Our group huddled beneath the sandstone rock ledge of a cave deep in the rainforest, hoping to indulge one of nature’s great ornithological experiences: viewing the pre-dusk arrival of the beautiful White-necked (or Yellow-headed as it was formerly called) Picathartes, also known as Rockfowl. This remarkable bird, its bright yellow head bare of feathers, returns to the cave where it builds mud nests late each afternoon to roost. Its humped back and long legs and neck add to its bizarre appearance. We had walked 30 minutes from the nearby village of Bonkro in central Ghana through the Nyamebe Bepo Forest Reserve to reach the cave. It was Day 10 of our 21-day Ghana tour.
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| The picathartes cave |
Then three or four picathartes came from all directions to the cave. Within metres of us, they were hopping from branch to rock, bouncing off cave walls, sometimes pausing to check us out.
When we left 30 minutes later, two birds were ensconced in their mud nests for the night. It was an encounter to remember.
The White-necked Picathartes is regarded now as a centrepiece of Ghana’s fast-growing ecotourism industry. Tourists flock to Bonkro for the picathartes experience, and many are not birders, although the species is top of the wishlists of the many birding tours to Ghana.
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| Our guide Victor Owusu at the entrance to the Bonkfro forest |
The highly regarded Ghanaian tour company Ashanti African Tours uses the proceeds of visits to the forest to fund its Picathartes Education & Conservation for Knowledge (PECK) project to boost living standards in local villages. Guides are employed from the local population; 24 community forest committee members are sponsored; and an eight-classroom kindergarten and primary school has been built, providing education to more than 300 local children. Ashanti has provided chalets for a new lodge and a restaurant is planned. A local NGO, Rainforest Rescue Ghana, has been established to manage these plans.
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| Children at the village school |
Yet a cloud hangs over all of this. In recent years, according to a submission by Ashanti to the Forestry Commission of Ghana last January, illegal chainsaw operations have been stopped in the reserve as a result of intervention by the forest committee members and the local community. However, legal logging concessions remain over the reserve. During our visit, seemingly every large tree had a number engraved at its base, signalling the intention of concession holders to log the trees.
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| Tree marked for removal |
This would destroy the forest and the picathartes population. As a result of intervention by Ashanti and its founder Mark Williams, the Ghana Forestry Commission ordered a halt to the tree removal plan and cancelled timber concessions in parts of the forest last February, just before logging was to begin. However, concessions remain over other parts of the bird’s restricted habitat, and the threat of illegal logging is ever present.
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| A Bonkro village home |
The Bonkro area is the last stronghold for the species, which has been wiped out of its former haunts elsewhere in Ghana by illegal logging, legal timber concessions, and mining. As Ashanti says in its submission: “The presence of ecotourism attracted by the White-necked Picathartes is proving of great benefit for the local economy and community, providing a shining example of sustainable development. The profile of this bird is such that it is ensuring ongoing high-value tourism to Ghana, making it West Africa’s principal ecotourism destination. These benefits can only be maintained and developed with the protection of the closed canopy forest that is required by the White-necked Picathartes and a host of other wildlife.” Anyone wishing to assist Ashanti financially with its conservation and community assistance programs is invited to contactthe organisation.
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| The Bonkro lodge |