Economic development and conservation of biodiversity: understanding the interface of ape conservation and industrial agriculture

Tropical ecosystems sustain much of the Earth's biodiversity, provide countless natural products and services—both locally and globally—and play critical roles in the regulation of the climate and the carbon and hydrological cycles. The expansion of agriculture into tropical forest ecosystems will therefore have enormous impacts on factors such as human and animal health (Karesh et al., 2012), energy options and prices, biodiversity conservation and infrastructure (see Box 1.1). In addition, this expansion might drive, or be affected by, conflict in areas of resource scarcity. These factors all directly affect human survival and that of countless other species. The rapid expansion of agriculture is the main driver of tropical forest loss (Sodhi et al., 2010). In much of the world, such expansion is led by large-scale, industrial agriculture, although small-scale agriculture also has a significant impact in some countries, particularly those in Africa

Economic development and conservation of biodiversity: understanding the interface of ape conservation and industrial agriculture

Tropical ecosystems sustain much of the Earth's biodiversity, provide countless natural products and services—both locally and globally—and play critical roles in the regulation of the climate and the carbon and hydrological cycles. The expansion of agriculture into tropical forest ecosystems will therefore have enormous impacts on factors such as human and animal health (Karesh et al., 2012), energy options and prices, biodiversity conservation and infrastructure (see Box 1.1). In addition, this expansion might drive, or be affected by, conflict in areas of resource scarcity. These factors all directly affect human survival and that of countless other species. The rapid expansion of agriculture is the main driver of tropical forest loss (Sodhi et al., 2010). In much of the world, such expansion is led by large-scale, industrial agriculture, although small-scale agriculture also has a significant impact in some countries, particularly those in Africa

Concerted conservation actions to support chimpanzee cultures

Funding: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (grant number BB/S018484/1); Born Free Foundation; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number 513871869); Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (grant number PCEFP3_186967).Chimpanzees were among the first animals recognized to have culture, and our understanding of the breadth of their cultural repertoire has grown significantly since the 1960s. Throughout their range, chimpanzee populations have come under increasing pressure, with their endangered status necessitating immediate and long-term conservation interventions. Recognizing the importance of diverse behavioural repertoires for chimpanzees’ survival, there has been a recent focus of conservation efforts on preserving their culturally transmitted behaviours and the environments in which they are exhibited. This article evaluates the practicality of developing conservation measures focused on chimpanzee culture. We highlight innovative conservation strategies aimed at integrating chimpanzee cultural behaviours into conservation policies. We review synergistic conservation initiatives led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and other international and local groups that share the goal of preserving chimpanzee populations and their cultural diversity. We underline how successful conservation implementation requires engagement and collaboration with a diverse group of interested or affected people. Finally, we provide recommendations aimed at guiding future efforts to incorporate animal cultures into conservation strategies.Peer reviewe

Great Apes and Biodiversity Offset Projects in Africa: The Case for National Offset Strategies

The development and private sectors are increasingly considering “biodiversity offsets” as a strategy to compensate for their negative impacts on biodiversity, including impacts on great apes and their habitats in Africa. In the absence of national offset policies in sub-Saharan Africa, offset design and implementation are guided by company internal standards, lending bank standards or international best practice principles. We examine four projects in Africa that are seeking to compensate for their negative impacts on great ape populations. Our assessment of these projects reveals that not all apply or implement best practices, and that there is little standardization in the methods used to measure losses and gains in species numbers. Even if they were to follow currently accepted best-practice principles, we find that these actions may still fail to contribute to conservation objectives over the long term. We advocate for an alternative approach in which biodiversity offset and compensation projects are designed and implemented as part of a National Offset Strategy that (1) takes into account the cumulative impacts of development in individual countries, (2) identifies priority offset sites, (3) promotes aggregated offsets, and (4) integrates biodiversity offset and compensation projects with national biodiversity conservation objectives. We also propose supplementary principles necessary for biodiversity offsets to contribute to great ape conservation in Africa. Caution should still be exercised, however, with regard to offsets until further field-based evidence of their effectiveness is available