806 Briefly AFRICA
Large no-take zones created around Glorieuses Archipelago In June 2021, the Glorieuses Marine Nature Park, which was created in 2012 and covers 43,792 km2 in the Indian ocean, was up- graded to the Glorieuses Archipelago Na- tional Nature Reserve by the French gov- ernment. The objective of this change in the legal status of the area is to better control illegal fishing, in particular tuna fishing. The Reserve at the northern entrance to the Mozambique Channel now includes three formal no-take zones totalling 10,960km2 where all types of fishing are prohibited. Two of the four islands included in the Reserve are also fully protected. A total of 2,962 marine and terrestrial species have been recorded in the Reserve, of which 550 are categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List. Sources: Réserves Naturelles de France (2021)
reserves-naturelles.org/archipel-des- glorieuses,
reserves-naturelles.org/sites/ default/files/reserves/rnn330-decret_ creation_20210608.pdf & Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (2020)
consultations-publiques.developpement-
durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/rapport_de_ presentation_projet_rnn_glorieuses.pdf
Moroccan village defends biodiversity haven on the Atlantic coast The protection of a 44-acre biodiversity haven threatened by housing developers is at the centre of a judiciary battle between the Moroccan state and civil society orga- nizations. The dispute concerns a coastal wetland near Dar Bouazza, a village located 30 km south of the city of Casablanca. The wetland provides habitat for 180 bird spe- cies such as the threatened marbled duck, 80 plant species, and large numbers of Morocco’s dragonflies and amphibians. It is also a critical stopover for migrating birds, and provides vital ecosystem services such as the prevention of both flooding and desertification. The former fishing village is seeing increasing development as it be- comes a tourist hotspot, but local commu- nities and civil society organizations are fighting to protect the wetland. They are petitioning to have it declared as a nature reserve, to prevent the property developers from converting it into housing estates. Globally, there is a concerning loss of wet- land habitats, and 85% of the planet’s wet- lands are threatened. Source: Global Citizen (2021) globalcitizen. org/en/content/battle-to-save-morocco- biodiversity-haven
New national parks in Guinea.. . In May 2021, the Moyen Bafing National Park was created in Guinea, West Africa, in the central-northern part of the country, close to the border with Mali. The c. 6,766km2 Park comprises amosaic of dry forest, wood- ed and open savannah. There are three management zones including a 2,770 km2 fully protected core zone that incorporates 26 enclaves (villages and settlements). The Park harbours 51 fish, 47 mammal and 203 bird species. With an estimated population of .5,000 western chimpanzees (8–10%of the global population), it is the protected area with the largest population of this Critically Endangered species. The Park was created to offset the environmental impact of bauxite mining. The studies required for the creation of the Park were carried out by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, with funding from two mining companies, which con- tributed USD 45 million for the creation and management of the Park. Sources:Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (2021)
wildchimps.org/fileadmin/content_ files/pdfs/press/2021_Press_release_ MBNP_Guinea_WCF.pdf & Secrétariat International Francophone pour l’Évaluation Environnementale (2021)
sifee.org/static/uploaded/Files/activites/ colloques-internationaux/Cotonou/Actes/ Presentation_WCF_Gervaise.pdf
.. . and South Africa South African National Parks said work is underway to establish a high-altitude na- tional park in the mountains of the Eastern Cape close to the Lesotho border and the Naude’s Nek pass—South Africa’s highest road at .2,500 m. The objective was to establish an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable consolidated protected area, primarily by working with private and communal landowners. The area is rich in biodiversity and endemic species, and lies within the Eastern Cape Drakens- berg Strategic Water Source Area, which is a natural source of fresh water. The Park will also improve formal protection of South Africa’s grasslands, which have been identi- fied as a national conservation priority. The proposed NE Cape Grasslands National Park will take a somewhat different form to traditional parks, in that the landowners will have the opportunity, through stewardship, to incorporate their land in the park on a vol- untary basis. As such, they also stand to be- nefit from a range of financial incentives for private and communal land that is formally protected. Source: Cape Town etc (2021) capetownetc. com/news/a-new-national-park- underway-in-south-africa-says-sanparks
First lethal attacks by chimpanzees on gorillas observed A team from Osnabrück University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has, for the first time, observed lethal attacks by chimpanzees on gorillas in the wild. Chimpanzees are common in East and Central Africa and share space with gorillas in some areas such as the Loango National Park in Gabon. This Park has also been home to the Loango Chimpanzee Project since 2005. Researchers are observing and analysing the behaviour of c. 45 chim- panzees, with a special focus on group com- position, social relationships, interactions with neighbouring groups, hunting behav- iour, tool use and communicative skills. Lethal encounters between the chimpanzees and gorillas had never been documented in the
past.However, in encounters observed in 2019, the chimpanzees formed coalitions and attacked the gorillas. The silverbacks and adult females defended themselves and their offspring, but two gorilla infants were sepa- rated from their mothers and killed by the chimpanzees.Whether this behaviour is a re- sult of competition for food or the decline of the rainforest’s productivity caused by climate change will be investigated in more detail. Sources: Scientific Reports (2021)
doi.org/ 10.1038/s41598-021-93829-x & Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (2021)
mpg.de/ 17223684/0719-evan-lethal-attacks-by- chimpanzees-on-gorillas-observed- 150495-x
Dozens of Endangered penguins killed by bees in South Africa A swarm of bees has killed 63 Endangered African penguins Spheniscus demersus on a beach outside Cape Town, South Africa, in September 2021. There were no signs of external physical injuries on any of the birds, but some of the animals were found with 20 or more bee stings. The area is a na- tional park and the Cape honey bees are part of the native ecosystem. Authorities were searching for the hive to find out what may have triggered the bee attack. A clinical veterinarian stated this was a very rare occurrence. The penguins, also known as Cape, black-footed or jackass penguins, breed in South Africa and neighbouring Namibia. In the past 3 decades, the number of penguins living in South Africa has dropped by 73%to 10,400 pairs, according to the Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds in Southern Africa. In Namib- ia, there are c. 4,300 penguin pairs left. Source: Al Jazeera (2021)
aljazeera.com/ news/2021/9/20/bees-kill-dozens-of- endangered-penguins-in-south-africa
Oryx, 2021, 55(6), 803–808 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605321001356
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