1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Environment and Resources
  4. Volume 41, 2016
  5. Article

Annual Review of Environment and Resources

Volume 41, 2016

Environmental Issues in Central Africa

Abstract

The Central African forests, the planet's second largest rainforest block, are key to global environmental health. They influence climate change through their crucial role in carbon sinking and storage, affect weather patterns across Africa, and safeguard unique species and biodiverse communities. Their fate is important to everyone, not just today's inhabitants. The forests cover seven countries, and the differing socioeconomic histories and trajectories of these nations determine divergent fates for people, trees, and wildlife across the region. We review current knowledge of how the Central African forests have been shaped by climate and human activity within the region and assess how they may evolve under future climate change, population growth, and the Anthropocene race for wealth and energy. We highlight three different environmental trajectories for the countries of the region, identify key current regional issues that have an international dimension, and highlight five new points of future concern.

Keyword(s): Central Africa, climate change, Congo Basin, defaunation, deforestation, Guineo-Congolian forests, urbanization
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085415
2016-10-17
2024-04-19
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/energy/41/1/annurev-environ-110615-085415.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085415&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. 1. United Nations Conf. Trade Dev. (UNCTAD) 2015. Statistics Data Center Economic Trends 1970–2014 Geneva, Switz.: UNCTAD http://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds
  2. White F.2.  1981. The Vegetation of Africa. UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO Map Scale 1:5,000,000. Paris: UNESCO
  3. White FJ.3.  1985. The Vegetation of Africa. A Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Paris: UNESCO Nat. Resour. Res.
  4. Olsen D, Dinerstein E, Wikramanayake E, Burgess ND, Powell G. 4.  et al. 2001. Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: a new map of life on Earth. BioScience 51:11933–38 [Google Scholar]
  5. Maley J.5.  1996. The African rain forest—main characteristics of changes in vegetation and climate from the Upper Cretaceous to the Quaternary. Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. B. 104B:31–73 [Google Scholar]
  6. Leal ME.6.  2001. Microrefugia, small scale ice age forest remnants. Syst. Geogr. Plants 71:1073–77 [Google Scholar]
  7. Maley J.7.  2001. The impact of arid phases on the African rain forest through geological history. See Ref. 166 68–87
  8. White LJT.8.  2001. Forest-savanna dynamics and the origins of Marantaceae forest in central Gabon. See Ref. 166 165–82
  9. White LJT.9.  2001. The African rain forest: climate and vegetation. See Ref. 166 3–29
  10. Mitchard ETA, Saatchi SS, Gerard FF, Lewis SL, Meir P. 10.  2009. Measuring woody encroachment along a forest–savanna boundary in central Africa. Earth Interact 13:1–29 [Google Scholar]
  11. Anthony NM, Johnson-Bawe M, Jeffery K, Clifford SL, Abernethy KA. 11.  et al. 2007. The role of Pleistocene refugia and rivers in shaping gorilla genetic diversity in central Africa. PNAS 104:20432–36 [Google Scholar]
  12. Sosef MSM, Issembe Y, Bourobou Bourobou H, Koopman WJM. 12.  2004. Botanical diversity of the Pleistocene forest refuge Monts Doudou. Calif. Acad. Sci. Mem. 28:17–91 [Google Scholar]
  13. Leal ME.13.  2009. The past protecting the future: locating climatically stable forests in West and Central Africa. Int. J. Clim. Change Strateg. Manag. 1:192–99 [Google Scholar]
  14. Willis K, Bennet K, Burrough S, Macias-Fauria M, Tovar C. 14.  2013. Determining the response of African biota to climate change: using the past to model the future. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120491 [Google Scholar]
  15. Steffen W, Crutzen P, McNeill J. 15.  2007. The Anthropocene: Are humans now overwhelming the great forces of nature?. AMBIO 36:8614–21 [Google Scholar]
  16. Lewis SL, Maslin M. 16.  2015. Defining the Anthropocene. Nature 519:171–79 [Google Scholar]
  17. Megevand C.17.  2013. What will drive deforestation in the Congo Basin? A multisectoral analysis. See Ref. 81 57–118
  18. Malhi Y, Gardner T, Goldsmith G, Silman M, Zelazowski P. 18.  2014. Tropical forests in the Anthropocene. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 39:11125–59 [Google Scholar]
  19. Lewis SL, Edwards D, Galbraith D. 19.  2015. Increasing human dominance of tropical forests. Science 349:6250827–32 [Google Scholar]
  20. Lewis S, Lopez-Gonzalez G, Sonké B, Affum-Baffoe K, Baker TR. 20.  et al. 2009. Increasing carbon storage in intact African tropical forests. Nature 457:1003–6 [Google Scholar]
  21. de Wasseige C, Tadoum M, Eba'a Atyi R, Doumenge C. 21.  2015. The Forests of the Congo Basin—Forests and Climate Change Weyrich, Belg.: Weyrich Ed.
