Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa
The forests of Central Africa contain some of Earth’s few remaining intact forests. These forests are increasingly threatened by infrastructure development, agriculture, and unsustainable extraction of natural resources (e.g. minerals, bushmeat, and timber), all of which is leading to deforestation...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9fae |
| _version_ | 1797747848691843072 |
|---|---|
| author | H S Grantham A Shapiro D Bonfils V Gond E Goldman F Maisels A J Plumptre T Rayden J G Robinson S Strindberg E Stokes A I T T Tulloch J E M Watson L Williams O Rickenbach |
| author_facet | H S Grantham A Shapiro D Bonfils V Gond E Goldman F Maisels A J Plumptre T Rayden J G Robinson S Strindberg E Stokes A I T T Tulloch J E M Watson L Williams O Rickenbach |
| author_sort | H S Grantham |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The forests of Central Africa contain some of Earth’s few remaining intact forests. These forests are increasingly threatened by infrastructure development, agriculture, and unsustainable extraction of natural resources (e.g. minerals, bushmeat, and timber), all of which is leading to deforestation and forest degradation, particularly defaunation, and hence causing declines in biodiversity and a significant increase in carbon emissions. Given the pervasive nature of these threats, the global importance of Central African forests for biodiversity conservation, and the limited resources for conservation and sustainable management, there is a need to identify where the most important areas are to orientate conservation efforts. We developed a novel approach for identifying spatial priorities where conservation efforts can maximize biodiversity benefits within Central Africa’s most intact forest areas. We found that the Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest amount of priority areas in the region, containing more than half, followed by Gabon, the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. We compared our approach to one that solely prioritizes forest intactness and one that aims to achieve only biodiversity representation objectives. We found that when priorities are only based on forest intactness (without considering biodiversity representation), there are significantly fewer biodiversity benefits and vice versa. We therefore recommend multi-objective planning that includes biodiversity representation and forest intactness to ensure that both objectives are maximized. These results can inform various types of conservation strategies needed within the region, including land-use planning, jurisdictional REDD + initiatives, and performance related carbon payments, protected area expansion, community forest management, and forest concession plans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-369ebf56346a4a86ad4c7199433d840b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-369ebf56346a4a86ad4c7199433d840b2023-08-09T14:52:51ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-011590940b510.1088/1748-9326/ab9faeSpatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central AfricaH S Grantham0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-807XA Shapiro1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9693-9394D Bonfils2V Gond3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0080-3140E Goldman4F Maisels5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0778-0615A J Plumptre6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9333-4047T Rayden7J G Robinson8S Strindberg9https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4634-8593E Stokes10A I T T Tulloch11J E M Watson12L Williams13O Rickenbach14Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of AmericaWorld Wide Fund for Nature Germany, Space+Science , Berlin, GermanyWorld Resources Institute (WRI) , Washington, DC, United States of AmericaCIRAD, Forêts et Sociétés , F-34398, Montpellier, France; Forêts et Sociétés, Université Montpellier, CIRAD , Montpellier, FranceWorld Resources Institute (WRI) , Washington, DC, United States of AmericaWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of America; Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling , Stirling, United KingdomKBA Secretariat, c/o BirdLife International, David Attenborough Building , Pembroke Street, Cambridge, United KingdomWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of AmericaWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of AmericaWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of AmericaWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of AmericaWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of America; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland , Brisbane, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney , Sydney, AustraliaWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) , Bronx, New York, United States of America; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland , Brisbane, AustraliaWorld Resources Institute (WRI) , Washington, DC, United States of AmericaForest Stewardship Council (FSC) , Brazzaville, CongoThe forests of Central Africa contain some of Earth’s few remaining intact forests. These forests are increasingly threatened by infrastructure development, agriculture, and unsustainable extraction of natural resources (e.g. minerals, bushmeat, and timber), all of which is leading to deforestation and forest degradation, particularly defaunation, and hence causing declines in biodiversity and a significant increase in carbon emissions. Given the pervasive nature of these threats, the global importance of Central African forests for biodiversity conservation, and the limited resources for conservation and sustainable management, there is a need to identify where the most important areas are to orientate conservation efforts. We developed a novel approach for identifying spatial priorities where conservation efforts can maximize biodiversity benefits within Central Africa’s most intact forest areas. We found that the Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest amount of priority areas in the region, containing more than half, followed by Gabon, the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. We compared our approach to one that solely prioritizes forest intactness and one that aims to achieve only biodiversity representation objectives. We found that when priorities are only based on forest intactness (without considering biodiversity representation), there are significantly fewer biodiversity benefits and vice versa. We therefore recommend multi-objective planning that includes biodiversity representation and forest intactness to ensure that both objectives are maximized. These results can inform various types of conservation strategies needed within the region, including land-use planning, jurisdictional REDD + initiatives, and performance related carbon payments, protected area expansion, community forest management, and forest concession plans.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9faeforest intactnessbiodiversityconservation planningCongo Basin |
| spellingShingle | H S Grantham A Shapiro D Bonfils V Gond E Goldman F Maisels A J Plumptre T Rayden J G Robinson S Strindberg E Stokes A I T T Tulloch J E M Watson L Williams O Rickenbach Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa Environmental Research Letters forest intactness biodiversity conservation planning Congo Basin |
| title | Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa |
| title_full | Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa |
| title_fullStr | Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa |
| title_short | Spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within Central Africa |
| title_sort | spatial priorities for conserving the most intact biodiverse forests within central africa |
| topic | forest intactness biodiversity conservation planning Congo Basin |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9fae |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hsgrantham spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT ashapiro spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT dbonfils spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT vgond spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT egoldman spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT fmaisels spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT ajplumptre spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT trayden spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT jgrobinson spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT sstrindberg spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT estokes spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT aitttulloch spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT jemwatson spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT lwilliams spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica AT orickenbach spatialprioritiesforconservingthemostintactbiodiverseforestswithincentralafrica |