The Cameroon Ornithological Club and the Important Bird Area

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The Cameroon Ornithological Club and the
Important Bird Area Process in Cameroon
Kevin Njabo Yana
Cameroon Ornithological Club
P.O. Box 6776, Yaounde, Cameroon
Abstract
The Important Bird Area (IBA) is an initiative of BirdLife International, which has
as its global objectives the conservation of wild birds through the conservation of
key sites (the IBAs). Cameroon has over 920 bird species distributed in four different
biomes: the Afrotropical Highlands (A07); the Guinea Congo Forest (A05); the
Adamawa Plateau (A04); and the Sahel (A03). Nearly 700 species live in the country
all year round, while the migrant species (about 200) leave each year, particularly
after March. This enormous vaiety is due to the great diversity of habitats and the
biogeographic location. The Africa IBA programme initiated in 1998 covers all the
58 nation states and associated Islands. It is effectively present with field activities
in ten countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone,
South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda. The objectives of the programme are:
to protect a network of key sites for biodiversity conservation; strengthen NGOGovernment partnership for effective biodiversity conservation; build a strong,
financially sustainable local constituencies for conservation; and develop a cadre of
national conservationists across Africa.
Important Bird Area (IBA) field activities were inaugurated in Cameroon in 1998
thanks to a joint effort by the Cameroon Ornithological Club (COC), BirdLife
International, the Ministry of Environment and Forest and other partners. A
provisional list of 76 sites was compiled based on available publications, and
information from field workers. Additional field surveys by the IBA teams have
now been performed in over 70% of the sites, with 70% of these confirmed as IBAs
and 30% as potential IBAs. Seven of the sites initially identified are important
roosting sites for migratory waterbirds and six of these are among the confirmed
IBAs. These results enable us to determine the distribution of different bird species
throughout Cameroon.
Résumé
Le programme Zones d’Importance pour la Conservation des Oiseaux (ZICO) est
une initiative de BirdLife International ayant pour objectif l’inventaire et
l’identification des sites critiques pour la conservation des oiseaux et de la biodiversité
à travers le monde.
Le Cameroun a plus de 920 espèces d’oiseaux repartis en quatre biomes différents:
les Collines Afromontagnards (AO7), La Forêt Guinéenne Congolaise (AO5), le
Plateau d’Adamoua (AO4) et le Sahel(AO3. A peu près 700 espèces sont les résidents
et quelques 200 (les migrateurs) quittent le pays chaque année au mois de mars
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surtout. Ceci est une richesse énorme à cause de sa grande diversité d’habitats et sa
location biogéographique.
La composante Afrique du programme ZICO a été initiée en 1995 et couvre les 58
pays et Iles associés. Ce programme est effectif avec les activités de terrain dans dix
pays: Le Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Ethiopie, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Afrique
du Sud, Tanzanie, Tunisie et l’Ouganda. Les objectifs principaux de ce programme
sont: La protection d’un réseau de sites clés pour la conservation de la biodiversité;
le renforcement du partenariat ONG-Gouvernements pour la conservation de la
biodiversité; construire des fortes et financièrement viables circonscriptions pour la
conservation; développer un cadre des conservateurs nationaux à travers l’Afrique.
La phase initiale du programme ZICO a été réalisée grâce à un don du projet FED/
PNUD Partenariats ONG-Governement pour l’action durable sur la biodiversité.
Le bureau des Services Projets des Nations Unies (UNOPS), l’agent exécutant, assure
le compte rendu des résultats de ce projet, le Secrétariat de BirdLife International
est le coordonnateur régional et le Club Ornithologique du Cameroun est l’agent
exécutant national.
Les ZICOs sont sélectionnées selon les critères internationaux reconnus. Pour être
retenu comme ZICO, des sites doivent avoir un ou plusieurs de ces critères: les
espèces globalement menacées; les espèces a distribution restreintes; les espèces a
biomes restreints et; la concentration d’un grand nombre ou groupes d’espèces
limitées dans un habitat particulier.s
Les activités de terrain du programme ZICO ont été inaugurées au Cameroun en
1998 grâce à un effort conjoint du Club Ornithologique du Cameroun, BirdLIfe
International, le Ministère de l’Environnement et des Forêts ainsi que d’autres
partenaires.
Une liste provisoire de 76 sites composée sur la base de publications et information
des personnes ressources en à résulter. Les inventaires ornithologiques conduit par
l’équipe ZICO ont été effectués sur plus de 70% de ces sites et 70% sont confirmés
comme ZICO tendis que 30% restes de sites potentiels. Parmi les sept (7) de sites
identifiés au préalable, comme important pour les oiseaux migrateurs, six (6) sont
confirmés. Les résultats de ces inventaires nous permettrons de déterminer la
distribution des différentes espèces d’oiseaux sur l’étendu du territoire camerounais.
