One of the biggest hauls of illegal ape parts in Central Africa has been seized by officials in Gabon, the global campaign group WWF says.

Five people were arrested for the cache which included the head and hands of an endangered gorilla, 12 chimpanzee heads and 30 chimpanzee hands.

WWF called for a tough judicial approach to act as a deterrent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12238900

20/01/2011
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by Jeremy Hance

WWF, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the UN have all recently expressed concerns about two oil companies' plan to explore for oil in Africa's oldest and famed Virunga National Park. Home to a quarter of the world's mountain gorillas, as well as chimpanzees, hippos, lions, forest elephants, and rare birds Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of Africa's most biodiverse parks and is classified by the UN as a World Heritage Site. But according to WWF plans by oil companies SOCO International and Dominion Petroleum could jeopardize not only the wildlife and ecosystems, but also local people.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0120-hance_virunga.html

20/01/2011
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By Morgan Erickson-Davis

The level of Tanzanian timber forest certified as sustainable increased by 700 percent earlier this month. The certification not only represents an environmental win, but is expected to bring opportunities and money to the communities which exist within and around the forests.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) audited two new tracts of timber forest and found that both complied with its standards of sustainability. The certification of the Liwiti and Nainokwe tracts will add 6,229 and 8,502 hectares, respectively, to the existing 2,420 hectares to equal a total sustainable forest area of 17,151 hectares. Liwiti and Nainokwe are community-managed forest registered under the FSC Group Certificate Scheme of the Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative, the Tanzanian partner of the Sound & Fair campaign.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0117-morgan_fsc_tanzania.html

18/01/2011
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The Great Apes Film initiative (GAFI), partnered with the Gorilla Organization (GO) launched a brand new gorilla conservation project in Western Uganda -- Africa's very first pedal powered cinema for gorilla conservation.

The aim is to foster gorilla relations between local people and bring about a positive change of attitude towards ape conservation. How better to reach the people than through the movies!

18/01/2011
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The Malaysian palm oil industry has been broadly accused of contributing to the dramatic decline in orangutan populations in Sabah, a state in northern Borneo, over the past 30 years. The industry has staunchly denied these charges and responded with marketing campaigns claiming the opposite: that oil palm plantations can support and nourish the great red apes. The issue came to a head last October at the Orangutan Colloquium held in Kota Kinabalu. There, confronted by orangutan biologists, the palm oil industry pledged to support restoring forest corridors along rivers in order to help facilitate movement of orangutans between remaining forest reserves across seas of oil palm plantations. Attending NGOs agreed that they would need to work with industry to find a balance that would allow the ongoing survival of orangutans in the wild. Nevertheless, the conference was marked by much of the same rhetoric that has characterized most of these meetings - chief palm oil industry officials again made dubious claims about the environmental stewardship of the industry. However, this time, there was at least acknowledgment that palm oil needs to play an active role in conservation.

"The industry wants to be part of the efforts that not only show concern for the environment, but in fact actually take an active part in its conservation," chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Dato' Lee Yeow Chor, told the conference.

While several environmentalists expressed doubt of the industry's commitment to rainforest conservation, Dr. Marc Ancrenaz, the Co-Founder and Co-Director of HUTAN, the NGO that helped organize the event, was encouraged that the two sides are at least talking. As a follow up to the meeting, and some of the spin that followed, Ancrenaz answered some questions on palm oil in Sabah and the Kinabatangan river basin, where HUTAN focuses its efforts.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0116-orangutans.html

16/01/2011
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Sales of palm oil certified under the leading sustainability standard surged 225 percent in 2010, suggesting growing consumer interest in more responsibly-sourced palm oil.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the body that devised the social and environmental certification initiative, says sales of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) reached 1.3 million metric tons in 2010, up from 400,000 tons in 2009.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0109-rspo_sales.html

10/01/2011
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