• Ian Redmond's argument could lead to new protections
• Cites animals' role in propagating plants on jungle floor
Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk 13 Oct 09;
Gorilla dung could conceivably be the salvation of the planet.
A leading UK wildlife expert today said protecting the large primates he called the "gardeners of the forest" could provide the easy fix for global warming envisaged by international reforestation programmes.
America and other industrialised countries are looking to reforestation programmes in Africa, South-east Asia and South America to help contain the effects of climate change.
But Ian Redmond, the UN ambassador for the year of the gorilla, said the industrialised countries would be making a mistake if they did not commit specific funds to protecting the gorillas as part of the discussion on reforestation efforts at the climate change negotiations at Copenhagen next December.
"If we save the trees and not the animals then we will just see a slow death of the forests," Redmond said. "What I am urging the decisionmakers at Copenhagen to consider is that the gorillas are not a luxury item. If you want a longterm healthy forest you have to take action to protect them."
The gorillas - or "gardeners of the forest" as Redmond called them - were crucial to fighting climate change, he said. Gorillas, which are herbivores, feed on fruid and plants. The digested food, as it passes through their systems, helps seeds to germinate.
The full extent of the gorillas' role in propagation is unclear. But Redmond said a number of plant species could not flourish without them, or wild elephants, the other large mammal crucial in germination.
The gorillas - caught up in the region's civil wars, preyed on by poachers, and crowded out of their homes by mining and logging industries - are already endangered across Africa.
But Redmond's argument could help give the animals a new level of protection.
The world's forests act as a natural trap for carbon emissions, sucking up some 4.8bn tonnes of carbon a year.
Economists such as Lord Stern have said that spending some $15bn a year on reforestation programmes would be the cheapest way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
In the run-up to the meeting on climate change in December, there has been a growing focus on reforestation programmes in Africa, South-east Asia and South America.
However, there has been no direct recognition of the role played by large animals - such as gorillas - in propagating plants on the jungle floor.
Redmond said gorillas were crucial in maintaining the lifecycle of the rainforests in the Congo basin. The forests themselves suck up more than 1bn tonnes of carbon every year.
"This is what the species are for. They are not ornaments. They are not just interesting things to study. They are part of an ecosystem," he said.
All of the big apes are now considered endangered. Nearly 20 years of civil war in the Great Lakes region of Africa have seen an explosion in illegal mining and logging by militias seeking money for guns.
Two gorillas are killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo each week and their corpses sold as bush meat, an investigation by Endangered Species International found.
Many gorillas live outside the relatively small protected enclaves of national parks.
Those gorillas are losing their habitat because of rapid urbanisation. Villagers are venturing deeper into the forest to cut down trees for cooking charcoal.
