Chinko

Chinko, also known as Chinko Nature Reserve and the Chinko Project Area,[1][2][3] is a protected area in the Central African Republic. The nonprofit conservation organization African Parks began managing Chinko in partnership with the government of the Central African Republic in December 2014.

Chinko
LocationCentral African Republic
Coordinates06°03′05″N 23°53′47″E
Area17,600 km2 (6,800 sq mi)
AdministratorAfrican Parks

Description and terrain

Chinko is a 5.9 million hectare (or nearly 7,000 square miles)[4] protected area in the southeastern part of the Central African Republic, managed by the nonprofit conservation organization African Parks as part of a fifty-year public–private partnership with the Ministry of Water, Forest, Hunting and Fishing.[3][4] African Parks began managing Chinko in December 2014, becoming the eighth park to be included in the organization's management portfolio.[3] David Simpson, who co-founded the project, serves as the park's manager.[4][5]

Chinko is located on a volcanic plateau, 2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level. Rain and other freshwater sources are plentiful, and Precambrian bedrock erosion has created a layer of alluvial soil, allowing abundant and diverse wildlife to disperse throughout the region.[4] The park has been described having uncommon geology, plentiful water, and a role as a "diversifying agent".[4]

Flora and fauna
Pousargues's mongoose in the park in 2012

Chinko has 17,600 km2 (6,795 sq mi) of "uninhabited Medio-Sudanian and Sudano Guinean" wooded savannah with some Congolese rainforest.[3][4] These diverse ecosystems form an ecotone within the Chinko River basin and support a variety of wildlife,[4] including several primate species, African forest elephants, 23 even-toed ungulate species, more than 20 types of carnivores, 5 anteater mammals, and approximately 500 bird species.[3][6] Carnivores include the African wild dog, leopard, lion, and mongoose.[3] Other species include: African buffalo, bongo, chimpanzee, monkey, crocodile, Eastern giant eland, giant forest hog, hartebeest (including Lelwel hartebeest), red forest duiker, warthog, waterbuck, and yellow-backed duiker.[1][4]

The reserve is home to dozens of endangered species,[7][4] and the following bird species: black-bellied bustards, buzzards, guineafowl, hoopoes, hornbills, kingfishers, secretarybirds, stone partridge, and sunbirds.[4] Chinko, being an extensive block of pristine habitat, can provide the genetic diversity to recolonize the surrounding regions when populations there dwindle or become locally extinct.[4]

History

Chinko previously served as a hunting reserve and was home to thousands of buffalo, elephant, and lion. The area saw significant decreases in wildlife populations during the 1980s–2000s because of cattle grazing, the ivory trade, and poaching.[3][4][5] In 2002, it was reported that as much as 95 percent of wildlife in the Chinko region was lost.[8]

Erik Mararv and his family acquired a hunting concession in 2005 and launched a safari operation called Central African Wildlife Adventures in 2006.[4][9] During the safari's six years of operating, the Mararv family built two airstrips, guest rooms, and hundreds of miles of roads, imported machinery and trucks, and trained staff. David Simpson started working as a pilot for the safari company in 2010, and was asked by Mararv to return as general manager the following year.[4] Foreign pastoralists, known as the Wodaabe (or Mbororo), started herding in more remote parts of the Central African Republic, including Chinko and surrounding areas, around 2012. The additional cattle grazing, overgrazing, poaching, and wildfires contributed to deforestation, desertification, and erosion.[4] The United States Fish and Wildlife Service contributed nearly $100,000 in 2013 to reduce poaching by training rangers and reaching out to local communities to increase awareness of conservation efforts.[10] Simpson co-created the Chinko Project to protect the area's habitat and wildlife,[4] and began managing the park when African Parks took over operations in 2014. Thierry Aebischer, Raffael Hickisch, and Erik Mararv have also been credited as partners of the project.[4][7]

Chinko had fifty park rangers in February 2016.[4] In mid 2016, Simpson was reportedly managing 400 staff members and a $2.5 million budget,[4] and Chinko was "the only major tax-generating entity in the entire eastern half of the Central African Republic, and one of the largest employers and importers of foreign goods in the country".[4] Chinko staff collected more than 700,000 wildlife sightings from motion-activated cameras by mid 2016, and used a small aircraft to identify and track animals and park intruders.[11] Fondation Segré partnered with African Parks in 2016 to hire and train rangers, construct operations centers, improve communications technology, purchase equipment, and enhance data management.[12]

In January 2017, a helicopter chartered by African Parks crashed, killing the park's head of law enforcement, his deputy, and the pilot.[13][14][15]

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See also

References
  1. Lee, Seung (June 6, 2016). "Microsoft's 'Malware-Like' Windows 10 Automatic Upgrades Cost Anti-Poaching Nonprofit Thousands, Group Says". Newsweek. Newsweek Media Group. Archived from the original on 2017-10-06. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  2. Baddorf, Zack (20 April 2017). "Uganda Ends Its Hunt for Joseph Kony Empty-Handed". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  3. "African Parks takes over management of protected area in Central African Republic". Africa Geographic. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-04-01. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  4. Woods, Elliott D. (Summer 2016). "The Fight for Chinko". Virginia Quarterly Review. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  5. Fay, J. Michael (9 March 2017). "Heart of Africa Expedition Positions for Final Trek: Lions Observed From UltraLite". National Geographic. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  6. "Fauna and Flora: Chinko". African Parks. Archived from the original on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  7. "David's danger mission to the heart of Africa". The Sunday Post. DC Thomson. 22 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  8. "Doctor fights to save animals; Poacher wars: Hayse has the blessing of African country's president in battle to save wildlife". Telegraph Herald. Dubuque, Iowa: Woodward Communications. 20 October 2002. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  9. Chan, Tessa (9 June 2017). "Why Hong Kong should say no to ivory chopsticks: African park warden shot trying to stop elephant poaching appeals to city". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2017-09-06. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  10. "The Chinko Project" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service. September 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  11. Thomson, Iain (3 June 2016). "Even in remotest Africa, Windows 10 nagware ruins your day: Update burns satellite link cash". The Register. London: Situation Publishing. Archived from the original on 2017-09-19. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  12. "Chinko project in Central African Republic". Fondation Segré. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  13. "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Statement from Bryan Arroyo, Assistant Director for International Affairs, on recent tragic news from Chinko National Park in the Central African Republic". United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-07-07. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  14. "3 dead as chopper crashes in Central African Republic park". Fox News. Associated Press. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  15. Hance, Jeremy (27 February 2017). "Five rangers die in grim month for wildlife protectors". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 14 September 2017.

Further reading
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