26
continues to escalate. The development of oil palm plantations is a major cause of rainforest
destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia, and now global agricultural companies based in the Far
East have their sights set on the DRC.
A rush into the biofuel sector would further threaten this fragile ecosystem (Fitzherbert et al.
2008; Senelwa et al. 2012). As China moves aggressively into the biodiesel industry, their ZTE
Agribusiness Company Ltd has received approval to develop a large oil palm plantation in DRC.
The DRC government has identified bioenergy and biofuel production as a priority area for indus-
trialization and has reiterated a determination to uphold cooperative ties with China.
Aerial view showing forest
clearing for cultivation typically
within 1 km of roads © Takeshi
Furuichi
27
4.2 Threat Ranking
Four working groups, each focusing on one of the bonobo strongholds, undertook a ranking exer-
cise to assess the scope, severity and reversibility of each of the threats identified as follows:
Spatial scope: Defined as the proportion of the bonobo's range likely to be negatively impacted by
the direct and indirect threats.
Severity: Defined as the level of impact of the direct and indirect threats.
Reversibility: Defined as the capacity to recover from the effects of the direct and indirect threats.
The criteria used for ranking spatial scope, severity and reversibility were as follows:
Value Spatial scope
Level of impact (severity)
Reversibility (capacity to recover)
0
Absent
No impact or minimal
Easily reversible
1
< 25%
Moderately degrades
Reversible if there is enough
commitment
3
25–75%
Seriously degrades
Reversible but with great difficulty
5
> 75%
Completely destroys or eliminates
Not reversible
Lac Tumba
Threats
Spatial
scope
Level of
impact
Score
Reversibility
Direct threats
Poaching
3
3
6
3
Habitat loss
5
3
8
3
Disease
5
3
8
3
Indirect threats
Bushmeat trade
5
3
8
1
Availability of guns and ammunition
5
3
8
3
Agricultural expansion
3
3
6
3
Legal industrial logging
5
3
8
1
Illegal industrial logging
3
3
6
3
Artisanal forest exploitation (charcoal, timber)
5
3
8
3
Lack of law enforcement
5
1
6
3
Ignorance of the law
5
3
8
1
Non-respect of the law
5
3
8
1
Lack of understanding of conservation issues
5
3
8
1
Lack of commitment by local administrative
authorities
1
3
4
1
Lack of commitment by stakeholders (local
communities)
5
3
8
1
Insufficient subsistence alternatives
5
5
10
3
Development of communications infrastructure
(roads, railways)
1
3
4
3
Human population growth
5
1
6
3
28
Salonga
Threats
Spatial
scope
Level of
impact
Score
Reversibility
Direct threats
Poaching
5
3
8
3
Habitat loss
1
1
2
0
Disease
1
1
2
0
Indirect threats
Bushmeat trade
5
3
8
3
Availability of guns and ammunition
5
3
8
3
Agricultural expansion
1
3
4
1
Legal industrial logging
3
3
6
3
Illegal industrial logging
1
1
2
1
Artisanal forest exploitation (charcoal, timber)
1
3
3
1
Lack of law enforcement
5
3
8
3
Ignorance of the law
3
3
6
3
Non-respect of the law
3
3
6
3
Lack of understanding of conservation issues
5
3
8
3
Insufficient commitment by local administrative
authorities
3
3
6
3
Insufficient commitment by stakeholders (local
communities)
3
1
4
1
Insufficient subsistence alternatives
3
3
6
3
Development of infrastructure networks (roads,
railways)
1
1
2
3
Human population growth
3
3
6
3
Sankuru-TL2
Threats
Spatial
scope
Level of
impact
Score
Reversibility
Direct threats
Poaching
5
3
8
3
Habitat loss
1
3
4
5
Disease
1
1
2
0
Indirect threats
Bushmeat trade
5
5
10
3
Availability of guns and ammunition
5
5
10
3
Agricultural expansion
3
3
6
3
Legal industrial logging
1
1
2
1
Illegal industrial logging
0
0
0
0
Artisanal forest exploitation (charcoal, timber)
0
0
0
0
Lack of law enforcement
3
5
8
1
Ignorance of the law
3
1
4
0
Non-respect of the law
3
3
6
3
Lack of understanding of conservation issues
3
1
4
1
Insufficient commitment by local administrative
authorities
1
1
2
1
Insufficient commitment by stakeholders (local
communities)
3
1
4
3
Table, Sankuru-TL2, continued on next page