Developing an Evidence-Based Coexistence Strategy to Promote Human and Wildlife Health in a Biodiverse Agroforest Landscape

UIDB/04038/2020 UIDP/04038/2020Agroforest mosaics represent one of the most extensive human-impacted terrestrial systems worldwide and play an increasingly critical role in wildlife conservation. In such dynamic shared landscapes, coexistence can be compromised if people view wildlife as a source of infectious disease. A cross-disciplinary One Health knowledge base can help to identify evolving proponents and threats to sustainable coexistence and establish long-term project goals. Building on an existing knowledge base of human–wildlife interactions at Cantanhez National Park (NP), Guinea-Bissau, we developed a causal pathway Theory-of-Change approach in response to a newly identified disease threat of leprosy in the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). The goals of our project are to improve knowledge and surveillance of leprosy in humans and wildlife and increase capacity to manage human–wildlife interactions. We describe the core project activities that aim to (1) quantify space use by chimpanzees across Cantanhez NP and determine the distribution of leprosy in chimpanzees; (2) understand the health system and local perceptions of disease; and (3) identify fine-scale risk sites through participatory mapping of resources shared by humans and chimpanzees across target villages. We discuss the development of a biodiversity and health monitoring programme, an evidence-based One Health campaign, and a One Health environmental management plan that incorporates the sharing of space and resources, and the disease implications of human–non-human great ape interactions. We demonstrate the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, and the development of strategy that fully considers interactions between people, wildlife, and the environment.publishersversionpublishe

Dietary flexibility of western red colobus in two protected areas with contrasting anthropogenic pressure

Food distribution and abundance can affect intra- and inter-dietary variation in non-human primates, influencing feeding ecology and altering behaviour. Natural and/or human-induced actions can influence the dynamics between primates and the environment, with associated impacts on socio-ecology and demography. This relationship in anthropogenic landscapes, however, is poorly understood. Here, we use DNA metabarcoding to obtain high resolution dietary diversity data, and multivariate generalised linear models to investigate variation in the diet of this threatened primate. We characterise the diet of the western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius) in both the better preserved Gola Rainforest National Park (GRNP, Sierra Leone), and in the fragmented forests of Cantanhez National Park (CNP, Guinea-Bissau), and evaluate biological, ecological and temporal differences. Dietary plant species richness was high in both protected areas, and the type of plants consumed varied significantly across seasons, space, and time. Although we identify dependence on a few key plants, red colobus in CNP consumed a higher average number of plant taxa than in GRNP, and 11% of the diet consisted of cultivated foods (e.g. mango). This is the first time a molecular approach has been used to investigate red colobus diet, and reveal dietary flexibility in degraded forests. Predicting the consequences of dietary change on long-term population persistence, however, remains a significant knowledge gap. Nevertheless, our results provide critical information to inform targeted regional conservation planning and implementation

Developing an Evidence-Based Coexistence Strategy to Promote Human and Wildlife Health in a Biodiverse Agroforest Landscape

Agroforest mosaics represent one of the most extensive human-impacted terrestrial systems worldwide and play an increasingly critical role in wildlife conservation. In such dynamic shared landscapes, coexistence can be compromised if people view wildlife as a source of infectious disease. A cross-disciplinary One Health knowledge base can help to identify evolving proponents and threats to sustainable coexistence and establish long-term project goals. Building on an existing knowledge base of human–wildlife interactions at Cantanhez National Park (NP), Guinea-Bissau, we developed a causal pathway Theory-of-Change approach in response to a newly identified disease threat of leprosy in the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). The goals of our project are to improve knowledge and surveillance of leprosy in humans and wildlife and increase capacity to manage human–wildlife interactions. We describe the core project activities that aim to (1) quantify space use by chimpanzees across Cantanhez NP and determine the distribution of leprosy in chimpanzees; (2) understand the health system and local perceptions of disease; and (3) identify fine-scale risk sites through participatory mapping of resources shared by humans and chimpanzees across target villages. We discuss the development of a biodiversity and health monitoring programme, an evidence-based One Health campaign, and a One Health environmental management plan that incorporates the sharing of space and resources, and the disease implications of human–non-human great ape interactions. We demonstrate the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, and the development of strategy that fully considers interactions between people, wildlife, and the environment