Conservation overstretch and long-term decline of wildlife and tourism in the Central African savannas |
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Authors: | Paul Scholte Olivier Pays Saleh Adam Bertrand Chardonnet Hervé Fritz Jean-Baptiste Mamang Herbert H T Prins Pierre-Cyril Renaud Patrick Tadjo Mark Moritz |
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Institution: | 1. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;2. LETG-Angers, UMR 6554 CNRS, Université d'Angers, Angers, France;3. Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Garoua, Cameroon;4. African Protected Areas & Wildlife, Paris, France;5. REHABS International Research Laboratory, CNRS-Université de Lyon 1-Nelson Mandela University, George, South Africa;6. Anti-Poaching Unit, Economic Community of Central African States, Libreville, Gabon;7. Animal Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands;8. Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA |
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Abstract: | When in 2010 the world's governments pledged to increase protected area coverage to 17% of the world's land surface, several Central African countries had already set aside 25% of their northern savannas for conservation. To evaluate the effectiveness of this commitment, we analyzed the results of 68 multispecies surveys conducted in the seven main savanna national parks in Central Africa (1960–2017). We also assembled information on potential drivers of large herbivore population trends (rainfall and number of rangers) and on tourist numbers and revenues. In six out of the seven parks, wild large herbivore populations declined dramatically over time, livestock numbers increased severalfold, and tourism, the pillar under a once thriving local wildlife industry, collapsed. Zakouma National Park (Chad) stood out because its large herbivore populations increased, an increase that was positively correlated with rainfall and number of rangers (a proxy for management inputs). With increasing insecurity and declining revenues, governments find themselves confronted with too few resources to protect vast areas. To deal with this conversation overstretch, we propose to extend the repeatedly promoted solutions––scaled up funding, enhanced management––with a strategic retreat, focusing scarce resources on smaller areas to save wildlife in the Central African savannas. |
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Keywords: | insecurity large herbivores livestock protected areas tourism trophy hunting áreas protegidas caza de trofeos ganado herbívoros grandes inseguridad turismo |
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