PMC

Proportion of state versus donor contributions to management funding in 272 of Africa’s PAs with lions. Data excludes South Africa and Chad, for which data were not available on donor and state contributions, respectively.

Associations between funding in 125 of Africa’s PAs with lions and management capacity (A), threats to wildlife (B), vehicles available for patrols (C), and number of staff (D). The 125 PAs are a subset of the 282 state-owned PAs for which both funding and the relevant data were available. Lines indicate the directionality of Pearson correlations.

Annual funding ($/km²) for 282 African PAs with lions (black circles) compared with minimum required need as estimated by the African Parks Network method ($978/km²), our study method ($1,271/km²), and the Packer et al. () method ($2,030/km²). Of the 282 PAs, 249 (88%), 252 (89%), and 266 (94%) failed to meet the minimum benchmarks of the African Parks Network, our study, and Packer et al. methods, respectively.

The most underfunded countries for lion conservation, in terms of total available (A) and median available (B) funding and remaining shortfalls for effective conservation of Africa’s protected areas (PAs) with lions. Median remaining need represents the average percentage of funding needed to meet the estimated required minimum. Minimum required funding and deficits represent lower-end estimates based on the African Parks Network method ($978/km²). See and for the number of deficit PAs in each country, country rankings, and International Organization for Standardization country codes.

Average funding shortfalls for lion conservation in PAs in 23 of 27 lion-range countries. Median remaining need represents the average (median) funding shortfall in PAs, calculated by comparing available funding for PA management to the required funding to effectively conserve lions. Minimum funding requirements were based on three estimation methods: (A) African Parks Network ($978/km² per year), (B) our study method ($1,271/km²), and (C) Packer et al. () method ($2,030/km²). We note that “0% (minimum need funded)” does not imply that all PAs for that country are adequately funded, as PA budgets vary significantly within countries. For example, despite Kenya achieving median funding need, at least 40% of PAs in that country are not sufficiently funded. All assessed countries, except Rwanda, showed at least one PA with deficit. See and SI Appendix, Table S4 for more details on median deficit and the number of PAs with funding shortfalls in each country.