Improving climate and biodiversity outcomes through restoration of forest integrity.

Targeting degraded areas in forested landscapes for restoration could deliver rapid climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation, improve resilience of forested lands to future climate change, and potentially reduce the trade-offs between nature recovery and agriculture. Although the importance of forest restoration for climate mitigation is acknowledged, current estimates of its climate mitigation potential may be underestimated because they focus predominantly on reforesting cleared areas. We built on recent analyses of forest integrity and unrealized forest biomass potential to examine the potential for restoring the integrity of degraded forests. There are over 1.5 billion ha of forests worldwide that retain 50-80% of their potential biomass. Prioritizing restoration in these areas could deliver rapid biodiversity and climate mitigation benefits, relative to restoring forest on cleared land. We applied a spatial planning approach to demonstrate how restoration interventions can be targeted to support the conservation of high-integrity forest, a potential pathway to the delivery of the 30×30 goal of the Convention on Biodiversity's Global Biodiversity Framework.

Mejoras en los resultados climáticos y de biodiversidad mediante la restauración de la integridad forestal Resumen El enfoque en las áreas degradadas de los paisajes boscosos para la restauración podría generar una mitigación climática y conservación de la biodiversidad aceleradas, mejorar la resiliencia de los terrenos boscosos ante el cambio climático en el futuro y potencialmente reducir las compensaciones entre la recuperación de la naturaleza y la agricultura. Aunque se reconoce la importancia de la restauración forestal para la mitigación climática, las estimaciones actuales de su potencial de mitigación podrían estar subestimados pues se enfocan principalmente en reforestar áreas despejadas. Partimos de los análisis recientes de la integridad forestal y el potencial sin realizar de la biomasa forestal para analizar el potencial para restaurar la integridad de los bosques degradados. Hay más de 1.5 mil millones de hectáreas de bosque en todo el mundo que retienen el 50-80% de su biomasa potencial. Si se prioriza la restauración en estas áreas, se podrían generar beneficios acelerados de mitigación climática y de la biodiversidad en relación a la reforestación en áreas despejadas. Aplicamos un enfoque de planeación espacial para demostrar cómo las intervenciones de restauración pueden enfocarse para auxiliar en la conservación de bosques de gran integridad, una vía potencial para lograr el objetivo 30×30 del Marco Global para la Biodiversidad del Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biológica.

Guns, germs, and trees determine density and distribution of gorillas and chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa.

We present a range-wide assessment of sympatric western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla and central chimpanzees Pan troglodytes troglodytes using the largest survey data set ever assembled for these taxa: 59 sites in five countries surveyed between 2003 and 2013, totaling 61,000 person-days of fieldwork. We used spatial modeling to investigate major drivers of great ape distribution and population trends. We predicted density across each taxon's geographic range, allowing us to estimate overall abundance: 361,900 gorillas and 128,700 chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa-substantially higher than previous estimates. These two subspecies represent close to 99% of all gorillas and one-third of all chimpanzees. Annual population decline of gorillas was estimated at 2.7%, maintaining them as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. We quantified the threats to each taxon, of which the three greatest were poaching, disease, and habitat degradation. Gorillas and chimpanzees are found at higher densities where forest is intact, wildlife laws are enforced, human influence is low, and disease impacts have been low. Strategic use of the results of these analyses could conserve the majority of gorillas and chimpanzees. With around 80% of both subspecies occurring outside protected areas, their conservation requires reinforcement of anti-poaching efforts both inside and outside protected areas (particularly where habitat quality is high and human impact is low), diligent disease control measures (including training, advocacy, and research into Ebola virus disease), and the preservation of high-quality habitat through integrated land-use planning and implementation of best practices by the extractive and agricultural industries.