Human and nonhuman primates share intertwined destinies. Nonhuman primates are our closest evolutionary relatives and integral elements in our mythologies, diets, and scientific paradigms. The study of all primates (human and nonhuman) continues to be a rapidly expanding field. Recently, specific focus on the multifarious interaction of human and nonhuman primates, termed ‘ethnoprimatology’ or ‘cultural primatology’, is becoming a major component in primatological studies. We feel that it is possible to view human and nonhuman primates as co-participants in a rapidly escalating realm of ecological and cultural change. The fields of investigation into human ecology, nonhuman primate ecology and behavior, and conservation are traditionally considered distinct avenues of investigation. It is our contention, however, that conservation is most effective when human and nonhuman primate ecology and behavior are seen as interconnected and treated as a unified area of investigation. In this book we hope to illustrate that a constructive approach to assessing conservation realities can be obtained by including elements of human culture and ecology, nonhuman primate behavior and ecology, and creating a picture of a broad and dynamic interconnected cultural and biological ecosystem.

Whereas general ecology is seen as the set of interactions between organisms and their environment, cultural ecology can be envisioned as cultural models of the environment and the relation between a people and their ecological space.