  22. Mallon DP, Hoffman M, Grainger M, Hibert F, Van Vliet N, McGowan P. 22.  2015. An IUCN Situation Analysis of Terrestrial and Freshwater Fauna in West and Central Africa 54 Gland, Switz.: IUCN
  23. 23. COMIFAC 2014. COMIFAC Annual Report 2014 Yaounde, Cameroon: COMIFAC http://www.comifac.org/en/content/rapportannuel2014comifac
  24. Galetti M, Dirzo R. 24.  2013. Ecological and evolutionary consequences of living in a defaunated world. Biol. Conserv. 163:1–6 [Google Scholar]
  25. 25. COMIFAC 2015. Plan de Convergence 2015–2025 Yaounde, Cameroon: COMIFAC
  26. James R, Washington R, Rowell D. 26.  2013. Implications of global warming for the climate of African rainforests. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120298 [Google Scholar]
  27. Niang I, Ruppel OC, Abdrabo M, Essel A, Lennard C. 27.  et al. 2014. Africa. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change V Barros, C Field 1199–1265 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  28. Lovett J.28.  2015. Modelling the effects of climate change in Africa. Afr. J. Ecol. 53:1–2 [Google Scholar]
  29. 29. UNFCCC 2015. Adoption of the Paris Agreement Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1., UN Gen. Secr., N. Y. http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf
  30. Zelazowski P, Malhi Y, Huntingford C, Sitch S, Fisher JB. 30.  2011. Changes in the potential distribution of humid tropical forests on a warmer planet. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 3691934:137–60 [Google Scholar]
  31. Maidment RI, Allan RP, Black E. 31.  2015. Recent observed and simulated changes in precipitation over Africa. Geophys. Res. Lett. 42:198155–64 [Google Scholar]
  32. Asefi-Najafabady S, Saatchi S. 32.  2013. Response of African humid tropical forests to recent rainfall anomalies. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120306 [Google Scholar]
  33. Feng X, Porporato A, Rodriguez-Iturbe I. 33.  2013. Changes in rainfall seasonality in the tropics. Nat. Clim. Change 3:9811–15 [Google Scholar]
  34. Mahe G, Lienou G, Descroix L, Bamba F, Paturel J. 34.  et al. 2013. The rivers of Africa: witness of climate change and human impact on the environment. Hydrol. Process. 27:2105–14 [Google Scholar]
  35. Bell J, Tompkins AM, Bouka-Biona C, Sanda I. 35.  2015. A process-based investigation into the impact of the Congo Basin deforestation on surface climate. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 120:125721–39 [Google Scholar]
  36. Crowley J, Mitrovica J, Bailey R, Tamisiea M, David J. 36.  2006. Land water storage within the Congo Basin inferred from GRACE satellite gravity data. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33:19L19402 [Google Scholar]
  37. Maley J, Giresse P, Doumenge C, Favier C. 37.  2012. Comment on “Intensifying weathering and land use in Iron Age Central Africa.”. Science 337:1040–41 [Google Scholar]
  38. Lewis SL, Sonké B, Sunderland T, Begne SK, Lopez-Gonzalez G. 38.  et al. 2013. Above-ground biomass and structure of 260 African tropical forests. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 368:20120295 [Google Scholar]
  39. Gond V, Fayolle A, Pennec A, Cornu G, Mayaux P. 39.  et al. 2013. Vegetation structure and greenness in Central Africa from MODIS multi-temporal data. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120309 [Google Scholar]
  40. Zhou L, Tian Y, Myneni RB, Ciais P, Saatchi S. 40.  et al. 2014. Widespread decline of Congo rainforest greenness in the past decade. Nature 509:86–90 [Google Scholar]
  41. Bastin J-F, Barbier N, Réjou-Méchain M, Fayolle A, Gourlet-Fleury S. 41.  et al. 2015. Seeing Central African forests through their largest trees. Sci. Rep. 5:13156 [Google Scholar]
  42. Stephenson NL, Das AJ, Condit R, Russo SE, Baker PJ. 42.  et al. 2014. Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size. Nature 507:749090–93 [Google Scholar]
