Wild Places

Cross River National Park (Oban Division)

CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE

Created in 1991 the Oban Division of Cross River National Park covers an area of around 3,000km² of lowland rainforest– the largest area of closed-canopy rainforest in Nigeria and contiguous with Korup National Park in Cameroon.  Oban is an important watershed with hills rising above 500 m and one peak reaching approximately 1,000 m.  The Oban Hills once formed part of one of the lowland rainforest refugia during the last glacial period and is an internationally recognized biodiversity hotspot and center of species richness and endemism particularly for primates, amphibians, butterflies, fish and small mammals.  Oban contains a number of rare species such as the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee Pan troglodytes ellioti, the drill Mandrillus leucophaeus, leopard Panthera pardus, forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis, the grey-necked rockfowl Picathartes oreas and the slender-snouted crocodile Mecistops cataphractus.  Oban is the only site in Nigeria where the Preuss’s red colobus monkey Procolobus preussi and the crowned guenon Cercopithecus pogonias can be found.  The contiguous Oban-Korup forest is reputed to be the richest site in the whole of Africa for butterflies.  Oban is also one of the richest and most ornithologically diverse sites in the country.

THREATS

WCS APPROACH

In 2011 WCS signed an MoU with the Nigeria National Parks Service  which forms the basis for the current work.  The agreement focuses on the provision of technical advice and support as well as the development of conservation activities such as staff training, conservation education and research and monitoring.

WCS supports SMART-based ranger patrols in Oban to provide more effective protection of chimpanzees and elephants.  We do this through ranger training and the provision of field rations, camping allowances and essential field equipment.

SMART  is an improved law enforcement monitoring system and a suite of best practices that help protected area managers better monitor, evaluate and adaptively manage patrolling activities.  The introduction of SMART in 2016 helped reduce poaching and other illegal activities in Oban.

Monitoring of the critically endangered red colobus monkey is an important aspect of our work which we do through SMART-based ranger patrols.  We are also currently involved in the preparation of a conservation action plan for all red colobus in Africa.

Transboundary conservation with the contiguous Korup National Park in Cameroon increases the total area of forest under protection, facilitates the sharing of data and information and makes conservation more efficient.  We are currently supporting the process to develop Oban as a Transboundary Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site.