Apes, protected areas and infrastructure in Africa

Laurance, William F.

Abstract

[Extract] Equatorial Africa sustains the continent's highest levels of biodiversity, especially in the wet and humid tropical forests that harbor Africa's apes. This equatorial region, like much of sub-Saharan Africa, is facing dramatic changes in the extent, number and environmental impact of large-scale infrastructure projects. A key concern is how such projects and the broader land use changes they promote will affect protected areas—a cornerstone of wildlife conservation efforts. This chapter assesses the potential impact of new and planned infrastructure projects on protected areas in tropical Africa, particularly those harboring critical ape habitats. It focuses on Africa not because tropical Asia is any less important, but because analyses of comparable detail are available only for certain parts of the Asian tropics (Clements et al., 2014; Meijaard and Wich, 2014; Wich et al., 2016). Such knowledge gaps underscore the importance of future work on infrastructure impacts in Asia.

Journal

N/A

Publication Name

Arcus Foundation

Volume

III

ISBN/ISSN

978-1-108-43642-7

Edition

N/A

Issue

N/A

Pages Count

Location

N/A

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

Cambridge, UK

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1017/9781108436427.006