Subsistence hunting can change the demographic structure of wild mammal populations, increasing the proportion of young animals, inducing females to reproduce early and increasing litter sizes. We examined the relationship between hunting pressure and age structure in the Vulnerable white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari, analysing the distribution of age classes at seven sites in the region Terra do Meio in the Brazilian Amazon. These sites differ in the number of human inhabitants and hence were subject to differing hunting pressures. We completed semi-structured interviews with local people to assess the importance of hunting and of the white-lipped peccary as food. We also estimated the age of hunted white-lipped peccaries by assessing tooth eruption and tooth wear in skulls of hunted individuals. Our results indicated that the white-lipped peccary was the most frequently hunted terrestrial animal in the region. Fishing, followed by hunting, provided the main sources of animal protein. Our data suggest there is no relationship between age structure and hunting at the study sites. The social structure and mobility of white-lipped peccaries seem to minimize the effects of hunting on age structure. Our results, similar to previous studies, show that the age structure of the white-lipped peccary is robust to hunting impacts. Other factors may have stronger effects on age structure than subsistence hunting. We suggest that deforestation may explain the prevalence of older individuals in peccary populations to the north of our study sites.

We present an analysis of changes of state, pressures and conservation responses over 20 years in the Tanzanian portion of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa biodiversity hotspot. Baseline data collected during 1989–1995 are compared with data from a synthesis of recently published papers and reports and new field work carried out across the region during 2010–2014. We show that biodiversity endemism values are largely unchanged, although two new species (amphibian and mammal) have been named and two extremely rare tree species have been relocated. However, forest habitat continues to be lost and degraded, largely as a result of agricultural expansion, charcoal production to supply cities with cooking fuel, logging for timber and cutting of wood for firewood and building poles. Habitat loss is linked to an increase in the number of species threatened over time. The government-managed forest reserve network has expanded slightly but has low effectiveness. Three forest reserves have been upgraded to National Parks and Nature Reserves, which have stricter protection and more effective enforcement. There has also been rapid development of village-owned forest reserves, with more than 140 now existing; although usually small, they are an important addition to the areas being managed for sustainable resource use, and also provide tangible benefits to local people. Human-use pressures remain intense in many areas, and combined with emerging pressures from mining, gas and oil exploration, many endemic species remain threatened with extinction.

The orang-utan Pongo spp. is protected by national and international legislation, yet populations continue to decline. Many reports implicate local people in the poaching and illegal trade in orang-utans, yet community participation has been promoted as an alternative conservation strategy. To explore how community-based orang-utan conservation could be developed, we conducted a study to understand informal institutions, particularly local people's perceptions, traditional beliefs, taboos, norms and knowledge, related to orang-utan conservation within and around the wetlands of Danau Sentarum. The majority of Dayak communities interviewed practised traditional taboos, which supported the protection of orang-utans and their habitat. Statistical analysis using generalized linear modelling indicated that more orang-utan nests were found in areas with both good habitat condition and strong informal institutions. Despite applying traditional systems that are similar to conservation, local people have negative perceptions about the term ‘conservation’. We describe the underlying causes of these negative perceptions and highlight their implications for conservation programmes and policies. We conclude that conservation of orang-utans and other species should not focus on single species but on maintaining social and natural capital, cultural diversity and ecological functions at various institutional levels and across geographical scales.

The Siberian musk deer Moschus moschiferus, categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, is a small ungulate associated with coniferous forests of East Asia. In Russia the species is hunted both legally and illegally for the commercially valuable musk gland in males. Steep population declines recorded in recent decades have been generally attributed to intensive illegal hunting, but the decline has coincided with increased logging activity and the concomitant expansion of logging roads. We conducted an occupancy analysis in Primorskii Krai, Russia, to elucidate the relative importance of environmental, ecological and anthropogenic features associated with the presence of musk deer. The top model contained covariates related to the abundance of bearded lichen Usnea spp., the distance to a main road and the distance to logging sites, suggesting that both intensive hunting of musk deer (associated with greater accessibility via roads) and logging of habitat are influencing the occurrence of this species. We propose several management actions to limit the negative influence of logging and logging roads on musk deer in Russia, including encouraging logging companies to set aside high conservation value forests (to retain intact forests) and to close logging roads post-harvest (to reduce access by poachers).

Remaining jaguar Panthera onca populations in the Atlantic Forest are restricted to eight regions, and all populations appear to be declining. We report on the status of one of the last populations in south-eastern Brazil. We monitored this population with camera traps during June 2005–January 2013 in Vale Natural Reserve. We estimated an abundance of 9 ± SE 1.98 jaguars (95% CI 9–17) and a population density of 3.22 ± SE 1.58 individuals per 100 km2 (95% CI 1.29–7.98). Annual survival probability over a 5-year interval was 78% (95% CI 58–98) and the recapture probability was 62% (95% CI 42–79). Although our results are among the highest densities reported for the jaguar in this biome, the future of the population is threatened by genetic deterioration and local threats, including the expansion of an existing highway and depletion of the jaguar's native prey base as a result of poaching, and will depend upon urgent implementation of conservation actions. The necessary actions include establishing gene flow with other compatible populations, increasing surveillance against poaching, continuing population monitoring of jaguars and their main prey species, and implementing mitigation measures in relation to the impacts of the highway on local fauna.

Globally, some species and habitats receive protection through local belief systems (e.g. indigenous religions) and informal institutions (e.g. social norms and taboos). Where such systems represent the only form of protection for threatened species or environments, they may be critical to the survival of those taxa and sites. We evaluated the effectiveness of long-standing social taboos protecting the Endangered Sclater's monkey Cercopithecus sclateri and forest groves in a community complex in Nigeria. Across its range (southern Nigeria), Sclater's monkey is effectively protected only through informal institutions. At our study site, we conducted a census of the monkey population; measured the area of sacred groves; and compared our findings with estimates from 2010 and 2005, respectively. We observed a 36% increase in the monkey population (from 249 to 339 individuals) in a core survey area. No groves that we assessed in 2005 had been fully cleared. Although we observed a decline in tree cover for several sacred forests, most groves used regularly by monkeys had changed little. The social taboos related to monkeys and sacred groves remain largely intact; however, other factors threaten the monkey population and remaining forests in this community complex, including the removal of tree patches to accommodate the construction of large residential buildings and the demand for cropland, as well as increased dumping of waste in forested sites. This study highlights the conservation importance and limitations of local cultural protection, as well as the challenges presented when such protection conflicts with community-perceived development needs.

The construction of roads and other large-scale infrastructure projects, and the secondary impacts they precipitate, are among the key drivers of change in tropical forests. The proposed expansion of a road in the buffer zones of Peru's Manu National Park and Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, in the country's Amazon region, threatens biodiversity and indigenous communities in one of the world's most species-rich and environmentally sensitive rainforest areas. In particular, road expansion is likely to result in uncontrolled colonization, deforestation, and the illicit extraction of timber and other natural resources, as well as an increase in social conflict between resource extractors and indigenous communities. Furthermore, the development of infrastructure in the Manu region puts at risk Peru's international commitments regarding climate change by promoting, rather than avoiding, forest loss. A number of viable alternatives to further road expansion are available to achieve economic development and improved mobility in Manu, including agricultural intensification, improved land-use planning, and a less invasive transportation infrastructure. Given the growth in the global road network expected in the coming decades, as well as the common factors underlying the expansion of such infrastructure across tropical, developing countries, the issues surrounding road expansion in Manu and the compromise solutions that we propose are broadly applicable to efforts to achieve sustainable development in other remote, tropical regions.

One of the major threats to tropical forests throughout the world is the frequency and intensity with which local people use forests for subsistence. Kakamega Forest in Kenya is one such forest, in which fuelwood harvest is a primary use. The Kenya Forest Service and Kenya Wildlife Service have tried to regulate subsistence harvesting in this forest. However, high human population density (c. 542 people per km2) and extreme poverty leave local people little choice but to use forest resources to survive. We investigated patterns of wood use by people across Kakamega Forest. Our results indicate that wood harvesters prefer indigenous as opposed to non-indigenous wood, as the former sells for a premium price. Harungana madagascariensis and Psidium guajava were the most harvested indigenous and non-indigenous woods, respectively. Our data suggest that because market economies seem to drive forest use, perhaps they can be used to incentivize forest conservation. Proper integration of economic forest conservation interventions, economic diversification, and effective forest management are needed to protect Kakamega Forest.

Forest ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem services, but are declining worldwide. Malus niedzwetzkyana, an Endangered wild relative of domesticated apples, is an important component of the walnut–fruit forests of Central Asia. Its iconic pink blossom and genetic properties give it special cultural and scientific significance, but livestock grazing and firewood collection threaten its survival. The conservation of the species and its native forest ecosystem is critical and urgent. This study provides information on the ecology and population of M. niedzwetzkyana and the threats affecting its habitat, improving our understanding of its distribution and proposing measures to reduce threats. We collected ecological data and assessed population structure and threats at four forest sites in southern Kyrgyzstan. We mapped 149 individuals, creating the largest known dataset for this species. We developed species distribution models for M. niedzwetzkyana to identify climatically suitable regions and potential areas for restoration. Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve contained the largest expanse of pristine forest and the most stable M. niedzwetzkyana population, followed by Kara-Alma Forestry Unit. Forests in the Gava Forestry Unit and Dashman Reserve were most extensively damaged by humans and livestock. The wild apple's favoured habitat was south-west facing slopes with a gradient < 30° and a relatively open canopy. Overall, the study population was vulnerable to extinction with limited regeneration potential. We recommend short-term population enhancement through planting projects and increased protection of individuals in pristine sites. Community-based conservation initiatives should be prioritized in extensively damaged sites, and larger-scale reforestation of these forests needs to be considered.

Hunting of wildlife is one of the major threats to biodiversity. For effective conservation programmes in countries where hunting and shifting agriculture are the main sources of subsistence, forest management should aim to reduce hunting pressure and forest exploitation. The presence of researchers has been promoted as one of the main ways to mitigate anthropogenic pressures on wildlife populations. Our aim was to test whether local management and the establishment of a research station had a role in decreasing forest exploitation by local people living adjacent to a recently protected area in south-east Madagascar. We interviewed local people from nine villages at various distances from the recently established research station of Ampasy, in the northernmost portion of the Tsitongambarika Protected Area, to explore how people use the forest, with a particular focus on hunting. We also performed transect surveys to estimate snare and lemur encounter rates before local forest management began, at the establishment of the research station, and 1 year after. The impact of local communities on the forest seems to have decreased since the beginning of forest management, with a further decrease since the establishment of the research station. Participants from villages not involved in the local management were more reluctant to declare their illegal activities. We conclude that a combination of local management and related activities (e.g. installation of a research station) can assist in temporarily reducing forest exploitation by local communities; however, community needs and conservation plans should be integrated to maintain long-term benefits.

In tropical regions the extent of agricultural land is increasing rapidly at the expense of natural forest, with associated losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Agroforestry has long been proposed as a more sustainable agricultural system, conserving biodiversity while providing significant local livelihoods. In this context, camera traps were deployed to compare communities of large mammals between natural forest (22,272 hours across 24 deployments) and extensively managed coffee forest (19,059 hours, 23 deployments) for the first time in the south-west Ethiopian highlands. Mammal communities in the two forest types were similar in species richness and Shannon diversity but differed in community composition. Significant indicator species of coffee forest were the crested porcupine Hystrix cristata and the Ethiopian hare Lepus fagani, whereas leopards Panthera pardus and civets Civettictis civetta had a preference for natural forest. The number of detections of mammals was higher in coffee forest, where activity patterns were predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal, which may be a direct adaptation to frequent human disturbance. In natural forest, mammal activity peaked during daytime. Despite the high mammal diversity in extensively managed coffee forest, it cannot fully replace natural forest as a habitat for large mammals. We suggest that a balanced landscape mosaic of coffee and natural forest may be a valuable combination for both conservation and coffee cultivation.

Habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and human–wildlife conflict threaten the survival of primates across Africa. Particularly dramatic forest losses have occurred outside protected areas in the Guinean forest–savannah transition zone. Using the Boé region, Guinea-Bissau, as a case study, we investigated whether and how this rapidly humanized mosaic of wooded savannah, gallery forests and cropland could sustain viable primate populations. We conducted line transect surveys and reconnaissance (recce) walks to assess populations of one Critically Endangered (chimpanzee Pan troglodytes verus), one Endangered (Temminck's red colobus Piliocolobus badius temminckii), one Vulnerable (king colobus Colobus polykomos), and one Near Threatened (sooty mangabey Cercocebus atys) arboreal primates across a 104 km2 section of Boé in the dry season of 2016. Using the standing crop nest count method we estimated a relatively high chimpanzee density (0.77 individuals per km2, 95% CI 0.45–1.34). An assessment of habitat selection showed that chimpanzees prefer semi-dense forest and fallow fields with remnant old trees for nesting, and locations close to rivers. The other primates studied occurred in extremely low densities and were largely restricted to gallery forests. Our results indicate a need for immediate action to ensure the long-term survival of the primate community in the human-dominated landscape of Boé. Our recommendations include action to maintain hunting pressure at a low level, restoring and protecting gallery forests, introducing incentives for farmers for forest protection and primate-friendly practices, and extending the conservation programme to all arboreal primates in the region.