Using camera traps, transect walks and collected fecal samples, we provide the first quantitative survey of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in this region previously classified as a highly important chimpanzee conservation unit. The forest-savanna ecotone of the Eastern Central African Republic (CAR) is one such poorly studied area. Vast, pristine ecosystems and their biodiversity are vanishing globally at frightening speed, but many large tracts of wilderness have not yet been systematically inventoried and important natural populations of threatened species remain poorly characterized. Given the conflicting information, the Eastern Chimpanzee Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2010–2020 (Plumptre et al., 2010) predicted a chimpanzee conservation unit (CCU) east of the Vovodo river and ranked it as the 5th most important CCU for conservation given the expected ecological uniqueness of a chimpanzee population in the Eastern CAR, but identified the area southwest of the Chinko river as one of the five priority areas for further surveys. In contrast to these limited records, two recent ecological modeling approaches across all of Africa predicted the habitat of the Eastern CAR to be largely unsuitable for chimpanzees, except for isolated patches southwest of the Chinko river where occurrences were predicted to be more likely (Junker et al., 2012 Plumptre et al., 2010).
#Eastern chimpanzee Patch
In line with this, two chimpanzee nest sites and footprints were spotted during a two-week reconnaissance survey in the Zémongo Reserve (Roulet et al., 2007), but no evidence of chimpanzees was found during two elephant surveys west of the Chinko River including the Bangassou forest constituting the largest forest patch in the Eastern CAR (Fay, 1991 Williamson et al., 2004). The same communities will be able to report any information about the plants of concern. We are also planning to start another project which will involve local communities in the conservation of identified plants through the use of indigenous knowledge.
#Eastern chimpanzee update
(2) After every 2 years, we'll be working with our students in BSc in Biodiversity conservation during their final research projects and internships in order to update the evolution of conservation activities for the concerned plants We plan to assess the same database every year in order to see whether there is any progress in the conservation of the plants species of concern. (1) The Rwanda Development Board (RDB) will keep the provided database as a baseline which will be updated on annual basis. The success of this work will be proved through three main channels where: This research will contribute to the conservation of eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) which is classified as engendered on IUCN Redlist. The findings of this research will help NNP managers and different actors in conservation to take scientifically inspired decisions for chimpanzees and NNP conservation in general.
(5) Conservation measures for plants that serve as main chimpanzee food resources. (4) Influence of food availability on chimpanzee distribution in the study area (3) Distribution of top plants species constituting chimpanzee diet,
(2) Current chimpanzees’ distribution in the study area, (1) The contribution to global and national chimpanzee conservation targets, This research will contribute to the field by providing an understanding of chimpanzee diet and habitat selection. Therefore, we proposed this research to clarify the most dominant plant species eaten by chimpanzees, how diet affects their distribution and also what conservation measures to undertake for these preferred plant species for chimpanzees welfare in Nyungwe National Park. This discussion elicited the fact that many believe chimpanzee's distribution and diet are largely random. Discussion arose in this group about plant species eaten by chimpanzees and whether chimpanzee distribution is determined by preferred diet or other factors. The idea for this research stemmed from discussions with other conservationists in Rwanda through a group called “Let’s Talk about Conservation.” Daily, this group shares ideas and information focused on Rwandan biodiversity conservation and sustainability.
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