scholarly journals The bushmeat boom and bust in West and Central Africa

Oryx ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. W. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Hunting Pressure ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
National Statistics ◽  
Boom And Bust ◽  
West And Central Africa ◽  
Non Linear Systems

Poor soils and high rainfall mean that the high productivity of the forests, an assumption that drives the development of the forest zone, is an illusion. The potential of the forests to produce meat, from wild or domestic herbivores, is limited. Growing human populations and shrinking forests accelerate pressures on forest resources faster than national statistics indicate. A simulation model demonstrates the effects of growing hunting pressure on one monkey and two duiker species. A version of this model that includes random variation shows that large harvests can be obtained for many years, but that a population collapse can happen suddenly; there is no period of gradually declining harvests. The accelerating hunting pressure in a zone of low productivity, shrinking habitat for monkeys and antelopes, the dynamics of non-linear systems, and natural environmental variation that affects reproduction and survival will lead to a collapse of hunted populations across the forest zone. We are now seeing the bushmeat boom and soon we will see the bushmeat bust.

scholarly journals Elephants and ivory poaching in the forests of equatorial Africa

Oryx ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. W. Barnes ◽  
M. Agnagna ◽  
M. P. T. Alers ◽  
A. Blom ◽  
G. Doungoube ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Equatorial Africa ◽  
The Status ◽  
Elephant Population ◽  
Forest Elephant ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

Reconnaissance surveys were made of the forests of four central African countries to establish, for the first time, the status of forest-dwelling elephants. The results, when combined with information from previous surveys in other countries, provide a picture of the elephant situation in the forest zone, and especially the impact of poaching. About one-third of the forest elephant population of central Africa is to be found in Zaire, and about one-third in Gabon. The rest are in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. It is poaching for ivory, rather than the growth of human populations, which threatens the elephants of the equatorial forests.

Soils of the lowland forests of West and Central Africa

1996 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. R. Juo ◽  
L. P. Wilding
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
The West ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Lowland Forests ◽  
West And Central Africa ◽  
Hydrological Cycles ◽  
Great Rift Valley

The forest zone of West and Central Africa comprises the coastal and adjacent inland regions bounded the semi-deciduous forests in the west and the equatorial forests in central Africa and the Congo basin. Sedimentary plains, developed mostly on weathered sandy materials, lie along the coastal stretches and cover vast areas of the Congo basin. Behind the coast the plain rises gradually to hills and plateaus of much lower elevation than those of the highlands of East Africa. Two great rivers, the Niger and the Congo, which discharge huge volumes of fresh water to the Atlantic Ocean, are major contributors to the hydrological cycles of the rain forests ecosystems of the Guinea–Congo Region. The Niger originates from the forested highlands of Guinea and discharges its waters into the Bight of Benin by way of a large delta in southern Nigeria. The Congo basin occupies an immense area of 750 000 km2, surrounded by Pre-Cambrian uplands. The alluvial floor of the saucer-shaped basin is flat, and marshes and swamps comprise a large proportion of the total area. The highlands and plateaus along the rim are low to the west and north and higher to the south. To the east, they merge with the mountains of the Great Rift Valley of East Africa (Gann & Duignan 1972; Hance 1975; Grove 1978; Hamilton 1989).

Production constraints on cocoa agroforestry systems in West and Central Africa: The need for integrated pest management and multi-institutional approaches

2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis J Sonwa ◽  
S. Weise ◽  
A. Adesina ◽  
A B Nkongmeneck ◽  
M. Tchatat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pest Management ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Humid Forest ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Humid Forest Zone ◽  
West And Central Africa

Cocoa-producing countries of West and Central Africa experienced a serious economic crisis in the early 1980s,when the cocoa sector was liberalized and the macroeconomic policies of the sector changed. These institutional changes created new difficulties and challenges for sustainable cocoa farming. Farmers in this region have recently turned to timber and non-timber production to offset the fluctuation of cocoa prices. In a survey of 300 cocoa farmers in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, pest and disease outbreaks were identified as the major limiting factors to sustainable cocoa production. An analysis of pests and diseases affecting the cocoa plantations in the humid forest zone of West and Central Africa revealed strong links to the type of forest cover found on or near the cocoa plantation. An integrated approach to pest management is proposed and the paper concludes with a discussion of current efforts to address constraints posed by pests and diseases on sustainable cocoa farming in the four main cocoa-producing countries of West and Central Africa. Key words: cocoa agroforest, farmer perception, forest landscape, multi-disciplinary approach, multi- institutional approach, Africa

Giant Tree Frog diversification in West and Central Africa: isolation by physical barriers, climate, and reproductive traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle E. Jaynes ◽  
Edward A. Myers ◽  
Václav Gvoždík ◽  
David C. Blackburn ◽  
Daniel M. Portik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Physical Barriers ◽  
West And Central Africa

scholarly journals Malaria continues to select for sickle cell trait in Central Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (22) ◽  
pp. 7051-7054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Elguero ◽  
Lucrèce M. Délicat-Loembet ◽  
Virginie Rougeron ◽  
Céline Arnathau ◽  
Benjamin Roche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Sickle Cell Trait ◽  
Genetic Disorder ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
The United States ◽  
Malaria Prevalence ◽  
Current Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Health Organization

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder that poses a serious health threat in tropical Africa, which the World Health Organization has declared a public health priority. Its persistence in human populations has been attributed to the resistance it provides to Plasmodium falciparum malaria in its heterozygous state, called sickle cell trait (SCT). Because of migration, SCT is becoming common outside tropical countries: It is now the most important genetic disorder in France, affecting one birth for every 2,400, and one of the most common in the United States. We assess the strength of the association between SCT and malaria, using current data for both SCT and malaria infections. A total of 3,959 blood samples from 195 villages distributed over the entire Republic of Gabon were analyzed. Hemoglobin variants were identified by using HPLCy (HPLC). Infections by three species of Plasmodium were detected by PCR followed by sequencing of a 201-bp fragment of cytochrome b. An increase of 10% in P. falciparum malaria prevalence is associated with an increase by 4.3% of SCT carriers. An increase of 10 y of age is associated with an increase by 5.5% of SCT carriers. Sex is not associated with SCT. These strong associations show that malaria remains a selective factor in current human populations, despite the progress of medicine and the actions undertaken to fight this disease. Our results provide evidence that evolution is still present in humans, although this is sometimes questioned by scientific, political, or religious personalities.

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