Introduction and Background
IBAs are selected using internationally agreed criteria. To qualify, the sites must have
one or more of the following: globally threatened species; restricted range species; biome
restricted species; or concentration of numbers or groups of species confined to particular
habitats.
About the Cameroon Ornithological Club (COC)
The Cameroon Ornithological Club (the BirdLife International partner in Cameroon),
is an apolitical, non-religious, non-profit making and charitable non-governmental
(environmental) organisation created in 1986. It works in collaboration with the Ministry
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of Environment and Forest (MINEF) in the implementation of the Important Bird Areas
programme.
Important Bird Areas (IBA)
IBAs are places of international biodiversity significance, carefully selected for the conservation
of birds at the global, regional or sub-regional levels. They offer a practical tool for conservation
and are chosen using standardised, agreed criteria. They form part of a wider, integrated
approach to conservation that embraces existing protected area networks, sites, species
and habitat protection.
The IBA programme is a site-based approach to bird and biodiversity conservation. It
aims to identify and protect, in collaboration with other stakeholders, a network of sites
critical for the long-term survival of bird species throughout their natural ranges. It has
gained protection for more than 65,000km2 of key habitats in Europe, the Middle East
and Africa. The success of the programme is reflected in the development of national
conservation programmes; advances in development and conservation policies; and institutional
strengthening of the national NGOs which form the BirdLife Partnership.
The Methods used in the IBA
The African NGO-Government Partnerships for Sustainable Biodiversity Action project
is a collaborative effort by the Cameroon Ornithological Club to conserve and manage
Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Cameroon. The following methods were used in the
implementation of this programme in Cameroon:
Identification
This aims to locate every site within the Cameroon that meets the international IBA
criteria. A national network of project collaborators, under the coordination of the COC,
nominated sites for designation as IBAs. These sites were analysed according to internationally
agreed criteria and information on each IBA was entered into a specially designed nationally
held database. The identification phase is a consultative process amongst the local community,
government agencies and other conservation agencies using local, national and international
research findings.
Designation: Identification of IBAs is expected to result in on-the-ground conservation
action. National site inventories are conducted and a national database is constantly
updated with new information to provide a sound scientific basis for future monitoring
and conservation work.
Protection: Local IBA stakeholder groups with the help of the COC initiate protection
through the development of management plans for each site. The highest priority projects
are selected for long-term field based actions by the COC, including the development
of land-use planning strategies, conservation easements, co-operative agreements with
local land owners, the creation of reserves, the establishment of sustainable development
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Figure 1: all species
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Figure 2: Number of species recorded so far, for each half-degree square (R.J. Dowsett, Oct. 1998)
Figure 3: IBAs confirmed and provisional (Oct. 1998)
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programmes, and environmental education initiatives. Work is also done with government
agencies to ensure that IBAs are included in protected area systems to help meet national
obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity. This is still an on-going process.
Monitoring: Stakeholder groups and the COC carry out monitoring of specific threats
to IBAs. An IBA designated as a protected area is only the first step in ensuring the longterm conservation of its birds and wildlife. Further field work, scientific research, local
publicity campaigns and national and international advocacy are often required to guarantee
future protection of IBAs.
Results
By April 2001, 70% of the sites initially identified had been surveyed. Most of these
surveys were carried out by the COC while other local partners helped with some other
sites. The COC also identified two additional sites, the Ottotomo FR and the Mengame
wildlife sanctuary, which were not amongst the original 76 sites. Of a total of 78 sites,
38 have now been confirmed, (which cover more than 10% of the surface area of the
country), 18 rejected and 22 others are still to be surveyed. All but two resident species
of conservation concern (Melignomon eisentrauti and Batis minima) are included in the
set of sites. Seventeen sites have been selected for the Cameroon and Gabon lowlands
Endemic Bird Area (EBA 085), in which five of the six species occur. The seventeen
sites identified for the Cameroon mountains EBA (086) include all 27 species. Four
sites qualify for the Sahel biome (A03) which include all nine species known to be resident
or which occur regularly. For the Guinea savannah biome (A04) seven sites qualify, in
which 42 of the 45 species occur, while for the Guinea-Congo forests biome (A05), 20
sites (with 207 of 215 species) have been selected, and for the Afrotropical highlands
biome (A07) 15 sites (all 44 species). Six sites qualify for congregations of waterbirds.
Set-up of institutional structures
The basic institutional structures for the implementation of the Important Bird Areas
programme are: the National Liaison Committee (NLC) and, Site Support Groups (SSGs
- ultimately at least one for each IBA).
