Western chimpanzees are threatened by lack of regulated human development

Western chimpanzees have been classified as critically endangered since 2016, having declined by 80% in 24 years. Across the eight range countries of the western chimpanzee (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone) the continuing trend of species decline is principally attributed to human activities including poaching, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation.

While western chimpanzees are legally protected throughout their range, an estimated 83% of the population lives outside of protected areas. They are therefore at risk from human development, especially open-cast mining which can be highly destructive and has seen a surge in international investment.

The research published by Biological Conservation suggests that the national legislation in place to regulate the environmental impacts of proposed development requires reform, including improved incorporation of mitigation hierarchy principles.

For the study, undertaken by Dr Tatyana Humle, DICE alumnus Thomas Evans and James Wingard (Legal Atlas), a total of 175 laws were reviewed across the eight range countries of western chimpanzees, as well as Costa Rica as a benchmark of best practice. Laws reviewed can be found in the Legal Atlas® platform under the topics Environmental Impact Assessments and Wildlife Trade.

The researchers' analytical framework assessed each country's legislation laws for avoiding impacts on chimpanzees, minimising and remediating impact on chimpanzees and the use of biodiversity offsets.

Dr Humle said: 'The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures utilised by the countries examined do not go far enough to protect western chimpanzees. With global biodiversity loss occurring at an alarming rate, this is a major concern.'

Thomas Evans said: 'Mitigation hierarchy principles are critical to species conservation and help to regulate the environmental impacts of projects that are not reliant upon development bank or other debt-financing markets. A tightening of legislation is necessary to ensure that avoidance, remediation and offset measures are implemented in line with the objective of safeguarding the habitat of this critically endangered species.'