Evaluation of Protected Areas in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, West Africa, Using a Remote Sensing-Based Approach

This study assesses the representation of defined ecoregions, slope profiles, and species richness of threatened mammals in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-listed protected areas in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. It also evaluates the exposure of protected area categories to the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLand (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 720
Main Authors Singh, Minerva, Massimino, Lorena M., Collins, Catherine Matilda
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2022
Subjects
Agricultural expansion
Anthropogenic factors
Biodiversity
Biodiversity hot spots
biodiversity hotspots
Conservation
Endangered & extinct species
Evaluation
Forests
Habitats
Nature conservation
Protected areas
Remote sensing
Savannahs
Spatial analysis
Species richness
Statistical analysis
Threatened species
West Africa
Wildlife conservation
West Africa
Ghana
Africa
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Summary:This study assesses the representation of defined ecoregions, slope profiles, and species richness of threatened mammals in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-listed protected areas in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. It also evaluates the exposure of protected area categories to the cumulative degree of human modification and their vulnerability to future agricultural expansion. Spatial gap and statistical analyses were performed using quantitative data from publicly available online global databases. Analyses indicated key conservation priorities for both countries: (1) to increase the protection of the Guinean forest–savanna mosaic, West Sudanian savanna, and Eastern Guinean forests, especially of the Eastern Guinean forests’ ecoregion associated with the Guinean forests of the West Africa biodiversity hotspot; (2) to increase the protected area coverage of flat lands and low slopes; and (3) to enhance the size and connectivity of existing protected areas, including restoring degraded habitats. The study emphasizes that improving the ability of tropical protected areas to conserve nature and mitigate anthropogenic threats should be a global conservation priority. Improving the data quality and detail within the World Database on Protected Areas and ground-truthing them are recommended urgently to support accurate and informative assessments.
ISSN:2073-445X
2073-445X
DOI:10.3390/land11050720