Apes and Logging. A significant number of remaining chimpanzee and gorilla populations in Western Equatorial Africa reside in active timber concessions, many of which are within areas identified as being exceptional for the conservation of these apes. The conservation outlook of these endangered apes would improve significantly if forestry companies were prepared to make a few changes to management policies in logging concessions. One of the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project's main scientific objectives is to document the effects of logging operations on apes in northern Congo and use this information to develop and evaluate recommendations to reduce the impact of timber extraction on chimpanzees and gorillas.

We have outlined specific recommendations for reducing the impact of commercial logging on wild apes, many of which can be implemented within the framework of sustainable, reduced-impact logging at little or no additional cost. These include:

   * Collaborating with Conservation Scientists

   * Identifying Important Ape Food Trees for Protection

   * Establishing Ape Population Monitoring Programme,

   * Establishing Buffer Zones around Protected Areas

   * Planning Roads Away from Protected Areas

For more detailed information see [Morgan and Sanz 2007 Best practice guidelines]

Counting Apes. Recent reports have shown that central chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) populations in central Africa are rapidly declining due to disease epidemics, commercial bushmeat hunting, and habitat destruction. The extent of these declines may never be known because precise baseline ape density estimates are not available from most central African forests.  Even when abundance estimates are available, the survey methods have been criticized as biased, limited in their ability to detect trends, and lacking causal inference.  These methods must be refined and precise ape density estimates obtained to ensure strategic and appropriate conservation planning that would permit the survival of remaining chimpanzee and gorilla populations in central Africa.

For more detailed information see [Morgan et al 2006 Ape abundance and habitat use]

Satellite Imagery Analysis. Remote sensing is proving to be a critical tool for assessing and monitoring forests and wildlife in the Congo Basin. Collaborating with scientists from the Woods Hole Research Center, we recently used satellite imagery to compare ape habitats in the Nouabal-Ndoki National Park and Odzala National Park which are both located in northern Republic of Congo. Continuing our effort to better understand ape distribution and habitat use in northern Congo, we are working with Dr. Eric Lonsdorf of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo to identify the distribution of preferred habitats for chimpanzees and gorillas over a large spatial and monitor the effects of mechanized logging on the apes.

For more detailed information see [Devos et al 2008 Comparing apes in northern Congo]

Preserving Fragile Cultures. Our knowledge of the variation in chimpanzee tool using behavior has continuously expanded with insights from long-term research sites and initiation of new field studies of wild chimpanzees populations. However, more than 50% of the range of chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa is currently allocated to logging concessions which is more than double the area of their range encompassed by protected areas (17%). Commercial logging in northern Congo began at a relatively low intensity in the 1970?s, primarily focusing on extraction of mahogany (Entandrophragma sp.). However, advances in forestry technology and changes in timber product market values over the last ten years have tripled the number of tree species in northern Congo that are attractive to the international market. Dr. Carel van Schaik has proposed that local extinction, hunting pressure, selective logging, and habitat loss affect the transmission process of the traditional behaviors of wild great apes. This means that we are in a race against time to document and protect chimpanzee cultures in the Congo Basin.