A case study of improved cook stoves in primate conservation from Democratic Republic of Congo.

Human communities living near nonhuman primate habitats often depend on wood from forests for their energy needs. Improving the efficiency of local cook stoves is a potential "win-win" solution that is commonly promoted to protect forests and improve human health and development. Despite the popularity of improved stove projects in primate conservation, few outcomes have been formally published. As a result, it is currently unclear whether this approach is a wise investment of limited conservation funds. This paper describes a pilot study conducted by the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center to evaluate the potential for using improved stoves for the conservation of an important habitat for Grauer's gorillas and chimpanzees in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Community surveys and observations of human forest use revealed a heavy local reliance on forest-derived wood. Wood was the main source of fuel used in households, the most highly valued forest resource, and the primary resource extracted during forest observations. It was primarily collected by women and children. The use of traditional, inefficient three-stone hearths for cooking was also widespread. A 2-year campaign using a community-based social marketing approach resulted in an increase in improved stove installations from 18% to 78% of households in one village. After stove adoption, weekly household wood consumption was reduced by half. Campaign elements that showed promise include promotion using women's networks and intensive follow-up assessment and support. We conclude that, if scaled up, improved stoves may be a useful strategy for reducing encroachment into our target protected area but that successful implementation will require a significant long-term commitment with evaluation and oversight. It is recommended that before investing in improved stoves, primate conservation projects take long-term and evaluation requirements into consideration.

Group structure and individual relationships of sanctuary-living Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri).

The study of individual social relationships and group structure provides insights into a species' natural history and can inform management decisions for animals living in human care. The Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) center provides permanent sanctuary for a group of 14 Grauer's gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri), a critically endangered and poorly studied subspecies of the genus gorilla, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We monitored the association patterns of the gorillas at GRACE over eight months and here describe their individual relationships and group structure via multiple social network statistics. The group was highly connected but associations between individuals were weak on average. Social network metrics describe that an adult female was the most gregarious and socially central individual within the group. In fact, adult females were the most gregarious and socially central on average. Group level association patterns were significantly correlated over the study period and across observation types, suggesting the group was socially stable during the eight month study period. The data collected in this study were done so by GRACE caregivers as part of their daily husbandry routine and provided important insights into this group's behavior, ultimately informing on their care, welfare and future release considerations. The methodological approaches implemented here are easily scalable to any primate sanctuary or care facility seeking to use data to inform husbandry and management procedures. Lastly, our study is the first social network analysis to be conducted on Grauer's gorillas and provides tentative insights into the behavior of this poorly studied subspecies. Though more research is needed to evaluate if the findings here are reflective of this subspecies' natural history or the idiosyncrasies of the group.