Ranking the direct threats to biodiversity in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa benefits from large investments in biodiversity conservation, yet there is no systematic and comprehensive data on which of the many direct threats to biodiversity should be prioritized by donors, governments, and conservation organizations. To identify the priority threats to biodiversity in sub-Saharan Africa, we classified the direct threats to biodiversity using a standardized list of threats categories and data from a Delphi consensus of Africa biodiversity experts, known threats to IUCN Red-listed sub-Saharan African species, and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans from 47 countries. After ranking the threats from each source and averaging the rankings, we found that the highest threats were: annual and perennial crops (non-timber); logging and wood harvesting (natural forests); fishing and harvesting aquatic resources (marine and freshwater); and hunting and collecting terrestrial animals. Within the sub-regions of sub-Saharan Africa there was considerable variation. The highest ranked threat in Central Africa was hunting and trapping terrestrial animals followed by logging/wood harvesting. The highest threat in East Africa was annual and perennial crops followed by fishing and harvesting aquatic resources. The highest threat in Southern Africa was invasive non-native/alien species followed by annual and perennial crops, and in West Africa, annual and perennial crops and logging and wood harvesting were tied as the highest threats. There are known ways to address all of these threats, and concentrating investments targeting these threats while accounting for unique socio-ecological contexts across Africa is essential for the sustained conservation of biodiversity.