The Linnean Society is pleased to present “Great apes and climate change” a lecture by Ian Redmond on 13th March 2008

Save the Apes to Save the World

Human induced climate change is now widely regarded as the biggest environmental threat facing the world. Should it, then, take priority over conservation concerns such as poaching of endangered species and loss of habitat? Ian Redmond argues that they are inextricably linked, and that adequately addressing these traditional conservation problems, particularly in tropical forests, must be an essential part of efforts to mitigate against climate change. The logic is simple – to save the apes, we must save their habitat, the tropical forests of Africa and SE Asia, in which they are keystone species.

Tropical forests play a pivotal role in sequestering and storing carbon, whereas forest destruction and degradation accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the poorest 1.2 billion of the world’s population depend directly on forests for their livelihood, and about 50 per cent of all known species live in tropical forests (or more correctly are a part of the tropical forest ecosystem). Despite this, illegal and unsustainable logging and the continuing conversion of tropical forests to agriculture (exacerbated by the rush for biofuels), threaten these biodiverse habitats and their role in maintaining climate stability.

At the UNFCCC Conference in Bali last December there was much support for recognizing forest carbon in future carbon markets. But, if efforts to end deforestation are not matched with efforts to halt illegal hunting, we risk protecting the trees but not the seed dispersal agents, such as primates, parrots and elephants, on whose presence the future health of the forest depends.

Registration required:

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Free:

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