Recovery of the Nahan’s Francolin

Richard Fuller

This project focuses on one of the world's most threatened Galliformes, the Nahan's francolin (Francolinus nahani), a forest-specialist ground-dwelling partridge. This bird is found globally in less than ten forest fragments in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has recently been identified as a global priority for conservation. While habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation have undoubtedly contributed to the severe decline of this species, there is also debate about the impact of direct human exploitation. A better understanding of the causes of this decline is urgently required for designing effective long-term conservation measures for this species. This project will examine the relationship between francolin population densities and habitat type, disturbance and hunting levels, with an emphasis on sharing techniques to allow for skills transfer. This will build capacity for local conservation management and monitoring, and will contribute to the ecological knowledge of this little-known threatened species.