Guest blog by Dr. Annika Hillers, Conservation Scientist, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science
Between 2010 and 2014 the research teams in the Gola Forests in Sierra Leone and Liberia conducted various pygmy hippopotamus surveys. Results showed that pygmy hippos are associated with larger rivers close to, but rarely within large intact forest areas, and mainly outside of protected areas. Therefore, robust networks of protected forests and community-based conservation activities are needed for the survival of pygmy hippos.
This recent research was published in the journal Oryx and is titled A mix of community-based conservation and protected forests is needed for the survival of the Endangered pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis.
The elusive pygmy hippo
Pygmy hippos are endangered and occur in only four countries in West Africa (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea). They are found in forested areas, which now are very much fragmented and continue to be under immense human pressure linked to agriculture, logging and mining. There is no reliable estimate for the remaining pygmy hippo population in the wild, but it is believed to range from 2,000 to 3,000 individuals.
Pygmy hippos are very elusive and solitary animals. Knowledge about their distribution and ecology is scarce, and they are threatened through habitat destruction and hunting for bushmeat.
The Greater Gola Landscape in Sierra Leone and Liberia is one of the last remaining natural habitats for pygmy hippos and therefore very important for their survival.
Photo of pygmy hippo recorded on camera trap in the Gola Rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone
Gola pygmy hippo research and community outreach
For the past six years, various research and outreach activities in the Gola Forests focused on pygmy hippos.
Research included community questionnaires, surveys along rivers and streams, camera trapping and transect walks. In a separate project we also tried to capture and radio collar pygmy hippos.
Awareness raising events were for example meetings and road shows with local communities and activities with school children. We also produced education materials, such as posters, bumper stickers, species fact sheets and T-Shirts.
Research and outreach activities were funded through Basel Zoo, Switzerland, and the European Commission.
More pygmy hippos live outside of protected areas
During field surveys, pygmy hippo signs such as dung, footprints, feeding sites and direct sightings (e.g. camera trap pictures) were recorded at 509 locations, most of which (80.4%) were located outside of protected areas. Recorded signs were also used to model the potential pygmy hippo distribution in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Pygmy hippo locations were mainly associated with larger rivers, and were close to, but rarely within large, intact forest areas.
Pygmy hippos need people’s help to survive
In the greater Gola landscape, pygmy hippos mainly occur along larger rivers in the community forest area. They therefore need strong support from communities in order to avoid land-use and human-wildlife conflicts, further habitat destruction and poaching. Community-based conservation activities are the way forward to guarantee the survival of pygmy hippos in this region.
Actively involving the local community on conservation
The recommendation from our research findings was already put into practice. The Gola Rainforest National Park (GRNP) piloted a “Community Youth Conservation Volunteer programme”, which targets unemployed youth in forest edge communities and actively involves them in the conservation of threatened species. Two groups of volunteers were trained at the Gola Rainforest Conservation Centre in January and March 2016. One group focuses on pygmy hippos (funded again by Basel Zoo), the other group focuses on the white-necked Picathartes, another species that depends strongly on habitats in community forests areas.
The first group of pygmy hippo Conservation Volunteers trained at the Gola Rainforest Conservation Centre in March 2016
Twelve Conservation Volunteers (including three women) were selected from six communities and form three teams. Every month, they conduct pygmy hippo surveys around their communities and engage school children at their local schools in various education activities around pygmy hippos. The volunteers will also be engaged in other community outreach activities of the Gola Rainforest National Park. At the end of the first year of the programme, the volunteer teams will present their activities and findings. The best Conservation Volunteers will be selected and will act as mentors for the next group of volunteers, which will come from different communities.
We hope this programme will help to raise more awareness and support for pygmy hippos among local communities. We also administer questionnaires at various stages of the project in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme.
More information about the Gola forests
The RSPB is proud that we have worked in partnership with the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone and the Government of Sierra Leone for 25 years to protect and restore this amazing forest. Gola harbours 60 globally threatened species such as the enigmatic pygmy hippo and beautiful Diana monkey, and directly benefits approximately 24,000 people living in 122 forest edge communities: people who are the poorest of the poor. Find out more about our Gola appeal here.
You can Follow us on twitter @Golarainforest and visit the RSPB web page The Gola Rainforest: Sierra Leone's first Rainforest National Park
More information about the Gola Forests and the Gola Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Degradation project (as a way of tackling climate change, to provide long term financing for the park and directly benefit forest edge communities) visit www.golarainforest.org