PROJECT 4
Engaging Student-led Citizen Science and Locals for Monitoring Mount Lefo chameleon (Trioceros wiedersheimi, Nieden, 1910) Populations and Habitats in the Bakossi Forest Landscape.
Thanks to Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and Populations (ZGAP), this Chameleon
conservation project is one of the most high impact initiatives that FReECo have implemented in its
conservation landscapes as our effort here is tilted towards halting the threats and potential drive to the
status of an endangered species, by so doing preventing talks of restoring or protecting the specie from
extinction.
The aim of the project was to empower 06 local students to become citizen scientists supported by 04
locals (02 women farmers and 02 grazers) to monitor and document cases of habitat use and threats
to chameleon populations in the Muanenguba mountain forest zones.
By providing basic hands-on training in field techniques on equipment use, data collection and
providing real-time feedback to the project management (FReECo), students and local people
contributed, and are contributing to the conservation efforts of the Trioceros wiedersheimi.
The reason we engaged students in this project is because, unlike other mammals and reptiles hunted for
consumption, chameleons are mostly captured by young people of school going age who supply them to
local dealers, where it is supplied to tourists and other intermediary dealers. As such, the young people
have a better knowledge of the habitat use, active periods and distribution of chameleons in the
Muanenguba forest landscape and the Bakossi area as a whole, and so, it will be feasible to carry out a
rapid assessment to document recent data. Also, working with students in this project is timely to create a
sense of environmental ethics and introduce them to practical conservation actions which is vital for the
conservation of biodiversity.
The women and grazers on the other hand often encounter most reptiles like snakes and chameleon, thus
their participation will be feasible in providing consistent data for the chameleon status assessment in
Bakossi.
The project objectives were;
1. To empower local students as citizen scientists and local people by educating and providing basic
training on hands-on education and research techniques for chameleons and forest ecology.
2. To monitor and document chameleon species and their habitat use in the Muanenguba Mountain
Forest.
3. To assess threats to chameleon habitats, including anthropogenic pressures and environmental changes.
4. To provide environmental awareness programs to the Bororo grazing community and farmers of 04 key
villages near the survey zones on the need to protect chameleon habitats for the species to thrive.
The methods that were employed to meet the project objectives include;
a) Activation of Friends for Nature clubs: We collaborated with 02 secondary schools (GBHS and PCSS
Bangem) where most students from the rural communities study, and activated environmental clubs that
served as a platform to recruit students interested in chameleon monitoring and wildlife conservation.
– Quiz were used as the strategy to select 06 like-minded students (03 from each school) with proven local
ecological knowledge of chameleons and who also showcase interest for biodiversity conservation.
– The selected students were also given outdoor practical training on programs covering chameleon
ecology, basic field survey techniques, and data collection protocols using prepared datasheets.
This collaborative initiative and practical engagement of the students will stimulated their desire for
biodiversity conservation and laid a good foundation for their chosen career in conservation.
b) Baseline Surveys, Habitat Mapping and ecological threat assessment
– Field expeditions led by trained student/local teams will be organised to conduct transect surveys. In
each survey habitat, 06 long line transects will be used in parallel to each, but in order to prevent the same
animal from being detected (and thus disturbed) from more than one line, these will be positioned with a
minimum of 20 m separation between each line. As recommended by Brady, L. D et al., (1999.
15 Camera traps will be deployed (05 per habitat) at points with high confidence of detection especially
those acknowledged by the locals/students, mostly roosting sites. Direct photgraphs will be taken for all
visual encounters. The target survey habitats include grassland with shrub at the Muanenguba twin crater
lakes, the section of Bakossi National Park, and cultivated farmlands. Data sheets will be used to enter all
information, while the GPS will be used to record the exact coordinates of the observations. The
“Tracking” option will also activated to enable mapping out the surveyed area on QGIS.
c) Anthropogenic threat Assessment at community level
Socio-economic surveys will be conducted using questionnaires that target personnel of government
agencies; mainly the Divisional delegation of Environment (DD/MINEPDED), the Delegation of
Forestry (DD/MINFOF) and ECoDaS-Cameroon, a local NGO operating in the Bakossi landscape to get
insights on any potential encounters with chameleons. Interviews and focus group discussions with local
communities especially the indigenes will also be done to understand the historical trend of chameleon
populations, species and their habitat use. The surveys will also unveil perceived threats to chameleon and
local opinion on its conservation.
During interactive sessions with the the students, vital information like chameleon supply chain will be
obtained since they are the primary suppliers of chamelons in the Bakossi community
