Poorer countries contribute more to wildlife conservation
Biodiversity is a higher priority in poorer areas such as the African nations, a new research based on data from 152 countries reveals. Researchers found that despite facing a number of domestic challenges, such as poverty and political instability in many parts of the continent, Africa prioritised wildlife preservation, and contribute more to conservation than any other region of the world.
Working in partnership with Panthera, the only organisation dedicated to protecting wild cats, researchers from Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) found that in comparison to the more affluent, developed world, biodiversity is a higher priority in poorer areas such as the African nations, which contribute more to conservation than any other region. Led by Panthera Research Associate Dr Peter Lindsey, the team created a Mega-Fauna Conservation Index (MCI) of 152 nations, to evaluate their conservation footprint.
The findings show that poorer countries tend to take a more active approach to biodiversity protection than richer nations. Ninety per cent of countries in North and Central America and 70 per cent of countries in Africa were classified as major or above-average in their mega-fauna conservation efforts.
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“Every country should strive to do more to protect its wildlife. Our index provides a measure of how well each country is doing, and sets a benchmark for nations that are performing below the average level, to understand the kind of contributions they need to make as a minimum. There is a strong case for countries where mega-fauna species have been historically persecuted, to assist their recovery,” Professor David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU and co-author of the paper, said.
Human impact continues to have a devastating effect on the natural world, with wildlife species across the globe under threat from poaching, hunting and the consequences of climate change. Recent studies indicate that 59% of the world’s largest carnivores and 60% of the largest herbivores are currently threatened with extinction.
At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, developed nations promised to allocate at least $2 billion per annum towards conservation in developing nations. However, current conservation contributions from developed nations sit at just half of the proposed amount, $1.1 billion per year.
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