Abstract As part of the Post‐2020 Biodiversity Framework, nations are assessing progress over the past decade in addressing the underlying drivers that influence direct pressures on biodiversity and formulating new policies and strategies for the decade to come. For marine conservation, global marine protected area (MPA) coverage is still falling short of the 10% target set in 2010. Here we show that while this reflects a lack of progress in many low‐ and middle‐income countries, a few of these nations have met or exceeded international commitments. To provide an in‐depth explanation of how this was achieved in Gabon, we summarize the lessons learnt by our consortium of policy makers and practitioners who helped implement a comprehensive and ecologically representative network of 20 MPAs. We show the importance of creating a national framework, building long‐term stakeholder support, and focusing on research that guides implementation and policy; and outline a four‐step approach that countries and donors could use as an example to help meet international commitments. By responding to calls to share lessons learned to inform future Convention on Biological Diversity targets, we show how Gabon's experiences could inform change elsewhere.

Aim Large trees [>= 70 cm diameter at breast height (DBH)] contribute disproportionately to aboveground carbon stock (AGC) across the tropics but may be vulnerable to changing climate and human activities. Here we determine the distribution, drivers and threats to large trees and high carbon forest. Location Central Africa. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Trees. Methods Using Gabon's new National Resource Inventory of 104 field sites, AGC was calculated from 67,466 trees from 578 species and 97 genera. Power and Michaelis-Menten models assessed the contribution of large trees to AGC. Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of AGC, large trees, and stand variables were modelled using Akaike's information criterion (AIC) weights to calculate average regression coefficients for all p ossible models. Results Mean AGC for trees >= 10 cm DBH in Gabonese forestlands was 141.7 Mg C/ha, with averages of 166.6, 171.3 and 96.6 Mg C/ha in old growth, concession and secondary forest. High carbon forests occurred where large trees are most abundant: 31% of AGC was stored in large trees (2.3% of all stems). Human activities largely drove variation in AGC and large trees, but climate and edaphic conditions also determined stand variables (basal area, tree height, wood density, stem density). AGC and large trees increased with distance from human settlements; AGC was 40% lower in secondary than primary and concession forests and 33% higher in protected than non-managed areas. Main conclusions AGC and large trees were negatively associated with human activities, highlighting the importance of forest management. Redefining large trees as >= 50 cm DBH (4.3% more stems) would account for 20% more AGC. This study demonstrates that protecting relatively undisturbed forests can be disproportionately effective in conserving carbon and suggests that including sustainable forestry in programs like reduced emissions for deforestation and forest degradation could maintain carbon dense forests in logging concessions that are a large proportion of remaining Central African forests.

Industrial-scale oil palm cultivation is rapidly expanding in Gabon, where it has the potential to drive economic growth, but also threatens forest, biodiversity and carbon resources. The Gabonese government is promoting an ambitious agricultural expansion strategy, while simultaneously committing to minimize negative environmental impacts of oil palm agriculture. This study estimates the extent and location of suitable land for oil palm cultivation in Gabon, based on an analysis of recent trends in plantation permitting. We use the resulting suitability map to evaluate two proposed approaches to minimizing negative environmental impacts: a High Carbon Stock (HCS) approach, which emphasizes forest protection and climate change mitigation, and a High Conservation Value (HCV) approach, which focuses on safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystems. We quantify the forest area, carbon stock, and biodiversity resources protected under each approach, using newly developed maps of priority species distributions and forest biomass for Gabon. We find 2.7-3.9 Mha of suitable or moderately suitable land that avoid HCS areas, 4.4 million hectares (Mha) that avoid HCV areas, and 1.2-1.7 Mha that avoid both. This suggests that Gabon's oil palm production target could likely be met without compromising important ecosystem services, if appropriate safeguards are put in place. Our analysis improves understanding of suitability for oil palm in Gabon, determines how conservation strategies align with national targets for oil palm production, and informs national land use planning.

Growing demand for palm oil is driving its expansion into the African tropics, potentially leading to significant carbon emissions if tropical forest is converted to palm monoculture. In this first study of a Central African oil palm concession (31,800 ha), we predict that the conversion of 11,500 ha of logged forest to a palm plantation in Gabon will release 1.50 Tg C (95% CI = [1.29, 1.76]). These emissions could be completely offset over 25 years through sequestration in planned forest set‐asides given a 2.6:1 ratio of logged to converted forest. Using an agricultural suitability model, we find that careful national land‐use planning could largely avoid high carbon emissions while meeting goals for palm oil production. We recommend that Gabon adopts a national carbon threshold for land conversion and requires concession‐level set‐aside ratios that meet no‐net emissions criteria as mechanisms for steering plantations away from high carbon forests.

The distribution and status of small carnivore species in Gabon have never been comprehensively assessed. We collated data from general wildlife surveys, camera-trap and transect studies and analyses of bushmeat consumption and trade, to map their country-wide occurrence and assess current exploitation levels. Records of Common Slender Mongoose Herpestes sanguineus and Cameroon Cusimanse Crossarchus platycephalus represent the first confirmation of their occurrence in Gabon. Cameroon Cusimanse was believed to extend into north-east Gabon, but the Slender Mongoose records extend its known range well outside that previously suspected. We furthermore extended the known range for Egyptian Mongoose Herpestes ichneumon. Crested Genet Genetta cristata has also been proposed to occur in Gabon but our records were not suited to evaluating this possibility given the difficulties of separation from Servaline Genet G. servalina. Most species appear to be distributed widely across the country. While several are commonly recorded in hunter catch and bushmeat markets, they form only a small proportion (3.4% and 3.1%, respectively) of all bushmeat records. However, in proximity to settlements, small carnivore exploitation, for bushmeat and use of body parts in traditional ceremonies, appears to have adverse effects on species richness and abundance.

A five-day international workshop was recently convened at the Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku in Gabon to enhance international collaboration among Central African, US and European scientists, conservation professionals and policy makers. The overall aims of the workshop were to: (1) discuss emerging priorities in biodiversity and conservation genetics research across Central Africa, and (2) create new networking opportunities among workshop participants. Here we provide a brief overview of the meeting, outline the major recommendations that emerged from it, and provide information on new networking opportunities through the meeting web site.

African Journal of EcologyVolume 48, Issue 4 p. 1134-1138 Movements of four forest elephants in an oil concession in Gabon, Central Africa Joseph M. Kolowski, Corresponding Author Joseph M. Kolowski Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorSteve Blake, Steve Blake Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460, U.S.A. Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, ‘Vogelwarte Radolfzell’, Schlossallee 2, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany Department of Biology and Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63121, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorMichael D. Kock, Michael D. Kock Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorMichelle E. Lee, Michelle E. Lee Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. Institut de Recherches en Écologie Tropicale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Libreville, GabonSearch for more papers by this authorAnn Henderson, Ann Henderson Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorAnnabelle Honorez, Annabelle Honorez Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorAlfonso Alonso, Alfonso Alonso Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author Joseph M. Kolowski, Corresponding Author Joseph M. Kolowski Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorSteve Blake, Steve Blake Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460, U.S.A. Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, ‘Vogelwarte Radolfzell’, Schlossallee 2, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany Department of Biology and Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63121, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorMichael D. Kock, Michael D. Kock Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorMichelle E. Lee, Michelle E. Lee Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. Institut de Recherches en Écologie Tropicale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, Libreville, GabonSearch for more papers by this authorAnn Henderson, Ann Henderson Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorAnnabelle Honorez, Annabelle Honorez Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorAlfonso Alonso, Alfonso Alonso Center for Conservation Education and Sustainability, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author First published: 10 November 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01204.xCitations: 18Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume48, Issue4December 2010Pages 1134-1138 RelatedInformation

Industrial logging is expanding rapidly in Central African rainforests. We suggest that logging operations in this region pose an indirect threat to nesting marine turtles, especially the Critically Endangered leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea. This occurs because some logs are being lost or abandoned during downriver transport to coastal timber yards; the lost logs float out to sea and then often wash ashore, where they accumulate on beaches used by nesting turtles. We used a light aircraft to survey logs along the entire coastline of Gabon, and also studied the impacts of logs at Pongara Beach, one of the world's most important turtle nesting areas, during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 breeding seasons. Nearly 11,000 lost togs were counted along Gabon's beaches, with an estimated commercial value of USD 11.1 million. Logs were unevenly distributed along the coast, reaching a peak density of 247 logs km(-1). At Pongara, logs blocked 30.5% of the beach. These logs had a number of negative effects on marine turtles, causing 8-14% of all nesting attempts (n = 2,163) to be aborted or disrupted. Initiatives to remove lost logs and driftwood from critical nesting beaches may be the most effective means to reduce their deleterious impacts on threatened marine turtles.

Many animals can adjust their behavioral strategies to reduce predation risk. We investigated whether rain forest monkeys and duikers alter their antipredatory behavior in response to hunting by humans in southwestern Gabon. We compared monkey and duiker responses to human observers in an area where hunting is prohibited, to those in a nearby area where hunting pressure is moderate but spatially variable. The results of our study indicate that monkeys become more secretive when hunted, commencing alarm calls only when at a certain distance (typically > 50 m) from humans. We found no difference in monkey group size between hunted and no-hunting areas. In no-hunting areas, duikers often freeze in response to approaching observers, but in hunted areas they abandon this strategy and rapidly flee from humans. Duikers also whistle more often in areas where they are hunted frequently. Our findings have at least two important implications. First, behavioral observations of monkeys and duikers may be useful in gauging local hunting intensity in African rain forests. Second, duiker densities are likely to be overestimated in hunted areas, where they more readily flee and whistle, and underestimated in no-hunting areas, where they rely on freezing behavior to avoid detection. Because behavioral adaptations to hunting vary both among species and localities, these differences should be considered when attempting to derive population-density estimates for forest wildlife.

Road expansion and associated increases in hunting pressure are a rapidly growing threat to African tropical wildlife. In the rainforests of southern Gabon, we compared abundances of larger (> 1 kg) mammal species at varying distances from forest roads and between hunted and unhunted treatments (comparing a 130-km(2) oil concession that was almost entirely protected from hunting with nearby areas outside the concession that had moderate hunting pressure). At each of 12 study sites that were evenly divided between hunted and unhunted areas, we established standardized 1-km transects at five distances (50, 300, 600, 900, and 1200 m) from an unpaved road, and then repeatedly surveyed mammals during the 2004 dry and wet seasons. Hunting had the greatest impact on duikers (Cephalophus spp.), forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), and red river bogs (Potamochoerus porcus), which declined in abundance outside the oil concession, and lesser effects on lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and carnivores. Roads depressed abundances of duikers, sitatungas (Tragelaphus spekei gratus), and forest elephants (Loxondonta africana cyclotis), with avoidance of roads being stronger outside than inside the concession. Five monkey species showed little response to roads or hunting, whereas some rodents and pangolins increased in abundance outside the concession, possibly in response to greater forest disturbance. Our findings suggest that even moderate hunting pressure can markedly alter the structure of mammal communities in central Africa. Roads had the greatest impacts on large and small ungulates, with the magnitude of road avoidance increasing with local bunting pressure.

Road expansion and associated increases in bunting pressure are a rapidly growing threat to African tropical wildlife. In the rainforests of southern Gabon, we compared abundances of larger (>1 kg) mammal species at varying distances from forest roads and between hunted and unhunted treatments (comparing a 130-km2 oil concession that was almost entirely protected from bunting with nearby areas outside the concession that had moderate hunting pressure). At each of 12 study sites that were evenly divided between hunted and unhunted areas, we established standardized 1-km transects at five distances (50, 300, 600, 900, and 1200 m) from an unpaved road, and then repeatedly surveyed mammals during the 2004 dry and wet seasons. Hunting had the greatest impact on duikers (Cephalophus spp.), forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), and red river hogs (Potamochoerus porcus), which declined in abundance outside the oil concession, and lesser effects on lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and carnivores. Roads depressed abundances of duikers, sitatungas (Tragelaphus spekei gratus), and forest elephants (Loxondonta africana cyclotis), with avoidance of roads being stronger outside than inside the concession. Five monkey species showed little response to roads or hunting, whereas some rodents and pangolins increased in abundance outside the concession, possibly in response to greater forest disturbance. Our findings suggest that even moderate hunting pressure can markedly alter the structure of mammal communities in central Africa. Roads had the greatest impacts on large and small ungulates, with the magnitude of road avoidance increasing with local hunting pressure.

The importance of human activity and ecological features in influencing African forest elephant ranging behaviour was investigated in the Rabi–Ndogo corridor of the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in southwest Gabon. Locations in a wide geographical area with a range of environmental variables were selected for patch-occupancy surveys using elephant dung to assess seasonal presence and absence of elephants. Patch-occupancy procedures allowed for covariate modelling evaluating hypotheses for both occupancy in relation to human activity and ecological features, and detection probability in relation to vegetation density. The best fitting models for old and fresh dung data sets indicate that (1) detection probability for elephant dung is negatively related to the relative density of the vegetation, and (2) human activity, such as presence and infrastructure, are more closely associated with elephant distribution patterns than are ecological features, such as the presence of wetlands and preferred fresh fruit. Our findings emphasize the sensitivity of elephants to human disturbance, in this case infrastructure development associated with gas and oil production. Patch-occupancy methodology offers a viable alternative to current transect protocols for monitoring programs with multiple covariates.

