royal Geographical Society gave us considerable aid with, among other things, correct spellings of ever-changing place names~

Copyright © IUCN 1992 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 1992978-0-333-57757-8

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act

1988, or under the terms of any Iicence permitting Iimited copying issued by the Copyright licencing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be Iiable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

First published in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1992 Distributed by Globe Book Services Ltd

Bronel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hants RG21 2XS

British Cataloguing in Publication Data Sayer, Jeffrey A.

The Conservation atlas of tropical forests. Africa.

I. Title 11 Harcourt, Caroline S. 111 Collins, N. Mark 574.5022

ISBN 978-1-349-12963-8 ISBN 978-1-349-12961-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-12961-4

Acknowledgement of Sources The sources of the country maps are given at the end of each chapter.

The sources of the illustrations and maps are given in footnotes and captions. Designed by Robert Updegraff.

Map Production by Lovell Johns, Oxford Typeset by BP Intergraphics, Bath, Avon.

Contents Foreword 6

PART I: THE 1SSUES

1 Introduction 9 2 History of Forests and Climate 17 3 Biological Diversity 26 4 Case Studies in Conserving Large Mammals 33 5 Forest People 43 6 Population, Environment and Agriculture 49 7 Timber Trade 56 8 Forest Management 62 9 The Protected Areas System 69 10 A Future for Mrica's Tropical Forests 81

PART 11: COUNTRY STUDIES

11 Benin and Togo 97 12 Burundi and Rwanda 102 13 Cameroon 110 14 Central African Republic 119 15 Congo 125 16 Cöte d'Ivoire 133 17 Eastern Africa 143

Djibouti Somalia Ethiopia Sudan Kenya Tanzania

18 Equatorial Guinea 161 19 Gabon 168 20 The Gambia and Senegal 175 21 Ghana 183 22 Guinea 193 23 Guinea-Bissau 200 24 Indian Ocean Islands 206

Comoros Reunion Mauritius Seychelles

25 Liberia 214 26 Madagascar 221 27 Nigeria 230 28 Säo Tome and Principe 240 29 Sierra Leone 244 30 Southern Mrica 251

Angola Mozambique Malawi Zimbabwe

31 Uganda 262 32 Zaire 270

Acronyms 283 Glossary 283 Index 0/ Species 284 General Index 287

Fo re wo rd The loss of the world's tropical forests is one of today's most publicised, debated and least understood environmental issues. Some articles give the impression that the destruction is so rapid and catastrophic that by the end of the century there will be only scattered remnants of forest in increasingly embattled national parks. More than half the species that live on land are inhabitants of the tropical forests and a simple extrapolation leads to dire conclusions about what forest clearance means for the world's biological diversity.

But the situation is far more complicated than that. The statistics of total forest loss - 17 million hectares a year, an area considerably bigger than Switzerland - mask an intricate pattern ofvariation from country to country. The causes offorest loss also vary, though clearance for cultivation is generally the most important.

Deciding what policy to pursue is not easy for tropical governments who are striving to meet the needs of growing populations and to secure economic growth that will allow them to end degrading poverty and provide food security, health care, education and employment. For such nations, forest resources are vital. For many people the forests are the only hornes they have ever known.

Used sustainably for meat, nuts, fruits, gums, wild rubber, fibre, medicines, rattans and carefully extracted timber, tropical forests can provide a continuous supply of materials and income to human communities and at the same time maintain local climate, regulate the run-off of rainfall and lock up some of the carbon dioxide, the accumulation of which is causing climatic change. Used destructively the forests may give Gross National Product a quick boost but often leave local communities ruined.

Governments everywhere are reviewing their policies and moving towards sustainable management. They are negotiating international conventions to conserve biological diversity and halt climate change. Conventions on Forests and Biodiversity are also being discussed. Wise use is central to all these initiatives but conventions cannot work without sound knowledge of the forests themselves: where they are, what species exists in them and what essential services they provide. It is a remarkable and disconcerting truth that we lack much ofthis essential knowledge today.

In 1974 Reider Persson wrote, in a ground-breaking survey of the world's forest resources, 'we know quite a lot about the mo on, but we do not know how much of the earth is covered by forests and woodlands.' His words are still true. The problem is particularly acute for Africa. Although we have the capacity to use remote sensing to monitor in considerable detail what is happening in tropical forests, no forest map has ever been produced for some countries and for many the statistics available from different sources are contradictory.

This atlas is an attempt to present the facts on forest extent and loss in Mrica. It addresses the issues central to forest conservation and sustainable use. What are the real causes of loss? What are the values of the forests to the people of Africa? How can these values be translated into tangible benefits for the poor rural societies who live in and around the most diverse forests?

The volume begins with an analysis of ecological history. Contrary to popular belief that tropical forests are ancient and unchanging, those of Africa have changed a great deal with the past few tens of thousands of years in response to alterations in climate and sea level. These dynamics need to be understood. The later chapters analyse the characteristics of today's forest, the ways forest-dwelling peoples use them and the implications of agricultural and social trends. The role of the timber industry as a potential force for conservation or destruction is evaluated.

The maps are the heart of the atlas. They have been much more difficult to compile than in our previous volume on the forests of the Asia/Pacific region. Those for most of West Africa and large parts of Central Africa have never before been published. These maps are based on satellite imagery obtained in the past few years and they give a new picture of the dramatic decline in the forests of these areas. The continent is losing its forests faster than any other region. Thirty per cent have already gone and the remainder are being eroded at 1 per cent per year. In Central Africa, where very large tracts offorest remain, they are being fragmented and encroached upon by sm all farmers. Even light disturbance makes them very vulnerable to fire. Finally, most of Africa's closed forest occur under rainfall regimes which are marginal for this type of vegetation and as a consequence they are more vulnerable to disturbance or small changes in climate than those of other regions.

This atlas is offered to all concerned with conservation and sustainable living in the forested zone of Africa. Those processes will only come about if they are a priority of the peoples of Africa. Conservation programmes that seek to impose external views are doomed to failure. There is a new emerging generation of African conservationists who are weIl aware of the materials and cultural value ofthe forests to African societies. Many ofthem have contributed to this atlas. We hope that the atlas will be of value to them and to their nations in ensuring that Africa's wonderful forests, and the diverse animallife they support, remain a prized asset in the 21 st century.

vi

MARTIN HOLDGATE

Director General IUCN - The World Conservation Union