The Costs of Exclusion: Recognizing a Role for Local Communities in Biodiversity Conservation

Two cross-cultural, community-based conservation initiatives in Borneo and Papua New Guinea incorporate poverty eradication into their biodiversity conservation programs in areas harboring some of the world's most endangered species

Aerial Surveys Give New Estimates for Orangutans in Sabah, Malaysia

Great apes are threatened with extinction, but precise information about the distribution and size of most populations is currently lacking. We conducted orangutan nest counts in the Malaysian state of Sabah (North Borneo), using a combination of ground and helicopter surveys, and provided a way to estimate the current distribution and size of the populations living throughout the entire state. We show that the number of nests detected during aerial surveys is directly related to the estimated true animal density and that a helicopter is an efficient tool to provide robust estimates of orangutan numbers. Our results reveal that with a total estimated population size of about 11,000 individuals, Sabah is one of the main strongholds for orangutans in North Borneo. More than 60% of orangutans living in the state occur outside protected areas, in production forests that have been through several rounds of logging extraction and are still exploited for timber. The role of exploited forests clearly merits further investigation for orangutan conservation in Sabah

Lignes directrices pour de meilleures pratiques en matière d’inventaire et de suivi des populations de grands singes

From Executive Summary: The combination of threats currently facing the remaining great apes requires immediate conservation action at all scales — from site-level initiatives, through national and regional strategies, to international conventions and action plans. Baseline density estimates and subsequent monitoring of ape populations are essential for assessing the impacts of particular threats and measuring whether conservation programmes are succeeding.  Available at: https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/922

Anticipated climate and land-cover changes reveal refuge areas for Borneo's orang-utans

Habitat loss and climate change pose a double jeopardy for many threatened taxa, making the identification of optimal habitat for the future a conservation priority. Using a case study of the endangered Bornean orang-utan, we identify environmental refuges by integrating bioclimatic models with projected deforestation and oil-palm agriculture suitability from the 1950s to 2080s. We coupled a maximum entropy algorithm with information on habitat needs to predict suitable habitat for the present day and 1950s. We then projected to the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s in models incorporating only land-cover change, climate change or both processes combined. For future climate, we incorporated projections from four model and emission scenario combinations. For future land cover, we developed spatial deforestation predictions from 10 years of satellite data. Refuges were delineated as suitable forested habitats identified by all models that were also unsuitable for oil palm – a major threat to tropical biodiversity. Our analyses indicate that in 2010 up to 260 000 km2 of Borneo was suitable habitat within the core orang-utan range; an 18–24% reduction since the 1950s. Land-cover models predicted further decline of 15–30% by the 2080s. Although habitat extent under future climate conditions varied among projections, there was majority consensus, particularly in northeastern and western regions. Across projections habitat loss due to climate change alone averaged 63% by 2080, but 74% when also considering land-cover change. Refuge areas amounted to 2000–42 000 km2 depending on thresholds used, with 900–17 000 km2 outside the current species range. We demonstrate that efforts to halt deforestation could mediate some orang-utan habitat loss, but further decline of the most suitable areas is to be expected given projected changes to climate. Protected refuge areas could therefore become increasingly important for ongoing translocation efforts. We present an approach to help identify such areas for highly threatened species given environmental changes expected this century

Viewing Bornean Human–Elephant Conflicts Through an Environmental Justice Lens

Sabah, on the northeastern corner of Borneo, is concurrently Malaysia’s largest producer of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and home to the endangered Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis; elephants). Concomitantly, Sabah has been experiencing increasing and unsustainable human–elephant conflicts (HECs), which have not been thoroughly investigated from a human dimensions standpoint. To address this void, in March 2019, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 villagers located in the Sabah districts of Lahad Datu, Tawau, and Telupid to investigate villager cognitions regarding elephants, behaviors toward elephants, the formal and informal village institutions employed to mediate HECs, and the future viability of human–elephant coexistence. Respondents highlighted emotions of fear, anger, and frustration over crop and property damage that villagers were unable to effectively mitigate employing traditional institutions and strategies. Although negative emotions were somewhat tempered by the cultural significance of elephants, respondents indicated that coexistence with elephants remains challenging and is likely only viable under certain conditions: domestication of elephants, if elephants no longer destroyed crops, and/or if elephants were provided separate forested habitat away from humans. Our results demonstrated that elephant conservation in Sabah is viewed as a “not in my backyard” claim, which can hint at the presence of environmental injustice. We further examined Sabah HECs using an environmental justice framework and concluded that HEC as an environmental justice problem requires traditional fixes to be merged with more extensive, sustainable solutions that improve stakeholder agency

First integrative trend analysis for a great ape species in Borneo

For many threatened species the rate and drivers of population decline are difficult to assess accurately: species’ surveys are typically restricted to small geographic areas, are conducted over short time periods, and employ a wide range of survey protocols. We addressed methodological challenges for assessing change in the abundance of an endangered species. We applied novel methods for integrating field and interview survey data for the critically endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), allowing a deeper understanding of the species’ persistence through time. Our analysis revealed that Bornean orangutan populations have declined at a rate of 25% over the last 10 years. Survival rates of the species are lowest in areas with intermediate rainfall, where complex interrelations between soil fertility, agricultural productivity, and human settlement patterns influence persistence. These areas also have highest threats from human-wildlife conflict. Survival rates are further positively associated with forest extent, but are lower in areas where surrounding forest has been recently converted to industrial agriculture. Our study highlights the urgency of determining specific management interventions needed in different locations to counter the trend of decline and its associated drivers

Pharmacokinetic interaction between prasugrel and ritonavir in healthy volunteers.

