CAPACITY BULDING AND LOCAL TRAINING The Community Rangers (CRs) project: The Community Rangers project, under project number 232526282, focuses on the role of community rangers as citizen scientists in the research and conservation of pangolins in the Deng-Deng National Park (DDNP). The project involves a team led by Esong Lionel Ebong, including members such as LIYONG Giscard Léon, Wapan Floribert, DODO Fridolin, Abba Jackson, Hanboa Esaie, and Mola. The project aims to recover installed camera traps, monitor field assistants’ use of SMART for biomonitoring, and provide refresher training to local guides
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Community Ranger Project Enhancing Community Field Assistants’ Capacity for Long-term Collaborative Conservation Management of Pangolins in Deng-Deng National Park, Cameroon. Pangolins are threatened and classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, listed on Appendix I of CITES and fully protected by Cameroon’s Wildlife conservation law as ‘class A’. Their habitats are under threat of degradation and fragmentation by human activity such as deforestation, farmland encroachment and bushfires. Literature has it that one Pangolin could consume more than 7 million of termites or ants annually (Challendar, 2009). The existing habitat disturbance as recorded during previous studies (Field observation of 2020/2021) threaten their welfare in their habitats, reduce food availability, and foraging capacity (Difouo et al., 2020) and reproduction leading to the local extinction. There is a limited number of government personnel charged biomonitoring of the park and to take off snares used to hunt pangolins. Thus, training of local guides as community rangers is vital for the biomonitoring and conservation of pangolin in Deng-Deng. The DDNP is in the Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic ecoregion situated against the forest of the Eastern Region and the desert of the Adamawa Region. Project outcome will help to understand the efficacy of using locally motivated individuals as citizen scientists to protect pangolins, thereby enabling forecast of potential period for species population and habitat restoration. Though the project is still at its early stage, thanks to the Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Species Conservation Fund, 06 local field assistants have already been trained in biomonitoring of pangolins using SMART survey tools; camera trapping, GPS, cyber-tracking, and data collection and recording on field data forms. They have also been educated on environmental and research ethics which is necessary to provide reliable and consistent research information. The local assistants now function effectively as citizen scientists (Couvet et al., 2008; Eden, 1996); and will be supported in providing consistent information and biomonitoring data to support pangolin welfare in Deng-Deng. The transformed local field assistants are now monitored, and will be certified as Community Rangers coordinated under FReECo in order to collaborate with government owned Eco-guards who are limited in number. Their collaboration will sustain an efficient conservation and ecosystem free of human interference including removal of trapping devices, destruction of hunters’ houses, recording of every human signs, document pangolin and other species signs their habitat use and evolution. In future more disengaged hunters will be recruited. This project targets to establish a standard community-based collaborative monitoring system based on feedback and rapid intervention response towards human activities, pangolin ecology, population status and other field reports.
Biomonitoring and Conservation Research and Biomonitoring FReECo is committed to understanding distribution, population, the behavioral ecology of different species and ensuring species welfare. We seeks to protect endangered species, including pangolins, gorillas, chimpanzees, and forest elephants across their range in Cameroon and Africa. We aim to protect these species by supporting biomonitoring, anti-poaching efforts, species reintroduction and community education.
IDEA WILD Support Project Study area This study was conducted in Deng-Deng National Park (DDNP) located in the Eastern Region of Cameroon in the Lom et Djerem Division (5°–5° 25′ N/13°–23° 34′ E,). Deng-Deng National Park is characterized by an equatorial and humid climate with annual rainfall ranging between 1,500 and 1,600 mm (Diangha, 2015). It is located in the forest–savannah transition zone of the country. The park area experiences seasonal dry and wet periods (Diangha, 2015), and other than pangolins, it harbors vulnerable wildlife species including gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and forest elephant (Loxodonta africana) (Maisels et al., 2011). This project is the second support received from IDEA WILD for continues conservation of pangolins as well as to enhance the capacity of the project participants in the field of biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability. Objectives 1. To confirm and document the presence of Smutsia gigantea in the Park using camera traps 2. To assess the habitat preference and relative population density of giant pangolins in the different habitat types, 3. Map out and describe anthropogenic activities occurring in and around the park and their impact on species welfare 4. To divert community’s attention from forest resources to alternative livelihoods by building local awareness and developing environmental education programs for schools. Field work