  43. Spracklen D, Arnold S, Taylor CM. 43.  2012. Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests. Nature 489:282–85 [Google Scholar]
  44. Lindenmeyer DB, Laurance W, Franklin J. 44.  2012. Global decline in large old trees. Science 338:1305–6 [Google Scholar]
  45. Fauset S, Baker TR, Lewis SL, Feldpausch TR, Affum-Baffoe K. 45.  et al. 2012. Drought-induced shifts in the floristic and functional composition of tropical forests in Ghana. Ecol. Lett. 15:101120–29 [Google Scholar]
  46. Tutin CEG, Fernandez M. 46.  1993. Relationships between minimum temperature and fruit production in some tropical forest trees in Gabon. J. Trop. Ecol. 9:241–48 [Google Scholar]
  47. Chapman C, Wrangham R, Chapman L, Kennard D, Zanne A. 47.  1999. Fruit and flower phenology at two sites in Kibale National Park, Uganda. J. Trop. Ecol. 15:189–211 [Google Scholar]
  48. Adamscu G, Plumptre AG, Shoo L, Polansky L, Strindberg S. 48.  et al. 2016. Impacts of global change on the phenology of African ecosystems—the Pan African phenology project Presented at Annu. Meet. Assoc. Trop. Biol Cons., 53rd., Montpellier, Fr
  49. Polansky L, Boesch C. 49.  2013. Long-term changes in fruit phenology in a West African lowland tropical rain forest are not explained by rainfall. Biotropica 45:4434–40 [Google Scholar]
  50. Brodie J, Post E, Laurance WF. 50.  2012. Climate change and tropical biodiversity: a new focus. Trends Ecol. Evol. 27:3145–50 [Google Scholar]
  51. Saatchi S, Asefi-Najafabady S, Malhi Y, Aragao L, Anderson L. 51.  et al. 2013. Persistent effects of a severe drought on Amazonian forest canopy. PNAS 110:2565–70 [Google Scholar]
  52. Lewis SL, Brando P, Phillips OL, van der Heijden GMF, Nepstad D. 52.  2013. The 2010 Amazon drought. Science 331:6017554 [Google Scholar]
  53. Beyene T, Ludwig F, Franssen W. 53.  2013. The potential consequences of climate change in the hydrology regime of the Congo River Basin. Climate Change Scenarios for the Congo Basin A Haensler, D Jacob, P Kabat, F Ludwig 1–44 Hamburg, Ger.: Clim. Serv. Cent. [Google Scholar]
  54. Laurance W, Sayer J, Cassman KG. 54.  2014. Agricultural expansion and its impacts on tropical nature. Trends Ecol. Evol. 29:2107–16 [Google Scholar]
  55. Pan Y, Birdsey RA, Fang J, Houghton R, Kauppi PE. 55.  et al. 2011. A large and persistent carbon sink in the world's forests. Science 333:6045988–93 [Google Scholar]
  56. Wang X, Piao S, Ciais P, Friedlingstein P, Myneni RB. 56.  et al. 2014. A two-fold increase of carbon cycle sensitivity to tropical temperature variations. Nature 506:212–15 [Google Scholar]
  57. Fisher JB, Sikka M, Sitch S, Ciais P, Poulter B. 57.  et al. 2013. African tropical rainforest net carbon dioxide fluxes in the twentieth century. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120376 [Google Scholar]
  58. Mao J, Fu W, Shi X, Ricciuto DM, Fisher JB. 58.  et al. 2015. Disentangling climatic and anthropogenic controls on global terrestrial evapotranspiration trends. Environ. Res. Lett. 10:9094008 [Google Scholar]
  59. Makarieva AM, Gorshkov VG, Sheil D, Nobre AD, Bunyard P, Li B-L. 59.  2014. Why does air passage over forest yield more rain? Examining the coupling between rainfall, pressure, and atmospheric moisture content. J. Hydrometeorol. 15:1411–26 [Google Scholar]
  60. Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner G-K, Tignor M, Allen SK. 60.  et al. 2013. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  61. Wong P, Losado I, Gattuso J, Hinkel J, Khattabi A. 61.  et al. 2014. Coastal systems and low-lying areas. Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change C Field, V Barros, D Dokken, M Mach, M Mastrandrea 361–409 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  62. Brown S, Kebidy A, Nicholls R. 62.  2011. Sea-level rise and impacts in Africa, 2000 to 2100 Rep. 11042011, Univ. Southampt., Southampt., UK/UN Environ. Progr., Washington, DC
