To conserve African tropical forests, invest in the protection of its most endangered group of monkeys, red colobus

Citation

Linder JM, Cronin DT, Ting N, Abwe EE, Aghomo F, Davenport TRB, Detwiler KM, Galat G, Galat-Luong A, Hart JA, Ikemeh RA, Kivai SM, Kone I, Konstant W & Maisels F (2024) To conserve African tropical forests, invest in the protection of its most endangered group of monkeys, red colobus. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13014

Abstract
Forest loss and overhunting are eroding African tropical biodiversity and threatening local human food security, livelihoods, and health. Emblematic of this ecological crisis is Africa's most endangered group of monkeys, the red colobus (genus Piliocolobus). All 17 species, found in forests from Senegal in the west to the Zanzibar archipelago in the east, are threatened with extinction. Red colobus are among the most vulnerable mammals to gun hunting, typically disappearing from heavily hunted forests before most other large-bodied animals. Despite their conservation status, they are rarely a focus of conservation attention and continue to be understudied. However, red colobus can act as critical barometers of forest health and serve as flagships for catalyzing broader African tropical forest conservation efforts. We offer a plan for conservation of red colobus and their habitats and discuss conservation and policy implications.

Keywords
African tropical forests; conservation action plan; flagship taxa; hunting; indicator taxa; red colobus

Notes
Additional authors: Deo Kujirakwinja, Barney Long, W. Scott McGraw, Russell A. Mittermeier, Thomas T. Struhsaker

Journal
Conservation Letters

People

Professor Fiona Maisels

Honorary Professor, Biological and Environmental Sciences