Deforestation
Habitat loss is one of the most serious threats to the long term survival of primates in Cameroon. The country is home to more than 20 million hectares of tropical rainforest, but illegal and destructive logging continues to place immense pressure on these ecosystems and on the communities that depend on them. Growing international demand for tropical hardwood has created an unsustainable strain on forests across West and Central Africa, which are among the last remaining strongholds for great apes.
Logging does not only destroy forest habitat, it also accelerates other threats. Logging companies construct extensive road networks deep into previously inaccessible rainforest, opening up areas that were once protected by their remoteness. These roads provide hunters and poachers with direct access to wildlife, allowing animals to be transported out of the forest, often concealed on logging trucks to avoid detection. This combination of habitat destruction and increased hunting pressure has a devastating impact on primate populations and forest biodiversity.