  63. Sugden A, Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink J, Malakoff D, Vignieri S. 63.  2015. Special issue: Forest health in a changing world. Science 349:800–1 [Google Scholar]
  64. Verdu P, Austerlitz F, Estoup A, Vitalis R, Georges M. 64.  et al. 2009. Origins and genetic diversity of pygmy hunter-gatherers from Western Central Africa. Curr. Biol. 19:4312–18 [Google Scholar]
  65. Oslisly R, Favier C, Fontugne M, Gillet JF, Morin-Rivat J. 65.  2013. West Central African peoples: survey of radiocarbon dates over the past 5000 years. Radiocarbon 55:1377–82 [Google Scholar]
  66. De Langhe E. 66.  2007. The establishment of traditional plantain cultivation in the African rainforest; a working hypothesis. Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives T Denham, J Iriarte, L Vrydaghs 361–70 Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press [Google Scholar]
  67. Perrier X, De Langhe E, Donohue M, Lentfer C, Vrydaghs L. 67.  et al. 2011. Multidisciplinary perspectives on banana (Musa spp.) domestication. PNAS. 108:2811311–18 [Google Scholar]
  68. Oslisly R, White LJT, Bentaleb I, Favier C, Fontugne M. 68.  et al. 2013. Climatic and cultural changes in the west Congo Basin forests over the past 5000 years. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120304 [Google Scholar]
  69. Maley J.69.  2002. A catastrophic destruction of African forests about 2,500 years ago still exerts a major influence on present vegetation formations. IDS Bull. 33:13–30 [Google Scholar]
  70. Bayon G, Dennielou B, Etoubleau J, Ponzevera E, Toucanne S, Bermell S. 70.  2012. Intensifying weathering and land use in Iron Age Central Africa. Science 335:1219–22 [Google Scholar]
  71. Vantsina J.71.  1991. Paths in the Rainforest: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa. Melton, UK: James Currey
  72. Hymas O.72.  2015. L'Okoumé, fils du manioc: post-logging in remote rural forest areas of Gabon and its long-term impacts on development and the environment PhD Thesis. Univ. Coll. Lond., UK
  73. Edwards D, Sloan S, Weng L, Dirks P, Sayer J, Laurance W. 73.  2014. Mining and the African environment. Conserv. Lett. 7:3302–11 [Google Scholar]
  74. Hoare A.74.  2015. Tackling Illegal Logging and the Related Trade: What Progress and Where Next? London, UK: Chatham House, R. Inst. Int. Aff.
  75. Feintrenie L.75.  2014. Agro-industrial plantations in Central Africa, risks and opportunities. Biodivers. Conserv. 23:61577–89 [Google Scholar]
  76. 76. UNEP, CITES, IUCN, TRAFFIC 2013. Elephants in the dust—the African elephant crisis. Rapid Response Assess. Rep., UNEP, GRID-Arendal Cent., Arendal, Nor.
  77. Desclée B, Hansen M, Lola Amani P, Sannier C, Mertens B. 77.  et al. 2014. Evolution of forest cover at a national and regional scale and drivers of change. The Forests of the Congo Basin—State of the Forest 2013 C de Wassinge, D Louppe, F Hiol Hiol, P Mayaux 21–46 Neufchatel, Belg.: Weyrich Ed. [Google Scholar]
  78. Rudel TK.78.  2013. The national determinants of deforestation in sub-Saharan Africa. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120405 [Google Scholar]
  79. Mayaux P, Pekel JF, Desclée B, Donnay F, Lupi A. 79.  et al. 2013. State and evolution of the African rainforests between 1990 and 2010. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120300 [Google Scholar]
  80. Damania R, Wheeler D. 80.  2015. Road improvement and deforestation in the Congo Basin countries Policy Res. Work. Pap. 7274 World Bank Washington, DC:
  81. Megevand C.81.  2013. Deforestation Trends in the Congo Basin: Reconciling Economic Growth and Forest Protection Washington, DC: World Bank
  82. Kissinger G, Herold M, De Sy V. 82.  2012. Drivers of Deforestation and Degradation: A Synthesis Report for REDD+ Policymakers Vancouver, Can.: Lexeme Consult.
