Ise Forest Reserve

Ise Forest Reserve is located in Ekiti State, southwestern Nigeria, covering 142 km², 5° 20.804'E to 5° 25.331'E longitude and 7°21.069'N to 7° 25.579'N latitude in the tropical hemisphere.  The protected area is about 9 km to the southern part of the reserve along the Akure-Benin expressway from the Uso community in Ondo State.  It remains one of the remaining forest fragments in southwest Nigeria, militated with intense human anthropogenic activities such as farming, logging, and hunting. However, they are considered to be integral and desirable components of forest ecosystems. It is one of the priority conservation areas for the endangered Nigeria-Cameroun chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes Elliott) in Nigeria with a degrading forest environment. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is 366 meters. This is the chimpanzees' primary and most frequently recorded habitat in southwest Nigeria. It is also a habitat for about 661 species of butterflies and a large community of other animals and plants. It has been in the spotlight for nearly 20 years. One of the protected sites in the tropical hemisphere is the Ise Forest Reserve. Most of the forests in Nigeria, including protected areas, are under severe fragmentation. The result is that smaller fragments have fewer numbers of animals than the single larger fragments.

The forest were heavily used for farming, logging, and hunting. With a deteriorating forest ecosystem, it is one of Nigeria's top conservation priority places for the critically endangered Nigeria-Cameroun chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti). This animal is available in many forested areas of the Nigeria region, but it has gone into extinction locally in many areas over the last few decades. It has been established that once deforestation on a major scale combines with hunting, the effect on wildlife populations could be terminal.