The so-called batk plateau, named after the local TK people, is a vast forest-savanna mosaic stretching across southeast gabon and central congo

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $731,954 Project Grant under the African Elephant Conservation Fund (CFDA 15.620) to Panthera Corporation, a non-profit organization focused on wildlife conservation and protection of endangered species. The grant supports a 3-year project to restore wildlife populations, particularly forest elephants, on the Batk Plateau in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Panthera is working in collaboration with Gabon's National Park Agency to secure critical elephant habitats, enhance ranger patrols, and foster the recovery of elephant and other wildlife populations in this isolated wilderness area. The project aims to eventually establish the Batk Plateau as an elephant stronghold with a population of over 1,000 individuals, in contrast with declining trends across the broader Congo Basin region.

This mixed ecotone of dense tropical forests and open grassy plains is recognized as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, which covers an area the size of the US state of colorado. The landscape boasts a mix of congolian forest species such as great apes and forest elephants, as well as species of the zambezian savannas systems, such as lions, spotted hyaenas and various savanna ungulates. Forest elephants and forest buffalo were recorded as being particularly abundant in this landscape during pre-colonial periods, yet decades of uncontrolled hunting during and following the colonial period left this open landscape almost denuded of wildlife, as evidenced by the first systematic faunal surveys in the system conducted in 2001 and 2003. Subsequent surveys in the landscape revealed that, despite some of the larger wildlife species having become rare or even locally extinct (e.g. africa wild dogs), batk does boast several endemic or near-endemic species of plants, birds, and reptiles, some of which are seemingly very rare. More recent molecular studies further revealed that even for otherwise widespread species such as forest elephants, the batk population represents a separate genetic cluster which differs significantly from the main genetic group of forest elephants that occupies the majority of gabon. This genetically unique forest elephant population is today likely geographically and reproductively isolated, also due to the rapid development of large open manganese and iron ORE mines along the west flank of the batk landscape. In 2017, panthera embarked on a collaboration with gabons national park agency anpn, to gradually restore the wildlife populations of the depleted batk plateau. The joint project was initiated with a 3-year grant from the U.S. Fish and wildlife service, and this project has grown in size and impact ever since. All wildlife species show clear signs of recovery and population increase, including forest elephants, which is in stark contrast with the population trend the species exhibits in the remainder of the congo basin. The elephant recovery is particularly apparent at a number of natural salt licks that are spread across the landscape. At these elephant hotspots, groups of 20 elephants or more can now be seen on a regular basis. With this proposal, panthera respectfully requests support from the U.S. Fish and wildlife service to fully secure all elephant hotspots while assuring adequate ranger patrol coverage in the remainder of the landscape. A grant from USFWS would complement considerable funding already secured from other sources, and would enable panthera to further strengthen park protection. Such support would foster further recovery of populations of elephants and other wildlife in this isolated wilderness area, and we strongly believe that IT is realistic that batk can eventually become an elephant stronghold according to the USFWS definition for forest elephants, this being populations of over 1,000 individuals.