  83. Hansen MC, Potapov PV, Moore R, Hancher M, Turubanova SA. 83.  et al. 2013. High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science 342:850–53 Data available online from http://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest. Accessed through Global Forest Watch on 02 January 2016. http://www.globalforestwatch.org [Google Scholar]
  84. Molinario G, Hansen MC, Potapov PV. 84.  2015. Forest cover dynamics of shifting cultivation in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a remote sensing-based assessment for 2000–2010. Environ. Res. Lett. 10:9094009 [Google Scholar]
  85. Ahrends A, Burgess ND, Milledge S, Bulling M, Fisher B. 85.  et al. 2010. Predictable waves of sequential forest degradation and biodiversity loss spreading from an African city. PNAS 107:3314556–61 [Google Scholar]
  86. Ziegler S, Fa JE, Wohlfart C, Streit B, Jacob S, Wegmann M. 86.  2016. Mapping bushmeat hunting pressure in Central Africa. Biotropica 48:405–12 [Google Scholar]
  87. Laurance W, Sloan S, Weng L, Sayer J. 87.  2015. Estimating the environmental costs of Africa's massive “development corridors.”. Curr. Biol. 25:3202–8 [Google Scholar]
  88. Laurance WF, Goosem M, Laurance SGW. 88.  2009. Impacts of roads and linear clearings on tropical forests. Trends Ecol. Evol. 24:659–69 [Google Scholar]
  89. Laurance W, Clements GC, Sloan S, O'Connell CS, Mueller ND. 89.  et al. 2014. A global strategy for road building. Nature 513:229–32 [Google Scholar]
  90. 90. US Energy Information Administration 2015. International Energy Data and Analysis Database Washington, DC: US Dep. Energy http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/
  91. Liddle B, Lung S. 91.  2014. Might electricity consumption cause urbanization instead? Evidence from heterogeneous panel long-run causality tests. Glob. Environ. Change 24:42–51 [Google Scholar]
  92. Sanyanga R.92.  2015. Is Grand Inga too big to build?. ESI Afr 1:72–74 [Google Scholar]
  93. Ansar A, Flyvbjerg B, Budzier A, Lunn D. 93.  2014. Should we build more large dams? The actual costs of hydropower megaproject development. Energy Policy 69:43–56 [Google Scholar]
  94. 94. Pure Earth, Green Cross Switzerland 2015. World's Worst Pollution Problems. The New Top Six Pollution Threats: A Priority List for Remediation. New York: Pure Earth http://www.worstpolluted.org/2015-report.html
  95. 95. UN Environ. Programme (UNEP) 2013. Minamata Convention on Mercury Geneva, Switz: UNEP http://www.mercuryconvention.org/Convention
  96. Redford K.96.  1992. The empty forest. BioScience 42:6412–22 [Google Scholar]
  97. Abernethy KA, Coad L, Taylor G, Lee ME, Maisels F. 97.  2013. Extent and ecological consequences of hunting in Central African rainforests in the twenty-first century. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:20120303 [Google Scholar]
  98. Kuehl HS, Nzeingui C, Yeno SL-D, Huijbregts B, Boesch C, Walsh PD. 98.  2009. Discriminating between village and commercial hunting of apes. Biol. Conserv. 142:1500–6 [Google Scholar]
  99. Ickowitz A, Powell B, Salim MA, Sunderland T. 99.  2014. Dietary quality and tree cover in Africa. Glob. Environ. Change 24:287–94 [Google Scholar]
  100. Fa JE, Olivero J, Real R, Farfán MA, Márquez AL. 100.  et al. 2015. Disentangling the relative effects of bushmeat availability on human nutrition in Central Africa. Sci. Rep. 5:8168 [Google Scholar]
  101. Wilkie DS, Starkey M, Abernethy KA, Nstame Effa E, Telfer P, Godoy R. 101.  2005. Role of prices and wealth in consumer demand for bushmeat in Gabon, Central Africa. Conserv. Biol. 19:268–74 [Google Scholar]
  102. de Merode E, Homewood K, Cowlishaw G. 102.  2004. The value of bushmeat and other wild foods to rural households living in extreme poverty in Democratic Republic of Congo. Biol. Conserv. 118:5573–81 [Google Scholar]
  103. Foerster S, Wilkie DS, Morelli GA, Demmer J, Starkey M. 103.  et al. 2012. Correlates of bushmeat hunting among remote rural households in Gabon, Central Africa. Conserv. Biol. 26:335–44 [Google Scholar]
  104. van Vliet N, Nasi R, Abernethy KA, Fargeot C, Kumpel N. 104.  et al. 2010. The role of wildlife for food security in Central Africa: A threat to biodiversity?. The Forests of the Congo Basin—State of the Forest 2010 C de Wasseige, P de Marcken, N Bayol, F Hiol Hiol, P Mayaux 123–35 Luxembourg: Publ. Off. EU [Google Scholar]
  105. Fa JE, Brown D. 105.  2009. Impacts of hunting on mammals in African tropical moist forests: a review and synthesis. Mammal Rev 39:4231–64 [Google Scholar]
  106. Coad L.106.  2007. Hunter behaviour and rural village subsistence hunting in Gabon PhD Thesis, Univ. Cambr., Imp. Coll., Lond., UK
