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| An orangutan eating jackfruit in Kalimantan. Primates disperse seeds in the wild, which helps to conserve forests. (JG Photo/Ronna Nirmala) |
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Developing
primate conservation projects, particularly for great apes, can contribute
toward the long-term health of forests and to carbon sequestration schemes,
scientists contend.
Ian
Redmond, a tropical field biologist and conservationist, said primates and
other fruit-eating animals were crucial to forests because of their role in
seed dispersal.
“Fruit-eating
animals have been long known to play a very important role in the life cycle of
tropical forests, with between 75 to 95 percent of tree species having their
seeds dispersed by such animals,” he said.
But that
key role, he warned, is in jeopardy because of human activity.
“I feel
that we have to turn that around. I know that the only populations of great
apes that are known to be increasing are the two tiny populations of mountain
gorillas who got down to fewer than 300 each,” Redmond said.
“Other
gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gibbons are all declining.”
He is
pushing for efforts to save the animals to be included in schemes to reduce
carbon emissions through deforestation and forest degradation, known as REDD
Plus. That way, he says, money for these projects can also go toward primate
conservation schemes.
“Conservation
is not an optional extra that you might add on if it’s convenient,” Redmond
said.
“It’s
integral [to REDD Plus]. If you want to have permanence in your forest carbon
store, you need the animals as well as the plants.”
He said
Indonesia was one of the countries that was best placed to push these efforts
because it was home to the endangered orangutan, the only great ape species in
Asia.
Others
species such as chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos are only found in Africa.
“The hope
is that there will be a realization that forests are not just an ornamental
part of our planet, but that they are integral to the function of our biosphere
and future survival,” Redmond said. ”
Laura
D’Arcy, the Zoological Society of London’s co-country coordinator in Indonesia,
said these efforts could start with preserving peat forests for their high
carbon content.
“This would
benefit orangutans who prefer these habitats compared to tropical forests on
mineral soil, because the high water level in peatlands allows flowers and
fruit to be available all year long for orangutans,” she said.
Eleven of
17 active REDD projects being carried out in Indonesia are in peat swamp forests.
D’Arcy said this was a “win-win” situation for apes and humans alike because of
the high value of carbon that could be offset for emissions caused by the
conversion of forests to palm oil plantations elsewhere.
“Peat swamp
forests have low-yield production of palm oil, reducing the cost of carbon
emissions required in areas with high density,” she said.
“But that’s
bad news for more high-yield, mineral soils, which are more biodiverse than
peat forests.”
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