Abstract
The bonobo (Pan paniscus), which was classified by the IUCN Red List as Endangered in 2007 (Fruth et al. 2016), remains highly threatened across its range in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The biggest threat to bonobos is commercial and subsistence-based hunting, followed by habitat loss and disease (IUCN and ICCN 2012). Bonobos are facing increasing pressure as both urban and rural human populations engage in unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Approximately 54% of the DRC’s human population is rural (World Bank 2022); these populations rely substantially on the country’s forests for their shelter, livelihoods, water, fuel, and food security. The most significant driver of deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC is small-scale agriculture (Potapov et al. 2012; Tyukavina et al. 2018) and fuelwood harvest (Chidumayo and Gumbo 2013). As human population numbers grow in size, agricultural expansion is predicted to increasingly reduce primary forest as more smallholders encroach into primary forests (Molinario et al. 2015; Turubanova et al. 2018). This encroachment, combined with other potential large-scale extraction of natural resources, including oil and minerals (Cannon 2018; Lawson 2021; Maclean and Searcy 2022), will result in extensive transformation of the Congo Basin’s rainforests. This transformation likely will lead to the elimination of many wildlife species, including bonobos, through reduced suitability of habitat.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the co-authors of the three main papers described in this chapter: Takeshi Furuichi, Jena Hickey, Matthew C Hansen, Giuseppe Molinario, Peter Potapov, Norbert Mbangia Mulavwa, Tetsuya Sakamaki, Svetlana Turubanova, Takakazu Yumoto, and the several bonobo researchers who contributed as co-authors to the Hickey et al. 2013 paper. The paper’s lead author, J. Nackoney, worked at the University of Maryland when the research for this book chapter was conducted. We thank the several donors who funded various parts of the research summarized in this chapter: Arcus Foundation, Columbus Zoo, Conservation International, European Union, Frankenberg Foundation, IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Japan Ministry of the Environment, Japan Society of Promotion of Science (JSPS), Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation Primate Action Fund, Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Evolutionary Anthropology, Research Center for Ecology and Forestry (C.R.E.F.), Ministry of Scientific Research of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Great Apes Program, United States Forest Service (USFS), University of Georgia, University of Kent, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Woodtiger Foundation and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). We also thank the local staff and researchers at Wamba who supported the vegetation analysis and assisted with field data collection. Finally, I, first author J. Nackoney extend a special thank you to Dr. Takeshi Furuichi for many years of productive collaboration and friendship and for providing me with the opportunity to study bonobos, a highlight of my career. Dr. Furuichi enabled many positive collaborations within the Primate Research Institute (PRI) at Kyoto University and with the African Primatological Consortium for Conservation (APCC) that I learned much from and greatly enjoyed. I also thank Dr. Tetsuya Sakamaki and his team for hosting me at Wamba and sharing the joy of observing bonobos in the wild. I am deeply grateful.
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Nackoney, J., Terada, S. (2023). The Importance of Monitoring Bonobos and Their Habitats for Informing Bonobo-Specific Conservation Prioritization and Planning. In: Furuichi, T., Idani, G., Kimura, D., Ihobe, H., Hashimoto, C. (eds) Bonobos and People at Wamba: 50 Years of Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4788-1_32
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