Relaxing with a cold Regab on the veranda of the Case de Passage. A hot day, beginning now to moderate (and not just because of the cold beer). [nb - this is actually an ok pastime - it is the next bit, the hanging around, that is not my favorite.]
Stuck in Libreville for a few days, ostensibly to meet with people and talk about how to expand our use of acoustics to help forest elephants. News of recent slaughter in a fantastic Presidential reserve has once again highlighted the challenges of protecting wildlife in remote forested regions. The problems in Wonga-Wongué, where patches of savannah at least allow one to see, too late, the results of poaching make one fear even more what is hidden under the mantle of forest canopy that covers much of Central Africa.
Wonga-Wongué Presidential Reserve, situated on the coast of Gabon is a remote and
fantastically wild landscape of savannah and rainforest bounded to the West by the
Atlantic Ocean and to the east by meandering lagoons, swamps, and mangrove forest.
Photo © Mary Moreau
Plans for my trip are beginning to come together:
First to the little village of Iguela, at the north boundary of Loango National Park. In some ways a similar landscape to Wonga-Wongué (photo above) and located to the south, ELP has worked there now for four years.
Second, after returning to Libreville by boat and then short flight, the night train through the midst of the country to Franceville in the southeast. This second-largest city in Gabon is to the north of the Batéké National Park where we have also been working for several years. Plans are afoot here to record at a little-known clearing in order to gather the first data on elephant abundance and seasonal patterns.
Third, from Franceville, I will work for a few days in a large forestry concession that borders the Ivindo National Park, home to the best known clearing in Gabon, Langoué Bai. Here we will continue intensive monitoring at a network of clearings critical to elephants from the Ivindo protected area and establish a new monitoring site to evaluate hunting pressure in the area.
Finally, to the little town of Ivindo, the gateway into Langoué Bai. From here we will begin another new monitoring project within the buffer zone of Ivindo N.P., recording hunting activity that might be coming in from a logging concession to the west.
Plenty to do - just would like to get out in the field and do it!
- Peter, in africa
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