The National Liaison Committee (NLC): This committee is now set-up and functioning
and is constituted of representatives from government agencies, local community groups,
UNDP and BirdLife International. The NLC forms an important channel of communication
between the highest levels of national policy-making and site conservation action.
Site Support Groups (SSGs): Site support groups (SSGs) are members of local site-adjacent
communities that actively promote the conservation of IBAs. They are one of the most
practical ways of achieving conservation by the local communities. SSGs are an important
advocacy tool that cannot be ignored by decision-makers at any level. They use birds as
a means to stimulate environmental interest and concern for biodiversity. They produce
useful linkages and synergies, between themselves, with the local administration and with
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external agencies. Probably the most important value of SSGs is in their links with the
future. SSGs provide conservation now; and, due to their intricate relationships to the
resources within the IBAs, they will continue to do so in the future. Eight SSGs have
been developed from this programme and the COC is in contact with a number of communitybased organisations with the same objectives around the confirmed IBA sites.
Discussion
The IBA programme is an on-going one and the COC is in the process of prioritisation
and, eventually, effective implementation of site conservation action in the confirmed
sites. From the sites originally identified as potential IBAs, seven were classified as important
roosting sites for migratory waterbirds and six are among the confirmed IBAs. Only
two of these sites currently have effective conservation action in place. The main reasons
for this appear to be:
• lack of human resources;
• lack of financial/logistic means;
• lack of co-ordination between different groups that do yearly counts in different parts
of the country;
• lack of education, especially the competent authorities. Note that Cameroon is not
yet a signatory to the RAMSAR Convention;
• most of the surveys done to date have focused mainly on forest endemism and most
conservation projects operating in the country tend to protect sites of high avian and
other biodiversity endemic areas.
However, the Cameroon Ornithological Club recently secured funding from Wetlands
International to train government staff and other environmental NGOs in waterbird
counts and management of wetlands in Cameroon. This has enabled us to set up a national
network that will henceforth participate in the annual African Waterbird Census (AWFC).
The results obtained from these surveys will now permit us to determine the distribution
of different bird species throughout Cameroon (Figures. 1, 2 and 3).
In addition, seven of the 38 sites are protected as national parks, one as a wildlife sanctuary,
two as faunal reserves and a further four as partially protected. Five are forests reserves
while 19 are unprotected. The 22 unsurveyed sites remain as potential IBAs on the basis
of their ornithological importance, but due to insufficient data, they cannot justifiably
be included in this report.
The Benefits of this Project to Conservation in Cameroon
Listed below are some of the major benefits of this project to Cameroon:
• Productions of inventories of internationally recognised sites vital to the conservation
of birds;
• Formation of a sound basis for the development of national conservation strategies;
• Provisions of a mechanism by which some of the obligations of signatories to the
Convention on Biodiversity can be met;
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• Training of ornithologists on the techniques of bird monitoring and other aspects
of the IBA process;
• Promotion of strong, mutually beneficial links between conservation NGOs and the
Government;
• Development of national and international networks of conservationists;
• Provision of a proven means of promoting conservation priorities in addition to government,
donors and NGOs;
• Publication of a national IBA directory;
• Construction of an international accessible database;
• A blue-plan for the development of IBA management systems, which allow local populations
to benefit from the wildlife heritage.
The COC will continue with the help of its SSGs, to carry out the following roles in
the IBA confirmed sites. This can of course only be achieved with the collaboration of
all the necessary stakeholders and with sound financial resources:
• Awareness raising and sensitising local communities on the wise use of natural resources
and the importance of IBAs for the conservation of biodiversity. The IBAs also help
to establish and/or strengthen environmental education programmes in schools around
their sites;
• Monitoring the status of key species and habitats in their sites, and the human activities
going on at these sites, and reporting illegal or destructive ones to the relevant authorities;
Starting environmentally-friendly projects, clearly linked to conservation, that will
help communities generate some income (e.g. bee-keeping, tree nurseries, eco-tourism);
providing services, such as assisting researchers and tour-guiding at the IBAs, which
benefits both the researchers and tourists on the one hand and the local community
itself on the other.
• Working with other NGOs and government agencies to rehabilitate degraded habitats,
for example by tree planting;
• Providing a link to the local communities for negotiation and intervention at site level.
Acknowledgements
The development of the COC has so far been made possible by funding from the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
This has been the principal source of finance for the execution of the IBA process in
Cameroon. We are grateful for this. The COC would also like to acknowledge BirdLife
International (Lincoln Fishpool, Hazell Thompson), Dowsett and Dowsett Lemaire,
Ron Demey, Chris Bowden, WWF Cameroon Programme, CARPE Cameroon, and
last but not least, Dr Yossi Leshem and Albert Froneman for bringing another new concept
to the African continent.
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