A United Nations-backed initiative has been launched aimed at halting the destruction of the habitat of the East African mountain range gorilla threatening
the extinction of humans' close relative, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced.
Other measures needed to target the reduction of charcoal production include solar cookers, tree-planting on farms and the widespread use of fuel-efficient stoves, UNEP said in a news release.
Further cause for concern to the agency is the signing of land deals by many gorilla range States with foreign companies for agriculture, including bio-fuel production.
UNEP said that on top of destroying the habitat of numerous species through forest degradation, palm oil - an edible oil found 10 per cent of supermarket products and increasingly seen as a profitable bio-fuel - has a higher carbon footprint than the fossil fuels it replaces.
The agency noted that the erosion of forests not only threatens gorillas, it also intensifies climate change with tropical trees in undisturbed forests absorbing nearly 20 per cent of
UNEP said that together with other great apes, the survival of gorillas is also threatened by disease and epidemics, mining and the effects of armed conflicts.
The Year of the Gorilla is a joint initiative of UNEP-CMS, the UNEP/UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Source: http://www.un.org
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