IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Anonymous, | |
| Niassa Carnivore Project | |
| 2013 Full Book | |
PrFont34BNiassa National Reserve (NNR) is located in northern Mozambique on the border with Tanzania. It is both one of the largest protected areas (42 000 km2; 16000 ml2) and most undeveloped places in Africa. The protected area supports the largest concentrations of wildlife remaining in Mozambique including at least a third of the national lion population (1,000-1,200 individuals out of a National population estimated at 2,700 lions) and more than 350 African wild dogs. Lion populations have declined across their range with less than 30,000 lions remaining in the wild today1. Of particular concern are the recent surveys that have shown that there are only 406 (273-605) lions remaining in West and Central Africa with a confirmed lion range of only 49,000 km2. Lions are currently spread across 67 lion areas with ten lion strongholds. These strongholds have been identified as any area with at least 500 lions, within protected areas or designated hunting areas and with a stable or increasing population. Niassa Reserve is one of these ten strongholds3 and one of only seven places with more than 1000 lions. Securing this population is of local, national and international importance and will go a long way to securing Niassa Reserve itself as many of the threats facing lions and other carnivores are also the threats facing much of the wildlife in this area. Recent research has reaffirmed the important role that large carnivores play in ecosystems (Ripple _et al, _ 2014) and the cascading negative ecological effects when they are lost. Wilderness areas like Niassa Reserve cannot persist without their large carnivores (lion, leopard, spotted hyaena and African wild dog) and these large carnivores cannot persist without large wilderness areas. The large carnivores really are indicators of ecosystem health. The challenges are immense as Niassa Reserve also supports a growing population of more than 35,000 people resident in more than 42 villages inside the protected area. This is a lion population at significant risk and the long term prospects are uncertain given the growing number of people living inside the protected area. Loss of the large carnivores and particularly the lion population will be a blow to regional conservation efforts and will also have severe consequences for Niassa Reserve's potential to develop tourism and generate revenues and employment for communities inside the protected area. This will be critical if wildlife is to be a valid form of land use in the area. |
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