An African perspective to biodiversity conservation in the 21st century
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Africa boasts high biodiversity while also being home to some of the largest and fastest-growing human populations. Although the current environmental footprint of Africa is low compared to other continents, the population of Africa is estimated at around 1.5 billion inhabitants, representing nearly 18% of the world's total population. Consequently, Africa’s rich biodiversity is under threat, yet only 19% of the landscape and 17% of the seascape are under any form of protection. To effectively address this issue and align with the Convention on Biological Diversity's ambitious ‘30 by 30’ goal, which seeks to protect 30% of the world's land and oceans by 2030, substantial funding and conservation measures are urgently required. In response to this critical challenge, as scientists and conservationists working in Africa, we propose five recommendations for future directions aimed at enhancing biodiversity conservation for the betterment of African society: (i) accelerate data collection, data sharing and analytics for informed policy and decision making; (ii) innovate education and capacity building for future generations; (iii) enhance and expand protected areas, ecological networks, and foundational legal frameworks; (iv) unlock creative funding channels for cutting-edge conservation initiatives; and (v) integrate indigenous and local knowledge into forward-thinking conservation strategies. By implementing these recommendations, we believe Africa can make significant strides towards preserving its unique biodiversity, while fostering a healthier society, and contributing to global conservation efforts.
Date Issued
2025-01-09
Date Acceptance
2024-08-16
Citation
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2025, 380 (1917)
ISSN
0962-8436
Publisher
The Royal Society
Journal / Book Title
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume
380
Issue
1917
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s).
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2023.0443
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
20230443
Date Publish Online
2025-01-09