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Forests need apes as much as the apes need the forests. They are the gardeners of the forest - keystone species in the ecology of African and Southeast Asian forests, dispersing seeds, creating light gaps and pruning branch-tips whilst feeding. Their habitat comprises two of the planet's three major tropical forest blocks that are essential for global climate regulation. But the economic pressures that are destroying ape habitats are much greater than current available conservation finance. This unique case study from the Kibale national park illustrates how biological research has had diverse consequences for conservation. It examines effects on habitat management, community relations, ecotourism and training. Lessons learned from this project over the last 20 years will inspire researchers and conservationists to work together to promote biodiversity through field projects.
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Science and Conservation in African Forests Tropical forests, like the great apes and other wildlife that inhabit them, are under threat throughout their range. This unique case study from Kibale National Park in Uganda illustrates that a vital aid to forest conservation is the establishment of a long-term research facility. Biological research, of the type pioneered by legendary figures Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey, not only produces important data for the design of management practices, but also has many unanticipated benefits that promote conservation, including improved community relations, positive economic outcomes, and training of future generations. Every well-established study of great apes from Guinea and the Ivory Coast to Tanzania and Rwanda shows the same pattern of benefits. Future environmentalists can use the lessons learned in this book as a model for conservation through research. RICHARD WRANGHAM is the Moore professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and a patron of the Great Ape Survival Project. Since 1987 he has directed the Kibale Chimpanzee Project in Western Uganda, studying the behavior and ecology of a community of wild chimpanzees. ELIZABETH ROSS has been the Director of The Kasiisi Project since 1997. The Project operates in the rural communities bordering Kibale National Park, Uganda and provides educational support to students and staff in government Primary schools. She has a B.Sc. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Edinburgh University.
Science and Conservation in African Forests The Benefits of Long-term Research Edited by
richard wrangham Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA
elizabeth ross Kasiisi Project, Uganda
This book is a result of a workshop on Long-term Research and Conservation held to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project and the tenth anniversary of the Kasiisi Project at Makerere University Biological Field Station, Kibale National Park, Uganda, June 15–17 2007.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521896016 © Cambridge University Press 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-42347-5
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978-0-521-72058-8
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