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To achieve their conservation goals individuals, communities and organizations need to acquire a diversity of skills, knowledge and information (i.e. capacity). Despite current efforts to build and maintain appropriate levels of conservation capacity, it has been recognized that there will need to be a significant scaling-up of these activities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is because of the rapid increase in the number and extent of environmental problems in the region. We present a range of socio-economic contexts relevant to four key areas of African conservation capacity building: protected area management, community engagement, effective leadership, and professional e-learning. Under these core themes, 39 specific recommendations are presented. These were derived from multi-stakeholder workshop discussions at an international conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2015. At the meeting 185 delegates (practitioners, scientists, community groups and government agencies) represented 105 organizations from 24 African nations and eight non-African nations. The 39 recommendations constituted six broad types of suggested action: (1) the development of new methods, (2) the provision of capacity building resources (e.g. information or data), (3) the communication of ideas or examples of successful initiatives, (4) the implementation of new research or gap analyses, (5) the establishment of new structures within and between organizations, and (6) the development of new partnerships. A number of cross-cutting issues also emerged from the discussions: the need for a greater sense of urgency in developing capacity building activities; the need to develop novel capacity building methodologies; and the need to move away from one-size-fits-all approaches.

The 2020 global spatial targets for protected areas set by the Convention on Biological Diversity have almost been achieved, but management effectiveness remains deficient. Personnel shortages are widely cited as major contributing factors but have not previously been quantified. Using data from 176 countries and territories, we estimate a current maximum of 555,000 terrestrial protected area personnel worldwide (one per 37 km2), including 286,000 rangers (one per 72 km2), far short of published guidance on required densities. Expansion by 2030 to 30% coverage of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures is widely agreed as a minimum for safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services. We project that effective management of this expanded system will require approximately 3 million personnel (one per 13 km2), including more than 1.5 million rangers or equivalents (one per 26 km2). Parallel improvements in resourcing, working conditions and capacity are required for effective, equitable and sustainable management.

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Global biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. The majority of the protected and conserved areas (PCAs) that are the core elements of protecting the world's biodiversity, and the ecosystem services it provides, are not under sound management. Adequate numbers of competent, well-resourced, and well-led rangers are the foundation for effective management of these PCAs. However, the majority of rangers are unrecognized, under-appreciated, and under-resourced. Rangers operate under poor and dangerous working environments with inadequate employment conditions. The International Ranger Federation (IRF), as a global representative body of rangers, has been working to connect and recognize rangers through several initiatives, including the triennial World Ranger Congress (WRC). The Chitwan Declaration of the 9th WRC, held in Nepal in 2019, strongly encourages those who manage PCAs that employ rangers to identify shortcomings, and thereafter introduce measures to improve outcomes. The Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA) is an alliance of seven conservation organizations to support IRF with the implementation of the Chitwan Declaration. URSA has developed a global five-year action plan to accomplish lasting transformation to create a professional, responsible, and accountable ranger workforce that is properly valued, led, and supported. URSA itself and the action plan provide a global platform for individual conservation professionals, rangers, conservation organizations, and ranger employers to work together in supporting rangers-the first responders responsible for maintaining the health of the planet.