Best Practice Guidelines to Reduce the Impact of Logging

One of the fiercest dangers to great apes is the destruction of their forest habitat by commercial logging operations. This threat was highlighted in May 2005 at an expert workshop held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. In response, Drs. David Morgan and Crickette Sanz have developed a new set of best-practices guidelines for Western Equatorial Africa, to help blunt the worst effects of tropical logging on the surviving great apes in the region.

Targeted at forestry managers and partners working in logging concessions, these guidelines present practical, straightforward recommendations to help reduce the impact of logging on great apes, including cost-benefit analyses and the expected long-term consequences for great apes in the region. If these guidelines are upheld by professionals working in tropical forestry, they will contribute greatly to the survival of great apes in the region, and will serve as a blueprint for developing site-specific management plans.

The full PDF of their report is available in English and French below:

English
Best Practice Guidelines for Reducing the Impact of Commercial Logging
on Great Apes in Western Equatorial Africa

Français
Lignes directrices pour de meilleures pratiques en matière de réduction de l’impact
de l’exploitation forestière commerciale sur les grands singes en Afrique centrale

Suggested citation: Morgan, D. and Sanz, C. 2007. Best Practice Guidelines for Reducing the Impact of Commercial Logging on Great Apes in Western Equatorial Africa. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland.

Additional guidelines will be posted on the Best Practices page as they become available.

The Primate Specialist Group gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the publication of this report.