Accessibility to protected areas increases primate hunting intensity in Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

Bioko is one of the most important sites for African primate conservation; yet it has seen a severe decline in its primate populations due to illegal hunting to supply a thriving wildmeat trade. The completion in 2015 of a new road bisecting the Gran Caldera Scientific Reserve (GCSR), where rugged terrain and lack of infrastructure once served as a natural barrier, further threatened this last stronghold for Bioko’s primates. Here we used passive acoustic monitoring to study factors affecting hunting patterns within GCSR through the automatic detection of shotgun sounds. Ten acoustic sensors were placed in locations that varied in terrain heterogeneity, distance to the new road, human settlements, research camps (i.e., Moraka and Moaba) and elevation. Sensors recorded continuously between January 2018 and January 2020, collecting 2671 site-days of audio. In total 596 gunshots were detected, including in the most remote areas. There were significant differences in hunting rate between areas (Kruskal-Wallis, χ2 = 102.71, df = 9, p < 0.001). We also found there were significantly fewer gunshots during 2019 than during 2018 (V = 55, p < 0.001). Occupancy modelling showed that hunting increased with decreasing terrain heterogeneity and decreasing distance to roads and villages; and decreased with increasing proximity to Research Camps. These results demonstrated that increasing accessibility increased primate hunting in GCSR, which was exacerbated by the opening of the new road. We also demonstrated that research presence was effective at reducing primate hunting. Unless strict conservation interventions are implemented, including road checkpoints, increasing biomonitoring and hunting patrols, and an island-wide, enforced ban on firearms, GCSR will see a significant decrease in primate density over the next decade, including the potential extinction of Critically Endangered Pennant’s red colobus, whose entire population is restricted to GCSR and is a primary target of hunters

Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations’ conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID-19. We surveyed leaders of field stations across tropical regions that host primate research; 157 field stations in 56 countries responded. Respondents reported improved habitat quality and reduced hunting rates at over 80% of field stations and lower operational costs per km2 than protected areas, yet half of those surveyed have less funding now than in 2019. Spatial analyses support field station presence as reducing deforestation. These ‘earth observatories’ provide a high return on investment; we advocate for increased support of field station programs and for governments to support their vital conservation efforts by investing accordingly