title: Will oil palm's homecoming spell doom for Africa's great apes?
abstract: Expansion of oil palm plantations has led to extensive wildlife habitat conversion in Southeast Asia [1]. This expansion is driven by a global demand for palm oil for products ranging from foods to detergents [2], and more recently for biofuels [3]. The negative impacts of oil palm development on biodiversity [1, 4, 5], and on orangutans (Pongo spp.) in particular, have been well documented [6, 7] and publicized [8, 9]. Although the oil palm is of African origin, Africa's production historically lags behind that of Southeast Asia. Recently, significant investments have been made that will likely drive the expansion of Africa's oil palm industry [10]. There is concern that this will lead to biodiversity losses similar to those in Southeast Asia. Here, we analyze the potential impact of oil palm development on Africa's great apes. Current great ape distribution in Africa substantially overlaps with current oil palm concessions (by 58.7%) and areas suitable for oil palm production (by 42.3%). More importantly, 39.9% of the distribution of great ape species on unprotected lands overlaps with suitable oil palm areas. There is an urgent need to develop guidelines for the expansion of oil palm in Africa to minimize the negative effects on apes and other wildlife. There is also a need for research to support land use decisions to reconcile economic development, great ape conservation, and avoiding carbon emissions.
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address: s.a.wich@ljmu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Serge A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wich
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, CHN G 73.2, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Ulloa
authors.affiliation: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Hjalmar S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kühl
authors.affiliation: School of Anthropology and Conservation, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK.
authors.forename: Tatanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Humle
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, CHN G 73.2, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Janice S H
authors.initials: JSH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Environment Institute and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Lian Pin
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Koh
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D056804:Biofuels; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D006071:Gorilla gorilla; D000073878:Palm Oil; D019974:Pan paniscus; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010938:Plant Oils; D057079:Pongo; D014197:Trees
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D010938:Plant Oils; D000073878:Palm Oil