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Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 232531121
Seeking a lost damselfly: Conservation of the mysterious Obudu Relic (Pentaphlebia gamblesi) in Nigeria’s southern montane forest streams
The grant helped to execute a conservation project which surveyed to unravel the current state of the Obudu Relic damselfly; created local, state and national awareness on the current status of the Obudu Relic; stimulated behavioural change by the local community for habitat conservation; facilitated a sustainable drive for monitoring the species and its associated habitat; surveyed and provided useful information (as supporting characters) on the current distribution and threats of the other critically endangered and two endangered damselflies in the same montane forest and; determined the ecological conditions supporting immature (larval) populations of the species, which are relevant for IUCN assessments.
A long-lasting engagement with communities on the Obudu Plateau for monitoring the species and protecting their habitats was established by forming the Obudu Dragonfly and Damselfly Conservation Club, made up of youths of the Obudu Communities, who are continually engaged to learn about the threatened species and their habitats, threats facing them, and action plans to protect the species and habitats. Unprotected sites supporting the threatened damselfly species have been identified and recommended for protection, which will be facilitated by a species recovery coalition of stakeholders. Continuous awareness on the threatened damselflies are also being made, through the launching of a permanent information panel at the tourist site, where the first discovery of Pentaphlebia gamblesi was made.
Spatial and temporal surveys of P. gamblesi were intensified, to rediscover the adult, which was first and last seen in 1973. Specimens of left-over larval skins of emerged adults (known as exuviae) have also been obtained for non-destructive genetic analysis, as sufficient information to separate the cryptic adults from more discoveries of the vulnerable P. stahli on the Obudu Plateau have not been possible by morphological examination. Sites supporting the vulnerable P. stahli and potentially, the critically endangered P. gamblesi have also been mapped out and ecological conditions and threats on these sites have been determined.