Biodiversity and ecosystem services on the African continent – What is changing, and what are our options?

Archer, Emma; Dziba, Luthando; Mulongoy, K.; Maoela, Malebajoa A.; Walters, Michéle; Biggs, Reinette; Salem, M-C Cormier; DeClerck, Fabrice; Diaw, Mariteuw Chimère; Dunham, Arthur E.; Failler, Pierre; Gordon, Chris; Harhash, Khaled Allam; Kasisi, Robert; Kizito, Fred; Nyingi, Wanja Dorothy; Oguge, Nicholas; Osman-Elasha, Balgis; Stringer, Lindsay C.; Morais, Luis Tito de; Assogbadjo, Achille Ephrem; Egoh, B.; Halmy, Marwa Waseem A.; Heubach, Katja; Mensah, Adelina; Pereira, Laura; Sitas, Nadia

doi:10.1016/j.envdev.2020.100558

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Parties therefore need to catalyse much stronger actions for sectoral integration. Such integration is needed as biodiversity conservation, use and benefit sharing must be dynamic, linked and adaptive at all scales (Archer et al, 2021; Failler et al, 2020), including through the provision of appropriate resources. While national plans for biodiversity conservation typically have indicators and review mechanisms for local and national scales, a more regular international review mechanism will encourage parties to discover what is and what is not working (cf.…”

Section: Six Foci and Actions To Reshape The Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

TheCBDPost‐2020 biodiversity framework: People's place within the rest of nature

et al. 2022

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Recognizing two decades of failure to achieve global goals and targets, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are in the final phase of negotiating a Post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework for the conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing of biodiversity. The framework attempts to set out pathways, goals and targets for the next decade to achieve positive biodiversity change. This perspective intends to help that framework set people firmly as part of nature, not apart from it. Despite work done so far through four meetings, new thinking and focus is still needed on ‘what’ changes must be conceptualized and implemented, and ‘how’ those changes are to be delivered. To help achieve that new thinking, as a broad range of people, many with a focus on aquatic systems, we highlight six key foci that offer potential to strengthen delivery of the framework and break the ‘business as usual’ logjam. These foci are as follows: (i) a reframing of the narrative of ‘people's relationship with the rest of nature’ and emphasize the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in delivering positive biodiversity change; (ii) moving beyond a focus on species and places by prioritizing ecosystem function and resilience; (iii) supporting a diversity of top‐down and bottom‐up governance processes; (iv) embracing new technologies to make and measure progress; (v) linking business more effectively with biodiversity and (vi) leveraging the power of international agencies and programmes. Given they are linked to a greater or lesser degree, implementing these six foci together will lead to a much‐needed broadening of the framework, especially those of business and broader urban civil society, as well as those of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: Six Foci and Actions To Reshape The Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

TheCBDPost‐2020 biodiversity framework: People's place within the rest of nature

et al. 2022

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“…Africa's biodiversity faces unprecedented environmental challenges. Already, 20% of Africa's land surface (6.6 million km 2 ), an area twice the size of India, is degraded and projections suggest that by 2100 more than half of Africa's bird and mammal species could be lost (Archer et al, 2018). In addition, Africa's human population is set to quadruple by 2100 (Gerland et al, 2014; UN, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigating crop raiding by forest elephants and baboons at Kibale National Park

et al. 2022

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In Africa, most protected forests are in densely human‐dominated landscapes where human–wildlife conflict is intense. We documented farmer perceptions and responses to crop‐raiding wildlife from Kibale National Park, Uganda. Crop raiding was mostly (95%) by baboons (Papio anubis) and elephants (Loxodonta africana). While the financial loss caused by baboons and elephants did not differ, elephants were perceived as more damaging. Guarding and trenches were perceived as the most effective deterrent strategies for baboons and elephants, respectively. Distance from the park boundary and household income were significantly associated with a greater likelihood of crop raiding. Distance from the park, household head age and the species that raided crops, influenced whether a household applied one or more deterrent strategies. Households headed by women or older adults were most vulnerable, experiencing greater losses to raiding. Patterns of human–wildlife conflict around Kibale forest are complex, but the extent of crop damage was mostly determined by distance from the park and farm socio‐economic status and thus their ability to mitigate or deter raiding. Managing crop raiding requires collaboration between the park and affected farmers to ensure that mutually managed deterrent methods, such as trenching (elephants) and guarding (baboons), are effectively shared, applied and maintained.

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“…Africa's rapid economic development, population growth, and associated needs for access to natural resources, in particular where a large section of poverty-driven population remains highly dependent on such resources for their livelihoods and survival, comes at a cost to the continent's rich natural capital. Deforestation rates are increasing, particularly in nations with dry forests [11], wildlife populations are declining and becoming more isolated [4], and marine and freshwater fish stocks are plummeting [12][13][14]. Mega infrastructure projects are penetrating previously remote areas, catalyzing the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, to feed growing local needs and the ever-increasing demands of the global economic system [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large-scale infrastructure: Thirty-three planned or existing transportation corridors exist across the continent that if completed, will total over 53,000 km in length [14].…”

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confidence: 99%

Defining Pathways towards African Ecological Futures

Scheren¹,

Tyrrell

Brehony

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Africa has experienced unprecedented growth across a range of development indices for decades. However, this growth is often at the expense of Africa’s biodiversity and ecosystems, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people depending on the goods and services provided by nature, with broader consequences for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Encouragingly, Africa can still take a more sustainable path. Here, we synthesize the key learnings from the African Ecological Futures project. We report results from a participatory scenario planning process around four collectively-owned scenarios and narratives for the evolution of Africa’s ecological resource base over the next 50 years. These scenarios provided a lens to review pressures on the natural environment, through the drivers, pressures, state, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) framework. Based on the outcomes from each of these steps, we discuss opportunities to reorient Africa’s development trajectories towards a sustainable path. These opportunities fall under the broad categories of “effective natural resource governance”, “strategic planning capabilities”, “investment safeguards and frameworks”, and “new partnership models”. Underpinning all these opportunities are “data, management information, and decision support frameworks”. This work can help inform collaborative action by a broad set of actors with an interest in ensuring a sustainable ecological future for Africa.

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Biodiversity and ecosystem services on the African continent – What is changing, and what are our options?

Cited by 19 publications

References 13 publications

TheCBDPost‐2020 biodiversity framework: People's place within the rest of nature

TheCBDPost‐2020 biodiversity framework: People's place within the rest of nature

Mitigating crop raiding by forest elephants and baboons at Kibale National Park

Defining Pathways towards African Ecological Futures

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