One billion dollars, every year for the foreseeable future is what a recent study estimates it would cost to secure most of Africa’s protected areas that still contain lions.[1]
You might wonder why lions? As an Apex predators, lions are commonly used as a proxy for the health of a protected area. Think of it, they are at the top of the food chain, if there are lions, there are probably herbivores to feed from, which means there is probably plenty of water and plant biodiversity to support the herbivores and so on.
In a recent post, I touched on the challenge that lion breeding farms and canned hunting pose to the survival of lions in the wild. The reality is that habitat loss and poorly managed protected areas are the main culprit behind increasing lion and other wildlife population declines.
Protected areas are the cornerstone of conservation, yet about 80% of all protected areas are underfunded. Shortfalls in funding, combined with increasing human population growth, have resulted in poorly managed protected areas. Unfunded protected areas are the perfect target for poachers. Simply, rangers need money to run their operations. The lack of protection also opens the opportunity to other activities as ilegal mining and deforestation that have devastating consequences on the ecosystems’ health.
The majority of the areas at risk are spread out or are too small, but even large, emblematic parks are at risk if proper planning (and funding) is not put in place. For instance, the Tanzanian government is considering building a highway that would bisect the Serengeti National Park! Imagine the impact it would have on the ecosystem and on the migration patterns of over 1.5 million zebras and 300‘000 wildebeests!
Source: Conservation Alliance of Kenya
Interconnection of smaller protected areas seems to be part of the solution. Identifying wildlife corridors and protecting them could have a larger impact on biodiversity and ecosystem health [2].
Protecting the parks will not only support emblematic species like lions, elephants, giraffes and rhinos. It would also secure the future of millions of people.
Well managed and funded protected areas provide essential benefits to the communities living nearby:
1. They provide clean water and other natural resources, which can reduce poverty, promote human health, and improve the well-being of rural communities.
2. Promote wildlife-based tourism: In the Sub-Saharan region, tourism generates an estimated $34 billion annually and directly creates six million jobs!!!
3. Diversify their revenue: Revenues from tourism might offer an opportunity to reduce reliance on finite resources such as minerals, agriculture and livestock, which are vulnerable to climate change.
4. Reduce CO2 emissions from deforestation, improving our chances to fight climate change.
The benefits to both wildlife and people are evident, but is $1 billion a year even a possibility?
To answer the question, we must put things into perspective. Africa receives around $51 billion a year from multilateral organization and foreign governments to contribute to its development. If we think of development as the establishment of foundations for improved quality of life of a nation, then a 2% of that budget ($1 billion) can be justified.
In this context, raising additional $1 billion dollar might not be as difficult. From transforming poorly managed protected areas into conservation areas for wildlife tourism, to the potential creation of community tourism conservancies and the implementation of creative sustainable finance, one thing is clear, there has never been a better opportunity to invest in the future of humanity than today…
[1] Lindsey, P. & Miller, Jennifer & Petracca, Lisanne & Coad, Lauren & Dickman, Amy & Fitzgerald, Kathleen & Flyman, Michael & Funston, Paul & Henschel, Philipp & Kasiki, Samuel & Knights, Kathryn & Loveridge, Andrew & Macdonald, David & Mandisodza-Chikerema, Roseline & Nazerali, Sean & Plumptre, Andrew & Stevens, Riko & Van Zyl, Hugo & Hunter, Luke. (2018). More than $1 billion needed annually to secure Africa’s protected areas with lions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115. 201805048. 10.1073/pnas.1805048115.
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