A new study says that the tropical forests of Western Equatorial Africa (WEA) – which include significant stands of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) – are increasingly coming under pressure from logging, poaching, and associated disturbances.
A new study says that the tropical forests of Western Equatorial Africa (WEA) – which include significant stands of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) – are increasingly coming under pressure from logging, poaching, and associated disturbances.
The tropical forests of WEA are comprised of significant stands of IFLs, which are forest and associated mosaics lacking overt human disturbance such as infrastructure. The vast majority of IFLs found in the Republic of Congo are located in the north of the country, which is also inhabited by extraordinary biodiversity, including chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Forests of northern Congo are also comprised of timber-rich stands, the exploitation of which is a big driver of the region’s economy and development.
Publishing in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, researchers from Lincoln Park Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Washington University in St. Louis, found that logging road construction had accelerated over the last two decades and has led to a dramatic decline of IFLs. Increased human immigration and degradation of natural resources follows in the wake of such road expansion.
The researchers, together with Park authorities, documented the first instances of elephant poacher incursions in Goualougo Triangle region of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (NNNP) – considered the most pristine block of rainforest remaining in the entire Congo Basin. This coincided with the arrival of roads and active logging in adjacent forest. Increased access to IFLs that facilitates illegal hunting raises concern and increases challenges for authorities tasked with protecting wildlife across WEA.
Read more at Wildlife Conservation Society
Image: Researchers find clear links between logging road incursion into Intact Forest Landscapes and elephant poaching (Credit: GTAP/LCZ/WCS)
