Urbanization in Africa: challenges and opportunities for conservation

Abstract

Africa, a continent exceptionally rich in biodiversity, is rapidly urbanizing. Africa's urbanization is manifest in the growth of its megacities as well as that of its smaller towns and cities. The conservation planning and practice will increasingly need to account for direct and indirect impacts of the continent's urbanization. The objective of our study is to pinpoint the outstanding challenges and opportunities afforded by the growing cities on the continent to the conservation goals and practices. While there have been many studies on the impacts of urbanization and development on conservation in Africa these studies tended to focus on specific issues. Here, we provide a synthesis of this body of work supported by new analysis. Urban areas, growing both in population and in land cover, pose threats to the integrity of the continent's ecosystems and biodiversity but their growth also create opportunities for conservation. The burgeoning urban populations, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, increase the strain on already insufficient infrastructure and bring new governance challenges. Yet, Africa's ecosystems can serve as foundations for green infrastructure to serve the needs of its urban populations while safeguarding fragile biodiversity. Overall, while worsening social problems overshadow the concerns for biodiversity there are also promising initiatives to bring these concerns into the fold to address social, institutional, and ecological challenges that emerge with the continued urbanization of the continent.

Ecosystem services potential for climate change resilience in peri-urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…The situation is further worsened by unparalleled levels of population growth (Maconachie 2016;Roberts et al 2012). Nearly 90% of the world's urban population currently resides in low-and middle-income countries, mainly in Africa and Asia (Lowe et al 2009;Laros and Jones 2014;Birch 2016); simultaneously, rapid urbanization is already occurring in SSA (Radford and James 2013;Güneralp et al 2017). In fact, some cities in East Africa have a population doubling time of 10-15 years (UNECA 2014).…”

“…However, risks in a rapidly urbanizing world are increasingly associated with the effects of climate change on urban and peri-urban areas given the massive ecosystem degradation resulting from rapid peri-urban sprawl (IPCC 2014). Rapid urbanization subjects people and ecosystems to risk and effectively urbanizes the poverty, climate change and ecosystem challenge (Roberts et al 2012;Güneralp et al 2017). Climate change impacts on urban and peri-urban areas threaten longterm economic development and human well-being (IPCC 2014) and further complicate and challenge the global imperatives of sustainable development and the new urban agenda (Jones et al 2012;Munroe et al 2012).…”

Mapping the availability of bushmeat for consumption in Central African cities

“…Africa's urban population is expected to more than triple over 40 years, from 395 million in 2010 to 1.339 billion in 2050, corresponding to 21% of the world's projected urban population (Güneralp et al 2017), and Africa has the fastest rate of urbanization in the world. Much of the increase in urban population is taking place in small-and medium-sized provincial towns in midlatitude Africa, as rural youth leave to seek a better life (Lwasa 2014).…”

AVAILABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL LAND AND FULFILLMENT OF POPULATION FOOD NEEDS IN URBAN REGION (Case Study of Pekalongan City, Tengah Jawa)

“…The use of land with a low value of land rent will have the potential to shift functions to uses that have a higher rental value. In addition, the increase in population, and the high flow of urbanization also contributed to the conversion of agricultural land, especially agricultural land in the city area (Guneralp, Lwasa, Masundire, Parnell, & Seto, 2017;Jiang & Zhang, 2016). The Increasing the number of residents followed by an increase in the land need for settlements.…”