Using landscape approaches to improve the integration of wildlife in forest 



management plans 



Nathalie Van Vliet' and Robert Nasi 



SUMMARY 



Logging concessions can affect wildlife populations through indirect or direct effects. However, if 

 wildlife is appropriately taken into account in the forest management plans, then logging concessions 

 can become an opportunity for conservation, as they can play a crucial role as buffers around protected 

 areas. In the last decade, large blocks of the Gabonese forests have been surveyed by logging companies 

 to implement the new forestry law. Large data sets were generated with this information but little was 

 done in terms of analysis. In this study we show that this invaluable data, collected during routine 

 management planning processes, can be used to understand the landscape factors that explain mammal 

 distribution in logging concessions and provide very useful recommendations for taking wildlife 

 populations into account in logging operations. 



INTRODUCTION 



Most of the Gabonese forest is now attributed to industrial logging firms. These concessions can affect 

 wildlife populations through indirect or direct effects (Tutin et al, 2001). Among the direct effects are 

 the modification or destruction of wildlife habitats, the disturbance to animals caused by the noise of 

 logging machinery and the disruption of territorial and gregarious groups of animals. In Lope (Gabon) 

 White (1998) showed that chimpanzee groups, chased from their territory by logging activities, were 

 found to have mortal fights with other chimpanzee groups when trying to settle in an occupied territory. 

 The indirect effects are the increase of hunting activities due to better access to previously remote forest 

 blocks through the development of road networks, the presence of vehicles, etc (Tutin et al, 2001). In 

 numerous cases, logging activities rely on the creation of worker camps in the middle of the forest where 

 the only source of proteins is bushmeat. 



However, if wildlife is appropriately taken into account in the forest management plans, then these 

 logging concessions can become an opportunity for conservation, as they can play a crucial role as 

 buffers around protected areas. Since 1996, The Gabonese Law 16/01 (the Forest Code of the Gabonese 

 Republic) requires a detailed and comprehensive forest management plan aimed to maintain the 

 availability of timber over time, but also to limit the negative effects of logging on biodiversity in 

 general and, more particularly, on wildlife species. In the last decade, large blocks of the Gabonese 

 forests have been surveyed by logging companies to implement the Forest Code. These surveys aimed, 

 as a primary goal, at estimating the timber potential from commercial tree species, but they did also 

 consider other ecological parameters including fauna (van Vliet et al, 2004). Although the 

 methodologies used to collect data slightly varied among companies, mammal surveys were generally 

 carried out along parallel and equidistant line transects, also used for the vegetation plots. Indirect signs 

 (dung, footprints, nests etc..) and observed animals were recorded, with information about species, 

 position along the transect, plot number, time of the day and in some cases, perpendicular distance to the 

 transect. 



Large data sets were generated with this information but little was done in terms of analysis. At most, the 

 information was used to generate a list of species present in the concession as well as maps showing the 

 spatial distribution of some of the key species. In this study we show that this invaluable data, collected 

 during routine forest management planning processes, can be used to understand the landscape factors 



' Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), RO. Box 01 13 BOCBD 

 Bogor 16000, Indonesia. Email: n.vanvliet(5icgiar.org 



^ Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), RO. Box 01 1 3 BOCBD 

 Bogor 16000, Indonesia. Email: r.nasi(a),cgiar.org 



Nature & Faune Vol. 23, Issue 1 , 10 