The new anti-aggregating agent prasugrel is bioactivated by cytochromes P450 (CYP) 3A and 2B6. Ritonavir is a potent CYP3A inhibitor and was shown in vitro as a CYP2B6 inhibitor. The aim of this open-label cross-over study was to assess the effect of ritonavir on prasugrel active metabolite (prasugrel AM) pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers. Ten healthy male volunteers received 10 mg prasugrel. After at least a week washout, they received 100 mg ritonavir, followed by 10 mg prasugrel 2 hr later. We used dried blood spot sampling method to monitor prasugrel AM pharmacokinetics (C(max) , t(1/2) , t(max) , AUC(0-6 hr) ) at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 4 and 6 hr after prasugrel administration. A 'cocktail' approach was used to measure CYP2B6, 2C9, 2C19 and 3A activities. In the presence of ritonavir, prasugrel AM C(max) and AUC were decreased by 45% (mean ratio: 0.55, CI 90%: 0.40-0.7, p = 0.007) and 38% (mean ratio: 0.62, CI 90%: 0.54-0.7, p = 0.005), respectively, while t(1/2) and t(max) were not affected. Midazolam metabolic ratio (MR) dramatically decreased in presence of ritonavir (6.7 ± 2.6 versus 0.13 ± 0.07) reflecting an almost complete inhibition of CYP3A4, whereas omeprazole, flurbiprofen and bupropion MR were not affected. These data demonstrate that ritonavir is able to block prasugrel CYP3A4 bioactivation. This CYP-mediated drug-drug interaction might lead to a significant reduction of prasugrel efficacy in HIV-infected patients with acute coronary syndrome

Envisioning a future for Bornean orangutans: Conservation impacts of action plan implementation and recommendations for improved population outcomes

Populations of the Critically Endangered Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) are declining despite more than 10 years of conservation action plan implementation. Here we analyzed the impacts on species' population and habitat from orangutan conservation strategies implemented between 2007 and 2017. We also assessed data on investments into orangutan conservation, orangutan population trends and landcover change in orangutan range between 2007 and 2017. Diverse strategies addressed the range of threats to orangutans but were not implemented at scales that impacted species’ level populations and habitats. Since 2007 orangutan populations and forests across orangutan range have declined, with orangutan killing and deforestation as the major drivers of loss. Protected areas have increased since 2007, notably in Malaysian range states and in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. However, 80% or tens of thousands of orangutans live outside protected areas in Kalimantan alone. Our results underscore scientific findings that have demonstrated this species’ resiliency and modified previous understanding of their habitat use. Orangutans are regularly found using agriculture landscapes (acacia, oil palm, and timber plantations), and exploited forests. This plasticity must be considered to design more effective orangutan conservation strategies. We need to revise the notion of “orangutan habitat” to extend beyond forests alone, incorporating all landscapes where P. pygmaeus can be found. Orangutans cannot survive in exclusively monoculture production areas; they need some natural forest to fulfill their ecological requirements. However, individuals surviving in isolated forest patches or mosaic landscapes play an important role in sustaining the long-term viability of the local metapopulation through provision of crucial genetic, reproductive and socioecological connectivity. Our findings suggest removing these individuals through translocations weakens overall metapopulation health. All necessary efforts must be made to maintain individuals in isolated forest patches or mosaic landscapes in order to support healthy metapopulations. Improved orangutan population outcomes will require addressing habitat connectivity at the landscape level, incorporating both non-forested and anthropogenically modified areas, and developing efficient management strategies for human and orangutan co-existence within these multiple-use landscapes

Shift of paradigm needed towards improving human-elephant coexistence in monoculture landscapes in Sabah

This article outlines the contemporary situation of the Bornean elephant Elephas maximus borneensis in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo), and focuses on the existing challenges that need to be addressed to enable people and elephants to coexist, particularly in man‐made landscapes dominated by oil‐palm plantations. Bornean elephants are confined mostly to Sabah, to the north‐east 5% of the Borneo Island. Sabah started to expand its commercial plantation sector in the early 1980s and is the largest producer of palm oil in Malaysia, contributing c. 10% of global output for this commodity. The rapid pace of plantation expansion has resulted in the loss of the majority of lowland areas that are also needed by large mammal species to sustain breeding populations. Elephants are extreme lowland/floodplain specialists, and they still attempt to use their former and preferred habitat, which is now mostly dominated by oil‐palm plantations. At the time of writing, the land‐use planning system favoured by the government insufficiently incorporates the ecological and management needs for elephants across the entire landscape. This article also highlights the need for better collaboration and coordination between stakeholders to address the increasing rate of human–elephant conflicts in Sabah