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Action Alerts Save Tanoe Swamps Forest - Sign the petition
Action Alerts Save Tanoe Swamps Forest - Sign the petition
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Save Tanoe Swamps Forest - Sign the petition |
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The Tanoé Swamps Forest, the very last remaining forest block in the The Tanoé Swamps Forest, a poorly known High Conservation Value Forest in jeopardy in south-eastern Côte-d’Ivoire The Tanoé Swamps Forest (also called Ehy forest in the literature) is located in the south eastern corner of Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. This swampy forest covers approximately 6.000 hectares (a more precise delineation is still required) between the Ehy Lagoon to the West and the Tanoé River to the South and the East and is the only relatively large forest block remaining south-eastern Côte-d’Ivoire. In 1999, during a workshop organized in Accra, Ghana by Conservation International to identify Priority Conservation Sites in West Africa, the area comprising the Tanoé Swamps Forest was characterized by an exceptional biological richness and considered as a top priority area for the conservation of mammals, birds and wetlands. To date, the Tanoé Swamps Forest represents the very last shelter on earth for the Miss Waldron red colobus (Piliocolobus badius waldronae), and no doubt for the diana roloway (Cercopithecus diana roloway) and the Geoffroy’s colobus (Colobus vellerosus). Calls by the Miss Waldron red colobus were heard recently (March 2008) by a team of scientists from the Swiss Centre for Scientific Research in Côte d’Ivoire (CSRS, www.csrs.ch) in this forest, despite having previously been suspected extinct. Additionally, the diana roloway and the Geoffroy’s colobus have been found exceptionally abundant in this forest (February-March 2008), while these monkeys have been extinct or are on the verge of extinction elsewhere. The floristic importance of the Tanoé Swamps Forest has also been demonstrated by the CSRS team. Indeed a preliminary plant inventory carried out in 20 plots of 400 m2 revealed that 33 plants species over 279 found in the Ehy forest are of conservation concern. These 33 plant species comprise 19 plant species endemic to either Côte-d’Ivoire or West Africa, 15 plant species endemic to Upper Guinea, and 13 species that are on the red lists of IUCN including the above mentioned endemic species. This High Conservation Value Forest represents a precious asset for the promotion of sustainable development in south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire and the future of the local communities is directly or indirectly linked with that of the forest. In late 2006, a pilot community-based management system for the Tanoé Swamps Forest was launched under the impulsion of the CSRS team and the process of obtaining an official status of community-managed forest is under way. This pilot management system is strongly supported by CEPA (www.association-cepa.org) and WAPCA (www.wapca.org) and has received support from various donors including European zoos, Conservation International, and the Nature et Decouvertes Foundation. Despite all these efforts, the Tanoé Swamps Forest and its unique biodiversity are currently under an alarming threat posed separately and simultaneously by PALMCI (a palm oil company) and a private investor since late February 2006. Indeed PALMCI and the private investor have started the replacement of the whole Ehy forest by palm oil plantations without any study of environmental impact, and ignoring the disagreement of numerous local peoples involved in the pilot management system. This is contrary to the statements of the country’s legislation and all the international conventions signed by Côte d’Ivoire including the Convention on Biodiversity. |
Conservation of the critically endangered Cross River Gorilla in South West Cameroon
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