Rare monkey’s disappearance signals wider biodiversity crisis in West Africa, scientist warns

The possible extinction of one of West Africa’s rarest monkeys should serve as a wake-up call for governments and communities to protect nature before more species and the ecosystems people depend on are lost, a leading Ghanaian biodiversity scientist has warned. Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Professor Edward Wiafe Debrah, said the disappearance of Miss Waldron’s red colobus monkey, once found in the forests of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, reflects the growing pressure on biodiversity across the region. Speaking during a virtual media engagement organised by the West African Journalists for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (WAJESHA), Professor Debrah said biodiversity loss now threatens far more than wildlife.

Protect nature and secure our future,” he said. Scientists have not conclusively recorded Miss Waldron’s red colobus in the wild for decades, and the species is now widely considered possibly extinct. Conservation experts believe intensive hunting and the destruction of its forest habitat largely drove its disappearance.

Professor Debrah said the monkey’s decline should not be viewed simply as the loss of another animal species. “It is a reminder of what happens when ecosystems are not adequately protected,” he said. “Protecting biodiversity, he said, is not simply about preserving wildlife, but it is about protecting our food, our health, our economy, our climate and the future of generations yet unborn.

He explained that biodiversity underpins agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism, medicine and many other sectors that sustain livelihoods across West Africa. Nearly three-quarters of the world’s food crops, he noted, depend at least partly on animal pollination. “Without bees and other pollinators, food production declines.

Protecting biodiversity means protecting our food, our health and our future,” he said. Although Africa remains one of the world’s richest regions in biodiversity, Professor Debrah warned that forests, wetlands, rivers and coastal ecosystems are facing increasing pressure from deforestation, illegal mining, agricultural expansion, pollution, climate change, invasive species, illegal wildlife trade and unsustainable harvesting. In Ghana, he said these pressures are evident in degraded forests, polluted rivers, disappearing wetland…