Where We Work
Logging Concessions of Northern Congo
GTAP’s partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society in monitoring the region’s largest forest concession manager, provides the project’s scientists with unprecedented access to timber inventory and forest exploitation data. GTAP scientists have combined the forestry company’s data with their own, and are using this information to assess the relationship among tree species distribution, timber extraction, and ape resource use. Additional studies focus on the impacts of towns and roads on wildlife distributions. Additional studies focus on the impacts of towns and roads impacts on wildlife distributions.
CIB manages 1.8 million ha that are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified including the Kabo, Loundougou-Toukoulaka, Mimbelli, and Pokola logging concessions. Existing management plans for the NNNP and adjacent logging concessions are revised periodically, and GTAP provides new, evidence-based recommendations to address identified threats to wildlife.
Analyses of these data enable verification of compliance with FSC certification criteria and generation of practical strategies for road development. In addition, we quantify outtake rates of ape keystone food and nesting resources as well as seasonal impacts of timber harvesting activities. This collaborative approach serves as a model that can inform conservation efforts throughout the tropics.
