Plain Language Summary: Understand how chimpanzee conservation actions are influenced by the socio-demographics parameters of local residents around Mpem and Djim National Park in Cameroon.

By Ernest Dadis Bush Fotsing, Michelle Fany Meigang Kamkeng, and Dietmar Zinner.

Read the full paper here.

The pattern of use of natural resources in our capitalist system has a significant impact on the survival of species. The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (NCC, Pan troglodytes ellioti Matschie, 1914) is particularly affected throughout its range, with only 3500 to 9000 individuals remaining in the wild, but it is unrealistic to expect people to act altruistically in response to conservation programs that target this specie, as there is no evidence to support the idea that humans or other organisms naturally act altruistically to protect other species, even at personal cost. Similarly, institutionalised programs, including national park management plans and IUCN/SSC action plans, often prioritize technical aspects of conservation and neglect demographic variables related to local people, which are crucial to achieving conservation goals.

In this paper, we extend our research on the importance of local resident’s knowledge as an interdisciplinary approach, highlighting its role as an essential source of information for NCC conservation. To measure the impact of the project, 200 households were visited and 240 residents completed a questionnaire prepared to evaluate their attitude, opinions and perceptions about the conservation of NCC. The questionnaires showed that (a) most of the respondents were aware of the NCC and expressed positive opinions about its conservation. (b) The attitudes and perceptions of the respondents were correlated with gender, age, number of children, time living in the community and level of education, but not with the distance from the village to the park and the main occupation of the respondents.

Generally, the people who bear the costs of the presence of species are often not those who benefit from conservation programs. Our results suggest the importance of involving local people in conservation initiatives. We also emphasize the integration of socioecology into conservation biology to address the loss of biodiversity caused by socioeconomic factors, which requires interdisciplinary solutions. In densely populated, economically diverse, multiethnic developing countries such as our case study, we suggest that conservationists consider other social variables such as population density, ethnic diversity, and levels of economic disparity when developing managements plans.