Integrating wildlife conservation with conflicting economic land-use goals in a West African biodiversity hotspot

摘要: Abstract Half of what remains the ‘Guinean Forests West Africa hotspot’ is located in Liberia. However, only about 2% country officially protected. We systematically identified and evaluated priority areas for protection large mammals biodiversity Liberia under different conservation scenarios. also assessed current proposed protected (PPAs) terms achieving pre-determined targets, determined potential wildlife loss within logging mining concessions. collected nationwide data on chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes verus ) abundance, mammal tree taxonomic diversity, human threats. related these to environmental impact variables develop spatial prediction models that served as base-layers prioritization using MARXAN. improved upon standard software output evaluate properties selected sites, determine site-specific target contributions, estimate The optimal area network contained a candidate list 92 maximized minimized threats, accomplished preservation 30% Liberia's forests. It included more than half Africa's second largest population, which spatially coincided with some most diverse communities. Logging concessions largely overlapped existing PPAs established this study, considerably increased their fragmentation. Existing PPAs, however, partially covered our proved insufficient meeting targets. emphasize need finding balance between development conservation, such through aggregate offsets, use currently being discussed by local government, international investors, NGOs.