Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) conservation in a changing landscape of the

A sub-population of the Cross River gorilla-CRG has been discovered in the Lebialem-Mone Forest landscape (LMFL). The gorillas are found in a non-permanent forest estate meaning that this area can be converted into any form of land use other than forestry. Fauna and Flora International-FFI and the Environment and Rural Development Foundation-ERuDeF are working towards designating a wildlife sanctuary for this CRG and other biodiversity but to proceed with the proposed plan, field information is mandatory. Primates are known to be vulnerable to forest cover destruction. This research therefore intends to assess the changes that have occurred in the site over time as well as identify the drivers of the change which serve as challenges for protecting the habitat. In order to attain these objectives, Landsat and SPOT satellite images for 1986 and 2011 respectively were analysed to assess the change. Interviews and observations were used to identify the drivers of change and current challenges of protecting biodiversity as a whole in the landscape. The major results proved that forest cover reduced from 80% in 1986 to 66% in 2011 while disturbed forest and farmland both witnessed an increased from 11% to 22% and 2% to 4% respectively. From interviews, 84% of the population were actually aware that changes had occurred and the main drivers of this current change were identified by 69%, 12%, and 10% of E