With the support of Re: wild, Voice of Nature (VoNat), has since February 2025 been engaging local communities in carrying out a participatory mapping of Goliath frog distribution and ecological threats in different communities in the Mount Nlonako area for the development of a conservation vision or action plan for this endangered and emblematic species. After working in Manengoteng, Ngol, and Lala Mission villages, the VoNat research team has within the past few weeks been engaging local hunters, chiefs and village leaders in Njumbeng 1, Abang, Lala Village and Lowe in mapping the distribution and ecological threats of the goliath frog in their villages.
In addition to mapping ecological threats, the research uncovered rich cultural narratives around the Goliath frog, revealing how the species is entangled with traditions, and knowledge systems. A native of Abang 1 Village in the Manjo Subdivision, Mr. Nkede Henry, noted that only very few people now hunt at the Ndibumbeh river of the village because those who tried hunting frogs there died mysteriously. “There is this hunter who caught a frog in this river and the frog warned him to never come back, but he still went back hunting there. One night, he went hunting and got drowned in the river and we have never seen him since then. That is how we believed that some frogs are people’s totem” Mr, Nkede said.
Despite this, the VoNat research team still recorded a lot of threats to the conservation of the frog in the Manjo Subdivision. “We noticed that most of the frog habitats have been deforested. There are also many oil mills that pollute the habitats of these frogs with their sludge. We also discovered hunting nets and dried goliath frogs in some homes in the area,” the research team lead, Ndimuh Bertrand Shancho, disclosed.
The Goliath frog, the world’s largest frog species, is endemic to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. It is currently classified as endangered on the IUCN Red. The VoNat research team will be extending this research to villages in the Nlonako Subdivision in the weeks ahead.
By Jabi Katy Chale