Conservation overstretch and long‐term decline of wildlife and tourism in the Central African savannas

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 . 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.

Importance of private and communal lands to sustainable conservation of Africa's rhinoceroses

“…This potential trade-off on private land becomes especially pertinent when considered in light of limited state budgets for conservation. Funding shortfalls impede the expansion of staterun parks and can result in existing parks being poorly managed and ineffective (Craigie et al 2010;Lindsey et al 2021;Scholte et al 2022). Many African state parks attempt to increase funds through wildlife-based tourism and consumptive wildlife uses (Snyman et al 2021).…”

“…2021; Scholte et al . 2022). Many African state parks attempt to increase funds through wildlife‐based tourism and consumptive wildlife uses (Snyman et al .…”

Beyond the Big Five and Birds: Divergent ecotourism perspectives in rapidly changing Africa

“…(formally) advising against travel, invalidating, amongst other things, travel insurance policies (Figure 1). In WCH Africa, once flourishing ecotourism sites such as Waza National Park (Cameroon) have collapsed, with only trophy hunting keeping up in the region (Scholte, 2021; Scholte et al ., 2022).…”

Fifteen years of delegated protected area management in West and Central Africa: five recommendations to guide maturity

“…Although delegated management partnerships are often praised for the resources made available for the development of community infrastructure (e.g. schools, clinics, water points), maintaining good personal relations with communities is considered much weaker (Scholte et al, 2021a). The contracting of the private partner has sometimes caused a break with well-established teams that had built decade-long relations with local communities.…”

“…West and Central Africa have been confronted with a long-term decline of large mammal populations in their national parks (Craigie et al, 2010; Scholte, 2021b). Among the drivers of these declines are low levels of funding, generally < 10% of estimated needs (Lindsey et al, 2018), highly centralized management (Scholte et al, 2018), and instability as a result of insecurity and poor governance (Bauer et al, 2021).…”