The Oil Industry as an Underlying Factor in the Bushmeat Crisis in Central Africa

Abstract:   Although deforestation and habitat loss are considered the main causes of wildlife depletion, the bushmeat trade is one of the foremost threats to biodiversity conservation in central Africa. In 1997 and 1998, we set up a bushmeat trade monitoring program in the town of Gamba to assess the pressure exerted on wildlife by the human population attracted by the oil industry in the Gamba Protected Areas Complex. During 279 days of observations, we recorded 19 mammal species, 4 bird species, and 7 reptile taxa, for a total of 2845 animal carcasses with an estimated weight of 189,728 kg. Even though the bushmeat trade is illegal in protected areas, calculation of annual production levels and hunting yields showed that this trade is not sustainable for some species. We calculated the ratio of bushmeat found in the markets of Gamba to the human population. Compared with other Gabonese towns, Gamba had the highest ratio in the country. We suggest that the oil industry is another contributor to the bushmeat crisis in central Africa. It is important to recognize the role of oil companies in the current crisis in order to heighten the awareness of the public and of oil companies and to seek ways of lessening the impact of the oil industry on the bushmeat trade in central Africa.     

Current Near‐to‐Nature Forest Management Effects on Functional Trait Composition of Saproxylic Beetles in Beech Forests

With the aim of wood production with negligible negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes, a silvicultural practice of selective logging with natural regeneration has been implemented in European beech forests (Fagus sylvatica) during the last decades. Despite this near‐to‐nature strategy, species richness of various taxa is lower in these forests than in unmanaged forests. To develop guidelines to minimize the fundamental weaknesses in the current practice, we linked functional traits of saproxylic beetle species to ecosystem characteristics. We used continental‐scale data from 8 European countries and regional‐scale data from a large forest in southern Germany and forest‐stand variables that represented a gradient of intensity of forest use to evaluate the effect of current near‐to‐nature management strategies on the functional diversity of saproxylic beetles. Forest‐stand variables did not have a statistically significant effect on overall functional diversity, but they did significantly affect community mean and diversity of single functional traits. As the amount of dead wood increased the composition of assemblages shifted toward dominance of larger species and species preferring dead wood of large diameter and in advanced stages of decay. The mean amount of dead wood across plots in which most species occurred was from 20 to 60 m³/ha. Species occurring in plots with mean dead wood >60 m³/ha were consistently those inhabiting dead wood of large diameter and in advanced stages of decay. On the basis of our results, to make current wood‐production practices in beech forests throughout Europe more conservation oriented (i.e., promoting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning), we recommend increasing the amount of dead wood to >20 m³/ha; not removing dead wood of large diameter (50 cm) and allowing more dead wood in advanced stages of decomposition to develop; and designating strict forest reserves, with their exceptionally high amounts of dead wood, that would serve as refuges for and sources of saproxylic habitat specialists. Efectos Actuales del Manejo Casi Natural de Bosques sobre la Composición de Atributos Funcionales de Escarabajos Saproxílicos en Bosques de Haya