Abstract :
[en] Facing increasing human pressure, forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) populations have been seriously declining for many years. As they are key actors in shaping ecosystems, their decline will have severe ecological consequences. Covering 30 percent of the central African rainforest, timber concessions constitute areas with a great stake in the conservation of this emblematic and critically endangered species. Although several studies have documented a high presence of forest elephants in some logged forests, many uncertainties remain about the impacts of logging on forest elephants. Using camera traps, acoustic recorders and dung counts, we explored the short-term consequences of logging on forest elephants’ abundance in two certified timber concessions, one in Cameroon and one in Gabon. In Cameroon, 24 camera traps and 12 acoustic recorders were set up for two months in two nearby areas: one that had just been logged and one where the last logging operation was conducted over 17 years ago. In Gabon, dung counts along 73 km of line transects were conducted in one annual allowable cut, eight months before and nine months after logging. The camera trap study in Cameroon showed no significantly different forest elephant detection rates between the recently and the formerly logged areas. A similar result was obtained with the acoustic data. In Gabon, the post-logging survey recorded more than twice as many forest elephant dung as the pre-logging survey. These results support the suggestion that selective logging, when carried out under controlled and sustainable management (ie., closure of old logging roads, law enforcement, low impact logging, etc.), is compatible with the conservation of the forest elephant. Nevertheless, additional studies are needed, especially to assess long-term and behavioral impacts. Ongoing studies on the use of skidding trails and logging roads by large mammals, forest elephant-mediated seed dispersal and herbivory damage in timber concessions, will provide new insights on the coexistence of forest elephants and selective logging.
