The coexistence between forest elephants and timber concessions

On October 5, 2022, the scientific journal Mammal Review published the article "The challenging coexistence of forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis and timber concessions in central Africa". Written by Morgane Scalbert, PhD student in the "Forest Resource Management" research axis at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Prof. Cédric Vermeulen (GFEN-GxABT), Thomas Breuer (WWF) and Prof. Jean-Louis Doucet (GFEN-GxABT), the article focuses on the interactions between forest elephants and timber concessions in Central Africa. It lists for the first time a series of commercial tree species known to be dispersed and/or damaged by forest elephants.

"Through an extensive review of the literature," explains Morgane Scalbert, " we synthesized the impacts of logging in Central Africa on forest elephant populations, and conversely, the role of forest elephants in the dynamics of timber species. " Legally logged concessions are key areas for forest elephant conservation, provided that low impact logging and wildlife management are implemented.

The presence of forest elephants in timber concessions contributes to the regeneration of many commercial tree species through their role as seed dispersers. However, damage caused by elephants (breaking branches, debarking trees, etc.) can result in economic losses to the logger, but this has yet to be quantified.

"The challenging coexistence of forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis and timber concessions in central Africa" lists, for the first time, all commercial species known to be dispersed and/or damaged by forest elephants. The results of this research show the value to the logger of having elephants in their concession. Nevertheless, " little is known to date about the interactions between elephants and logging, and we propose a series of research perspectives to fill this knowledge gap."

Read the article : https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/295751