Create/protect habitat corridors

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

65%
Certainty

41%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Corridors are areas of natural habitat that are contiguous or isolated (i.e. linkages or stepping stones) and enable particular plant and animal species to disperse and migrate, processes which are necessary for their survival (Rouget et al. 2006). For example, a simulation study by Bruford et al. (2010) examined the genetic implications of management options for the highly fragmented orangutan population in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Malaysia and demonstrated that a combination of modest translocation rates (one individual every 20 years) and corridor establishment enabled even the most isolated subpopulations to retain demographic stability and constrain localised inbreeding to small levels. Simiarily, a study in Kenya (Anderson et al. 2007) found that perennial plantations of cashew nut, mango or coconut as well as timber plantations and remnants of indigenous shrubland vegetation were frequently used by Angolan black-and-white colobus Colobus angolensis palliatus to move between fragments of their main coastal forest habitats.

Anderson, J., Rowcliffe, J.M. and Cowlishaw, G. (2007) Does the matrix matter? A forest primate in a complex agricultural landscape. Biological conservation, 135, 212-222.

Bruford M.W., Ancrenaz M., Chikhi L., Lackman-Ancrenaz I., Andau M., Ambu L. & Goossens B. (2010) Projecting genetic diversity and population viability for the fragmented orang-utan population in the Kinabatangan floodplain, Sabah, Malaysia. Endangered Species Research, 12, 249–261.

Rouget M., Cowling R.M., Lombard A.T., Knight A.T. & Kerley G.I.H. (2006) Designing large-scale conservation corridors for pattern and process. Conservation Biology, 20, 549–561.

Study locations

Key messages

One before-and-after study in Belize found that black howler monkey numbers increased by 138% over 13 years after the protection of a forest corridor, alongside other interventions.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A before-and-after trial in 1985-1998 in secondary riparian forest in the Community Baboon Sanctuary, Belize, South America found that a population of black howler monkey Alouatta pigra, for which a forest corridor along the river was preserved alongside ten other interventions, increased by 138% over 13 years. The population increased from 840 to more than 2,000 individuals (138%), although no statistical tests were carried out to determine whether this difference was significant. Additional interventions included the protection of the sanctuary by the communities surrounding it, preserving forest buffer strips along property boundaries, constructing pole bridges over man-made gaps, preserving important howler food trees in large clearings, involving local communities in the management of the sanctuary, creation of a museum for education purposes, an eco-tourism and research program, presence of permanent staff, and monetary (income from tourism and craft industries) benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife communities. The study does not distinguish between the effects of the different interventions mentioned above.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Horwich R.H. & Lyon J. (1998) Community-based development as a conservation tool: The Community Baboon Sanctuary and the Gales Point, Manatee project. in: Timber, tourists and temples. Conservation and development in the Maya Forest of Belize, Guatemala and Mexico. Island Press, Covelo, CA.

Please cite as:

Junker, J., Kühl, H.S., Orth, L., Smith, R.K., Petrovan, S.O. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Primate Conservation. Pages 431-482 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Primate Conservation

Related Actions

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Use weeding to promote regeneration of indigenous tree communities Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Demarcate and enforce boundaries of protected areas Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Legally protect primate habitat Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	8	Synopsis Link