  107. van Vliet N, Milner-Gulland EJ, Bousquet F, Saqalli M, Nasi R. 107.  2010. Effect of small-scale heterogeneity of prey and hunter distributions on the sustainability of bushmeat hunting. Conserv. Biol. 24:51327–37 [Google Scholar]
  108. Kümpel NF, Milner-Gulland EJ, Cowlishaw G, Rowcliffe JM. 108.  2010. Incentives for hunting: the role of bushmeat in the household economy in rural Equatorial Guinea. Hum. Ecol. 38:2251–64 [Google Scholar]
  109. Starkey M.109.  2004. Commerce and subsistence: the hunting, sale and consumption of bushmeat in Gabon PhD Thesis, Univ. Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  110. van Vliet N, Nasi R. 110.  2008. Hunting for livelihood in northeast Gabon: patterns, evolution, and sustainability. Ecol. Soc. 13:233–42 [Google Scholar]
  111. van Vliet N, Nebesse C, Nasi R. 111.  2015. Bushmeat consumption among rural and urban children from Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of Congo. Oryx 49:01165–74 [Google Scholar]
  112. Robinson JG, Bennett EL. 112.  2000. Carrying capacity limits to sustainable hunting in tropical forests. Hunting for Sustainability in Tropical Forests JG Robinson, EL Bennett 13–30 New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  113. Nasi R, Brown D, Wilkie DS, Bennett EL, Tutin CEG. 113.  et al. 2008. Conservation and Use of Wildlife-Based Resources: The Bushmeat Crisis Bogor, Indones.: Secr. Conv. Biol. Biodiver., Cent. Int. For. Res. (CIFOR)
  114. Ingram D, Coad LM, Collen B, Kumpel N, Breuer T. 114.  et al. 2015. Indicators for wild animal offtake: methods and case study for African mammals and birds. Ecol. Soc. 20:340 [Google Scholar]
  115. Walters G, Schleicher J, Hymas O, Coad L. 115.  2015. Evolving hunting practices in Gabon: lessons for community-based conservation interventions. Ecol. Soc. 20:431 [Google Scholar]
  116. Taylor G, Scharlemann JPW, Rowcliffe M, Kümpel N, Harfoot MBJ. 116.  et al. 2015. Synthesising bushmeat research effort in West and Central Africa: a new regional database. Biol. Conserv. 181:199–205 [Google Scholar]
  117. Henschel P, Hunter LTB, Coad L, Abernethy KA, Mühlenberg M. 117.  2011. Leopard prey choice in the Congo Basin rainforest suggests exploitative competition with human bushmeat hunters. J. Zool. 285:11–20 [Google Scholar]
  118. Bahaa-el-din L, Henschel P, Butynski TM, Macdonald DW, Mills D. 118.  et al. 2015. The African golden cat Caracal aurata: Africa's least-known felid. Mammal Rev 45:163–77 [Google Scholar]
  119. Nasi R, Taber A, Van Vliet N. 119.  2011. Empty forests, empty stomachs? Bushmeat and livelihoods in the Congo and Amazon Basins. Int. For. Rev. 13:3355–68 [Google Scholar]
  120. Blake S, Deem SL, Strindberg S, Maisels F, Momont L. 120.  et al. 2008. Roadless wilderness area determines forest elephant movements in the Congo Basin. PLOS ONE 3:e3546 [Google Scholar]
  121. Yackulic CB, Strindberg S, Maisels F, Blake S. 121.  2011. The spatial structure of hunter access determines the local abundance of forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis). Ecol. Appl. 21:1296–307 [Google Scholar]
  122. Maisels F, Strindberg S, Blake S, Wittemyer G, Hart J. 122.  et al. 2013. Devastating decline of forest elephants in Central Africa. PLOS ONE 8:e59469 [Google Scholar]
  123. Walsh PD, Abernethy KA, Bermejo M, Beyers R, De Wachter P. 123.  et al. 2003. Catastrophic ape decline in western equatorial Africa. Nature 422:611–14 [Google Scholar]
  124. Pressey B, Macaulay D, Morgan L, Possingham H, White LJT. 124.  et al. 2014. Conservation: a to-do list for the world's parks. Nature 515:752528–31 [Google Scholar]
  125. Underwood F, Burn RW, Milliken T. 125.  2013. Dissecting the illegal ivory trade: an analysis of ivory seizures data. PLOS ONE 8:10e76539 [Google Scholar]
  126. Challender D, Waterman C, Baillie JEM. 126.  2015. Scaling up pangolin conservation Rep., IUCN SSC Pangolin Spec. Group, IUCN, London, UK
  127. White LJT.127.  1994. Biomass of rain forest mammals in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. J. Anim. Ecol. 63:499–512 [Google Scholar]
  128. Terborgh J, Estes J. 128.  2010. Trophic Cascades Washington, DC: Island Press
  129. Darimont CT, Fox CH, Bryan HM, Reimchen T. 129.  2015. The unique ecology of human predators. Science 349:6250858–60 [Google Scholar]
  130. Ripple WJ, Estes JA, Beschta RL, Wilmers CC, Ritchie EG. 130.  et al. 2014. Status and ecological effects of the world's largest carnivores. Science 343:61671241484 [Google Scholar]
  131. Ripple WJ, Newsome TM, Wolf C, Dirzo R, Everatt KT. 131.  et al. 2015. Collapse of the world's largest herbivores. Sci. Adv. 1:4e1400103 [Google Scholar]
  132. 132. Birdlife International 2013. State of the World's Birds: Indicators for Our Changing World. Cambridge, UK: Birdlife Int.
