Accelerating impacts from poaching to illegal timber trade hitting Great Ape Populations and abitats faster than previously supposed, a new report states. As a result of the report, UNEP (UN Environment Programme) and INTERPOL call for more support for border and customs controls. FORSVINDER OM 15 ÅR Gorillas may have largely disappeared from large parts of the Greater Congo Basin by the mid 2020s unless urgent action is taken to safeguard habitats and counter poaching, says the United Nations and INTERPOL – the world’s largest international police organization. FOR OPTIMISTISKE Previous projections by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), made in 2002, suggested that only 10 per cent of the original ranges would remain by 2030. These estimates now appear too optimistic given the intensification of pressures including illegal logging, mining, charcoal production and increased demand for bushmeat, of which an increasing proportion is ape meat. Outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus are adding to concerns. These have killed thousands of great apes including gorillas and by some estimates up to 90 per cent of animals infected will die.
