Africa Geographic July 2008 [antikvár]

founder's note u with the passing of every eight seconds, day after day, month after month, year after year, one hectare of African forest is lost ^ ^ There are some 82000 western lowland gorillas in Gabon and its immediate neighbours, so you might think that conservationist Sandy Slater-Jones would have stumbled across them quite frequently during her stay In Lope National Park (see page 52). Not a bit of it - It took her and her expert local trackers a full month to catch up with a family group. With difficulty, she was able to track them for a few weeks - thanks to the silverback's penchant for a daily siesta - and then they were gone, absorbed into the landscape and beyond reach. Western lowland gorillas remain by far the most numerous of the four gorilla subspecies. But this is of little comfort, for their numbers are in steady decline. And the fact that they make up more than 94 per cent of Africa's total gorilla population speaks volumes about the status of their relatives - there are no more than 700 mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains and Bwindi impenetrable Forest, only 250 Cross River gorillas, and somewhere between 3 000 and 5000 eastern lowland gorillas, the largest of all living primates, with silverback males weighing in at over 220 kilograms. Gorillas face threats from so many quarters: the bushmeat trade, the illegal pet trade, trophies, viruses such as ebola, disruption and slaughter resulting from war and the displacement of millions of human beings, and, of course, the ongoing wholesale destruction of the tropical forests that are their home. To impoverished people in and adjacent to the great forests of Central and West Africa, the trees and the animal and plant communities they support are a resource, and often the only resource, that provides food, building materials and fuel. Add to this the forest cleared for agriculture, mining (the demand for rare ores used in cellphone and computer manufacture have resulted in a 'gold rush' environment in some regions) and the destruction wrought by logging, and the result is sobering: with the passing of every eight seconds, day after day, month after month, year after year, one hectare of African forest is lost. Do the maths and this adds up to four million hectares a year! Of course, It is not just the gorillas that face a grim present and an even grimmer future, but also the countless other life forms that share their world. And beyond that, the destruction of Africa's rainforests has a significant impact on global carbon emissions - when all the carbon dioxide released from the demise of the planet's tropical forests Is taken into account, the total emissions are greater than that from all the world's cars, trucks, ships and planes combined. By any assessment, the preservation of Africa's remaining forests Is a global imperative. Conservation agencies are doing an outstanding job in this regard, both in terms of direct species work and in developing strategies that allow humans and wildlife to coexist. They need our continuing and unstinting support, but the only real hope for the long-term survival of forests is for governments around the world to ensure that mechanisms to incentivise their existence are effectively entrenched in the climate-related treaties that succeed Kyoto. About our magazine Africa Geographic is editorially and financially independent. It enjoys tlie support and endorsement of several non-government organisations, but it is not affiliated in any way to these bodies or to any otiier publlsliing, environmental or political interest group. Africa Ceograptiic strives to foster an awareness of wildlife, conservation, ecotravel, Indigenous cultures and the general environment. It consistently advocates the wisest use of natural resources in a manner that Involves and is of real benefit to the people of Africa. Africa Ceograpfiic is pubiished 11 times a year. ATRICA GEOGRAPHIC • JULY 2008