  133. Collette BB, Carpenter KE, Polidoro BA, Juan-Jorda MJ, Boustany A. 133.  et al. 2011. High value and long life—double jeopardy for tunas and billfishes. Science 333:6040291–92 [Google Scholar]
  134. Dirzo R, Young HS, Galetti M, Ceballos G, Isaac NJB, Collen B. 134.  2014. Defaunation in the Anthropocene. Science 345:401–5 [Google Scholar]
  135. Doughty CE, Wolf A, Morueta-Holme N, Jørgensen PM, Sandel B. 135.  et al. 2016. Megafauna extinction, tree species range reduction, and carbon storage in Amazonian forests. Ecography 39:2194–203 [Google Scholar]
  136. Haurez B, Daïnou K, Tagg N, Petre C-A, Doucet J-L. 136.  2015. The role of great apes in seed dispersal of the tropical forest tree species Dacryodes normandii (Burseraceae) in Gabon. J. Trop. Ecol. 31:05395–402 [Google Scholar]
  137. Vanthomme H, Bellé B, Forget P-M. 137.  2010. Bushmeat hunting alters recruitment of large-seeded plant species in Central Africa: hunting and Central African forest regeneration. Biotropica 42:6672–79 [Google Scholar]
  138. Poulsen JR, Clark CJ, Palmer TM. 138.  2013. Ecological erosion of an Afrotropical forest and potential consequences for tree recruitment and forest biomass. Biol. Conserv. 163:122–30 [Google Scholar]
  139. Omeja P, Jacob A, Lawes M, Luanga J, Rothman JM. 139.  et al. 2014. Changes in elephant abundance affect forest composition or regeneration?. Biotropica 46:6704–11 [Google Scholar]
  140. Beaune D, Fruth B, Bollache L, Hohmann G, Bretagnolle F. 140.  2013. Doom of the elephant-dependent trees in a Congo tropical forest. For. Ecol. Manag. 295:109–17 [Google Scholar]
  141. Brodie JF.141.  2016. How monkeys sequester carbon. Trends Ecol. Evol. 31:414–16 [Google Scholar]
  142. Terborgh J, Davenport LC, Niangadouma R, Dimoto E, Mouandza JC. 142.  et al. 2015. Megafaunal influences on tree recruitment in African equatorial forests. Ecography 39:180–86 [Google Scholar]
  143. Bermejo M, Rodríguez-Teijeiro JD, Illera G, Barroso A, Vilà C, Walsh PD. 143.  2006. Ebola outbreak killed 5000 gorillas. Science 314:1564 [Google Scholar]
  144. Bachand N, Ravel A, Onanga R, Arsenault J, Gonzalez JP. 144.  2012. Public health significance of zoonotic bacterial pathogens from bushmeat sold in urban markets of Gabon, Central Africa. J. Wildl. Dis. 48:3785–89 [Google Scholar]
  145. Schmid B, Büntgen U, Easterday WR, Ginzler C, Walløe L. 145.  et al. 2015. Climate-driven introduction of the Black Death and successive plague reintroductions into Europe. PNAS 112:103020–25 [Google Scholar]
  146. Gould EA, Higgs S. 146.  2009. Impact of climate change and other factors on emerging arbovirus diseases. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 103:2109–21 [Google Scholar]
  147. Gao F, Bailes E, Robertson DL, Chen Y, Rodenburg C. 147.  et al. 2009. Origin of HIV-1 in the chimpanzee Pan troglodytes troglodytes. Nature 397:436–41 [Google Scholar]
  148. Liu W, Li Y, Learn GH, Rudicell RS, Robertson JD. 148.  et al. 2010. Origin of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in gorillas. Nature 467:7314420–25 [Google Scholar]
  149. Liu W, Li Y, Shaw KS, Learn GH, Plenderleith LJ. 149.  et al. 2014. African origin of the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax. Nat. Commun. 5:3346 [Google Scholar]
  150. Chiu C, Fair J, Leroy EM. 150.  2013. Bas-Congo virus: Another deadly virus?. Future Microbiol 8:139–41 [Google Scholar]
  151. Walsh PD, Bermejo M, Rodriguez-Teijeiro JD. 151.  2009. Disease avoidance and the evolution of primate social connectivity: Ebola, bats, gorillas, and chimpanzees. Primate Parasite Ecology: The Dynamics and Study of Host-Parasite Relationships MA Huffman, CA Chapman 183–98 Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  152. Warfield KL, Goetzmann JE, Biggins JE, Kasda MB, Unfer RC. 152.  et al. 2014. Vaccinating captive chimpanzees to save wild chimpanzees. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 111:248873–76 [Google Scholar]