The Republic of Gabon lies on the central west coast of Africa, traversed by the equator and bordered by Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon to the north, Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and 885 km of Atlantic Ocean coastline to the west. Its surface area, 267,667 km2 roughly the size of Italy may be divided into three topographical zones: a narrow coastal alluvial plain; an extensive, hilly inland plateau; and several lowelevation mountain zones (max. 1575 m). Central Africa’s tropical moist forests cover 1.8 million km2, the second largest contiguous block in the world, traversing boundaries of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Central African Republic (Wilkie and Laporte 2001). Gabon harbors an important part of that block, with roughly 80% of the country covered by moist tropical forest. This flora is classified in the Guineo-Congolian regional center of endemism (White 1983), and its lowland diversity is among the richest in Africa (Breteler 1996). Extensive wetlands – rivers, swamps, lakes and lagoons – sustain dynamic forest and coastal ecosystems, with the country’s largest river, the Ogooué, traversing some 800 kilometers over much of the country to reach the ocean. Savannas are found in the south, center, and east of Gabon, and along the coast. Two major mountain chains, the Monts de Cristal and Massif du Chaillu, bring rugged relief to the north and central-south of Gabon, respectively, and two minor chains, Mayombe and Ikoundou, are found nearer the coast in the south. These forest, savanna, coast, and mountain landscapes harbor some of the continent’s most remarkable and uncharted species diversity. Current knowledge includes about 198 species of mammals (Emmons et al. 1983), 680 species of birds, 98 species of amphibians (Burger et al. this volume), an estimated 95-160 species of reptiles (Pauwels et al. this volume), 184 freshwater fish species in the Ogooué River basin alone (Christy et al. 2003), and an estimated 6,000-10,000 species of plants (Letouzey 1968) – with numbers increasing for nearly every taxonomic group with each biodiversity research field trip. Gabon is also home to important populations of species of conservation concern, such as sea turtles, African forest elephants, humpback whales and great apes. Its abundance of these globally-rare species and its biological diversity make Gabon’s wildland systems valuable for conservation at an international level (Kamdem-Toham et al. 2003). Considering that Gabon’s forests and biodiversity have evolved over geologic time, human influence on this forest system is relatively recent and radical (White 2001). Hunter-gatherer history from the middle Ogooué region of Gabon dates to the Early Stone Age (ca. 400,000 – 120,000 years BP), shifting as agriculturalist Bantu tribes immigrated to the area in the past 5,000 years (Oslisly 2001). European explorers, missionaries, and traders arrived in 1472, seeking timber, forest products, ivory, and slaves, beginning an era of resource exportation to international markets. Gabon was part of French Congo, then French Equatorial Africa until 1910, eventually gaining independence in 1960. Since then timber, oil, manganese, and uranium exports have supported the 1.2 million population, which is largely concen-

In recent decades, large expanses of tropical rainforest in central and western Africa have been cleared, logged, fragmented, and overhunted. In contrast, extensive forest in Gabon has survived in a relatively intact condition because the country has a sparse population and substantial petroleum and mineral deposits that have reduced economic pressures on forests. Unfortunately, Gabon's petroleum reserves are dwindling. As a direct result, industrial logging is expanding rapidly; nearly half of the country's forest is currently in timber leases, and this could increase to over 75% of the remaining forest during the next decade. Mechanized logging has important ecological impacts on forests, but the most severe effects are indirect, because loggers create labyrinths of roads that greatly increase access to forests for hunters and slash-and-burn farmers. Declines of forest wildlife from overhunting have been severe in much of tropical Africa, and are likely to rise sharply in Gabon as physical accessibility to forests increases.The Gabonese government is eager to consider afternative strategies to augment economic development, including promotion of an ecotourism industry. This commitment is evidenced by the government's recent designation of 13 new national parks that comprise over a tenth of the country's land area. Efforts to develop ecotourism face substantial challenges, however, including the high profitability of exploitative land uses like logging, the illegal encroachment of loggers and hunters into nature reserves, political instability in the surrounding region, and limited infrastructure for tourism. Nevertheless, these and other efforts to promote more-sustainable development should be strongly supported, as Gabonese forests have among the highest levels of species diversity and endemism in tropical Africa and are likely to play a critical future role in biodiversity conservation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.