Colin Chapman
Department of Anthropology and McGill School of Environment
April 23, 2008
Tropical countries harbouring primate populations are losing approximately 12.5 million ha of forest annually (an area just less than the size of the state of Florida or three times the size of Denmark). Given that 90% of primate species worldwide are dependent on forest habitats, this figure is alarming to say the least. Tropical forests are also being degraded by logging and forest fires, which are not considered deforestation. In addition to loss of forest habitat primate populations have been and continue to be dramatically impacted by commercial and subsistence hunting. Thus, the future for primates looks grim enough without even considering the as yet largely unknown impacts of global climate change on forest ecosystems and newly emerging infectious diseases, like Ebola. In this lecture, I review the plight of primates tropical rain forests based on my 18 years of study in the forests of western Uganda. I suggest what future actions will be advantageous to advance primate conservation and evaluate some very positive conservation gains that are currently occurring, particularly in Africa. Although I paint a fairly bleak picture, it is important to remain optimistic. There is still considerable potential for primate conservation in the forested regions of central Africa and in other areas of Africa where positive attitudes to conservation are increasing.