More than $1 billion needed annually to secure Africa's protected areas with lions.

ABSTRACT: Protected areas (PAs) play an important role in conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services, yet their effectiveness is undermined by funding shortfalls. Using lions (Panthera leo) as a proxy for PA health, we assessed available funding relative to budget requirements for PAs in Africa's savannahs. We compiled a dataset of 2015 funding for 282 state-owned PAs with lions. We applied three methods to estimate the minimum funding required for effective conservation of lions, and calculated deficits. We estimated minimum required funding as $978/km² per year based on the cost of effectively managing lions in nine reserves by the African Parks Network; $1,271/km² based on modeled costs of managing lions at ≥50% carrying capacity across diverse condition

SUBMITTER: Lindsey PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6233108 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature