Increasing the Economic Value and Contribution of Protected Areas in Africa

The policy brief advocates for a shift in how protected areas (PAs) in Africa are valued, moving beyond biodiversity to include measurable economic contributions. It suggests that integrating ecosystem services into national development planning and adopting innovative financing—such as payment for ecosystem services (PES), carbon offsets, and 'wildlife-friendly' product certifications—can secure investment and improve local livelihoods. The authors emphasize that PAs must be co-managed with local communities to ensure equitable benefit sharing and sustainable resource use.

• Protected areas (PAs) provide a wide array of direct monetary and in-kind benefits, including water, food, fuel provision, eco-tourism, hunting, and bio-prospecting, as well as indirect ecological functions like carbon sequestration, climatic stabilisation, and watershed protection.
• To ensure the sustainability of PAs, governance must involve meaningful engagement and co-management with local resource users to align conservation with local development priorities.
• Integrating the economic value of ecosystem services into national regulatory frameworks and economic planning helps avoid unsustainable trade-offs with sectors such as agriculture, tourism, and water.
• Payment for ecosystem services (PES) and carbon offset mechanisms, such as REDD+, provide financial incentives for the non-market benefits of conservation. An example is the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya, which protects 500,000 acres of forest and provides carbon financing to 100,000 people.
• Revenue from PAs can be increased through public-private partnerships and trust funds. In Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a trust fund distributes approximately 60% of revenue to community projects.
• The development of 'wildlife-friendly' certified products for international markets can generate revenue for conservation in areas where tourism is not viable, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• State-funded restoration and rehabilitation programs in South Africa, such as 'Working for Water', 'Working for Wetlands', and 'Working for Land', created 13,141 temporary jobs for communities near park areas in 2013/14.

APA

Chevallier, R., & Milburn, R. (2015). Increasing the Economic Value and Contribution of Protected Areas in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Policy-Briefing-125.pdf

Chicago

Chevallier, Romy, and Richard Milburn. Increasing the Economic Value and Contribution of Protected Areas in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2015. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Policy-Briefing-125.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chevallier |first1=Romy |last2=Milburn |first2=Richard |title=Increasing the Economic Value and Contribution of Protected Areas in Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=January 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Policy-Briefing-125.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chevallier2015increasing, author = {Chevallier, Romy and Milburn, Richard}, title = {{Increasing the Economic Value and Contribution of Protected Areas in Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Policy-Briefing-125.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }