Putting a face on carbon with threatened forest primates

Scientific activism to protect the world's primates and their environments from extinction: Introduction to the special issue

“…Moreover, primates play essential roles in predator-prey relationships, seed dispersal, pollination, forest regeneration, and carbon sequestration (Estrada et al, 2022;Wolf & Ripple, 2022). The loss or impairment of individual components of these complex and multidependent ecological communities limits the function and viability of the entire community (Chase et al, 2020).…”

“…The impending primate extinction crisis is occurring in the context of larger biodiversity and climate crises that have inspired significant global actions, such as the establishment of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1993, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015, and the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022. Protecting primate habitats, which include important biodiversity hotspots (Estrada et al, 2017) and crucial sites of carbon sequestration (Ding et al, 2016; Walker et al, 2014; Wolf & Ripple, 2022), is essential for conserving natural ecosystems and limiting global warming to below 2°C compared to preindustrial levels. However, to date, these conventions have not succeeded in meeting their targets, which include protecting 30% of the earth's terrestrial area.…”

“…As our closest biological relatives, primates are among the most important animal models for understanding human behavior, biology, health, and evolution (Estrada et al, 2017; Phillips et al, 2014). Moreover, primates play essential roles in predator‐prey relationships, seed dispersal, pollination, forest regeneration, and carbon sequestration (Estrada et al, 2022; Wolf & Ripple, 2022). The loss or impairment of individual components of these complex and multi‐dependent ecological communities limits the function and viability of the entire community (Chase et al, 2020).…”

Global wildlife trade and trafficking contribute to the world’s nonhuman primate conservation crisis

“…Primates play critical roles in supporting communitywide ecological services including predator-prey relationships, seed dispersal and pollination, forest regeneration, and contribute to carbon sequestration by disproportionately dispersing seeds of tree species characterized by high wood density (Brodie, 2016;Peres et al, 2016). A recent study found that forests in areas of equatorial Africa, Amazonia, and Indonesia with the largest remaining stocks of irrecoverable carbon (total of 21 billion metric tons) overlap with large and diverse primate communities (6-12 species), and therefore mitigate climate change (Wolf and Ripple, 2022). Primates also play an important role as indicator or sentinel species warning of the deleterious effects of habitat conversion, hunting, and infectious disease transmission on ecosystem health (Engel et al, 2010;Calvignac-Spencer et al, 2012;Kuthyar et al, 2021).…”

“…It has been argued that "if we continue to harm, pollute, and degrade our environment such that nonhuman primates cannot survive, then in the not too distant future, humans will not be able to survive in these environments" (Garber, 2019). Thus, prioritizing local, national, and international laws and practices that safeguard primate populations is a necessary pre-requisite for protecting the biodiversity and health of forested and impacted ecosystems that benefit wildlife and local and global human communities (Brodie et al, 2021;Wolf and Ripple, 2022;Garber et al, 2023;Vale et al, 2023).…”