The Edumanom Forest Reserve is an area in the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

region of

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, that is home to some of the last

chimpanzees The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

. It covers part of the old

Nembe Kingdom The Nembe Kingdom is a traditional state in Niger Delta. It includes the Nembe and Brass Local Government Areas of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The traditional rulers take the title "Amanyanabo". Today, leadership is split between the Amanyanabos of O ...

, which is now divided into the

Nembe Nembe is a Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Nembe in the east of the area at The people of Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw Councils of Bayelsa State have bemoaned their neglect by oil companies ...

and

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

local government areas, in

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is one of the states in the South-South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta region. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. Yena ...

. The Edumanom forest reserve is a freshwater swamp forest with an area of 9,324 hectares. The

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

has been degraded by the oil industry and logging operations. Although there are relatively few roads in the region, hunters can gain access to the forest through the creeks and along oil pipelines. The forest is also under threat from the expansion of

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm '' Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its c ...

plantations. A proposed federal road from

Ogbia Ogbia is a Local Government Area of Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Ogbia in the south of the area at . It has an area of 695 km and a population of 179,926. It is well known for its hi ...

would run between two of the patches inhabited by

in the Edumanom forest. In 1995, hunter's reports suggested that there were 5-10 small chimpanzee groups in the general area, probably with no more than 50 individuals. Older hunters tended to avoid chimpanzees, but younger hunters boasted of killing them. Young chimps captured as a result of hunting typically are sold as pets or to zoos. A June 2008 report noted that the reserve was the last known site for chimpanzees in the

. The reserve also shelters the endemic

Sclater's guenon Sclater's guenon (''Cercopithecus sclateri''), also known as Sclater's monkey and the Nigerian monkey, is an Old World monkey that was first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1904 and named after Philip Sclater. It is an arboreal and diurnal ...

and other

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

species

olive colobus The olive colobus monkey (''Procolobus verus''), also known as the green colobus or Van Beneden's colobus, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Its English name refers to its dull olive upperparts. It is the smallest example ...

and

Niger Delta red colobus The Niger Delta red colobus (''Piliocolobus epieni'') is a critically endangered species of colobus monkey endemic to the western part of the Niger Delta. It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss. Taxonomy From the time it first became kno ...

. The Sclater's monkey was considered vulnerable but not endangered in 2008. It is hunted throughout the area, except in very few places where it is held sacred and is managing to survive. A 2005 report recommended that it be protected within the Edumanom and other reserves in

. There used to be

red-capped mangabey The collared mangabey (''Cercocebus torquatus''), also called red-capped mangabey and white-collared mangabey is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae of Old World monkeys. It formerly included the sooty mangabey as a subspecies. ...

s in the forest, but these are now thought to be

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

. The Edumanom was since proposed as a forest reserve but essentially is used and managed as community forest land. The site is about 87km2.The area overlaps both Ogbia and Nembe Local Government Area in Bayelsa State and includes patches of forests utilized by the Emago-Kugbo community in Rivers State.

References

{{Protected areas of Nigeria Bayelsa State Forest Reserves of Nigeria Niger Delta swamp forests