  153. Ryan SJ, Walsh PD. 153.  2011. Consequences of non-intervention for infectious disease in African great apes. PLOS ONE 6:12e29030 [Google Scholar]
  154. Wallace RG, Gilbert M, Wallace R, Pittiglio C, Mattioli R, Kock R. 154.  2014. Did Ebola emerge in West Africa by a policy-driven phase change in agroecology?. Environ. Plan. A. 46:112533–42 [Google Scholar]
  155. Pooley S, Fa J, Nasi R. 155.  2014. Ebola and bushmeat. New Scientist31
  156. Laurance WF, Carolina Useche D, Rendeiro J, Kalka M, Bradshaw CJA. 156.  et al. 2012. Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. Nature 489:290–94 [Google Scholar]
  157. Bennett E.157.  2011. Another inconvenient truth: the failure of enforcement systems to save charismatic species. Oryx 45:4476–79 [Google Scholar]
  158. Brandt JS, Nolte C, Agrawal A. 158.  2016. Deforestation and timber production in Congo after implementation of sustainable forest management policy. Land Use Policy 52:15–22 [Google Scholar]
  159. Medjibe VP, Putz FE, Romero C. 159.  2013. Certified and uncertified logging concessions compared in Gabon: changes in stand structure, tree species, and biomass. Environ. Manag. 51:3524–40 [Google Scholar]
  160. 160. Food Agric. Org. (FAO) 2015. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015: Desk Reference. Rome: FAO
  161. Asare RA, Kyei A, Mason JJ. 161.  2013. The community resource management area mechanism: a strategy to manage African forest resources for REDD+. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 368:162520120311 [Google Scholar]
  162. van Vliet N, Vanegas L, Sandrin F, Cornelis D, Le Bel S. 162.  et al. 2015. Diagnostic approfondi pour la mise en œuvre de la gestion communautaire de la chasse villageoise: guide pratique et exemples d'application en Afrique centrale. Work. Pap. 183, CIFOR, Bogor, Indones.
  163. Wicander S, Coad LM. 163.  2015. Learning our Lessons: A Review of Alternative Livelihood Projects in Central Africa Gland, Switz.: IUCN
  164. Strassburg BBN, Rodrigues ASL, Gusti M, Balmford A, Fritz S. 164.  et al. 2012. Impacts of incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation on global species extinctions. Nat. Clim. Change 2:5350–55 [Google Scholar]
  165. Enkvist P-A, Nauclér T, Rosander J. 165.  2007. A cost curve for greenhouse gas reduction. McKinsey Q 2007:135–45 [Google Scholar]
  166. Weber W, White LJT, Vedder A, Naughton L. 166.  2001. African Rain Forest Ecology and Conservation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085415
Loading
Environmental Issues in Central Africa
Annual Review of Environment and Resources 41, 1 (2016); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085415
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085415
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085415
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Supplemental Material

Supplementary Data

  • Supplemental Figure 1. Scientific outputs on the Congo Basin for the past 15 years. Publications on REDD+ and carbon biomass emerge around 2010, and since 2011 more than half of the scientific research outputs have been focussed on forest and land management issues. Source: Thomson Reuters' Web of Science. Data were generated from a search of all databases using search term "Congo Basin" or "Central Africa" to establish the total outputs. A second search combined "Congo Basin" or "Central Africa" or any of the six individual country names (not Cabinda), with each of the topics listed below, one by one. Reported references for each topic were then reviewed by the authors and outputs allocated to the most appropriate topic from their title and abstract.

    Download Supplemental Figure 1 as a PDF.

  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error