IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Primate Specialist Group

In some areas of western equatorial Africa, ape populations have declined by more than 50% over the last twenty years. By far the most serious short-term threats to apes in this region are poaching and disease epidemics. In the longer term, however, it is believed that habitat loss and disturbance will become as serious a threat as hunting and disease.

The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is recognized by IUCN as Critically Endangered, and is the most threatened taxon of ape in Africa. Work during the last two decades has revealed that fewer than 300 Cross River gorillas may remain, spread across an area of about 12,000 km2. The outlook for these apes is far from hopeless, but a concerted and sustained effort will be required if their long-term survival is to be assured.

Re-introduction is one tool for conserving great apes and their natural habitats. These guidelines adapt other IUCN documents to pertain specifically to the re-introduction of great apes.

The conservation outlook of these endangered apes will improve significantly if forestry companies are prepared to make a few changes to management policies in logging concessions. These guidelines outline specific recommendations for reducing the impact of commercial logging on wild apes, many of which can be implemented within the framework of sustainable, reduced-impact logging at little or no additional cost.

Les chimpanzés vivent à l’état sauvage uniquement en Afrique tropicale où leur population a diminué de plus de 66% au cours des trente dernières années. Ce plan d’action concerne l’une des quatre sous-espèces de chimpanzés, le chimpanzé d’Afrique occidentale, qui est l’une des deux sous-espèces les plus menacées d’extinction.

Wild chimpanzees are only found in tropical Africa, where their populations have declined by more than 66% in the last 30 years. This action plan focuses on one of the four chimpanzee subspecies, the western chimpanzee, which is one of the two subspecies most threatened with extinction.

Effective habitat conservation is essential if wild populations of primates are to survive. This revised edition of the African Primate Action Plan (1986) provides a summary review of progress on projects originally recommended and gives recommendations for new projects in areas and on populations not previously included