Over 80% of Africa's savannah conservation land is failing or deteriorating according to lions as an indicator species

Abstract

Calls to increase the global area under protection for conservation assume existing conservation areas are effective but, without adequate investment, they may not be. We collected survey data from expert respondents on perceived budgets, management, and threats for 516 protected areas and community conservation areas in savannah Africa to create a Conservation Area Performance Index. Combining this index with an indicative biodiversity outcome—population status of African lion, Panthera leo—we found that 82% of the sampled area was in a state of failure or deterioration, with only 10% in a state of success or recovery. A large proportion of succeeding or recovering conservation areas received external support through collaborative management partnerships. That Africa's current conservation area network—the foundation of conservation efforts—is crumbling complicates proposed strategies to protect additional land. We contend that investing in the effective management of existing conservation areas—potentially through well‐structured collaborative management partnerships—should be prioritized urgently.

Socio-economic factors strongly determine megafauna biomass in African savanna protected areas

“…Furthermore, megafauna are generally highly dependent on access to surface water 56,60 , making the importance of our natural drivers in our model ecologically intuitive. Our crosscontinental analysis, however, reiterates that it is unrealistic to still think of PAs as bastions of wildlife conservation, where natural drivers exclusively determine megafauna biomass 29 . This is highlighted by our results demonstrating that megafauna biomass is predominately determined by human drivers, not just within individual protected areas but across Africa's PA network.…”

“…However, this encompasses a range of PAs tasked with conserving savanna megafauna, from community conservancies to extensive and well-funded national parks (e.g., Kruger National Park) 52 . However, these PA types can have significant overlap in management and administrative practises, and PAs in the same categories can have vastly different management aims and capabilities 29 . Future research could address if differences in PA type, when accounting for management capability, differ in their capacity to conserve megafauna.…”

“…Megafauna conservation using (large) PAs is partly based on the assumption that all these natural processes will continue to drive megafauna population dynamics by preventing unsustainable human influences within PA borders 27 . However, recent evidence (<60 years) suggests that human influence is pervasive even within these legally protected areas, causing protracted and severe megafauna population declines and savanna degradation 4,28,29 . Megafauna declines within PAs are frequently attributed to human influences, and related to poverty, poor governance, systemic PA underfunding, and widespread corruption that hinders PA management and undermines conservation efforts [30][31][32][33] .…”

“…Megafauna declines within PAs are frequently attributed to human influences, and related to poverty, poor governance, systemic PA underfunding, and widespread corruption that hinders PA management and undermines conservation efforts [30][31][32][33] . As a result, many PAs are underperforming 29 , and subsequently failing to prevent illegal activities within their borders, such as agricultural expansion 34 , unregulated livestock grazing 35 and wildlife poaching 36,37 . Improved socio-economic conditions (e.g., improving access to alternative livelihoods, benefit sharing, education and healthcare 38 ) are frequently promoted as a solution to reduce unsustainable human impacts within and surrounding PAs, yet evidence of successful interventions is limited 39 .…”

Where have all the lions gone? Establishing realistic baselines to assess decline and recovery of African lions

“…Our analysis suggests that core connected habitat for lions has been continuously eroded since historical times, with ~26% of African countries losing all core habitat since 1970, with increased human impact in current models greatly reducing the ability of lions to move through the landscape, with areas with currently weak or absent connectivity coinciding closely with regions where high risk of human conflict with lions and elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) is predicted (Di Minin et al, 2021). Much of the remaining core habitat for lions is centred on large protected areas and the future of lions and Africa's large mammal diversity depends critically on the management of these protected areas, which are worryingly under‐resourced and many are failing (Lindsey et al, 2018; Robson et al, 2021). As such, securing the protection of African conservation areas through greater investment in protected area management is crucial.…”