Preserving Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in West African Forest, Watersheds, and Wetlands: A Review of Incentives

Oreoluwa Ola,Emmanuel Benjamin

doi:10.3390/f10060479

Abstract

While biodiversity and ecosystem services derived from the natural environment are the backbones of West African rural livelihood, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, conflicts, and climate change threaten the continued provision of ecosystem services. This threat creates an urgent need to safeguard the integrity of the environment. Evaluating the effectiveness of environmental conservation projects is central towards designing and scaling-up successful conservation projects. Using secondary literature and project reports, we reviewed ongoing and completed conservation projects in the West African sub-region. Scientific work on incentives for ecosystem services in sub-Saharan Africa typically focuses on Southern and Eastern Africa, leaving Western Africa underserved. This study fills this literature gap by compiling lessons from conservation projects in West Africa to offer region-specific incentives that should inform the design of conservation projects in the region. The study shows that the way forward is a holistic, sustainable development approach that mirrors and meets strategies outlined in Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 5, 8, 13, and 17: No Poverty, End Hunger and Promote Sustainable Agriculture, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Climate Action, and Partnerships for the Goals, respectively.

Highlights

Biodiversity is described as a stock of living resources determined by nature as well as, to some extent, human activity [1,2]
The Watershed Markets Database, The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity (TEEB), Forest Trends, Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) websites were consulted for additional information
From the lessons gleaned from the projects, we outline several incentive measures tailored to address region-specific challenges and inform prospective conservation projects in West Africa

Summary

Introduction

Biodiversity is described as a stock of living resources determined by nature as well as, to some extent, human activity [1,2]. Agricultural expansion, overexploitation of biological resources, population explosion, urbanization, and climate change is destroying biodiversity ecosystems [4]. The occurrence of invasive species as well as industrial and pesticide discharge are threatening the quality and volume of native flora and fauna species residing in watersheds and wetlands across sub-Saharan Africa [4,5]. These have degraded and reduced the size of biodiversity hubs in parts of West Africa [3].

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Conclusion