Conservation prioritization and planning with limited wildlife data in a Congo Basin forest landscape: assessing human threats and vulnerability to land use change

Determining priority areas for conservation activities in the forests of the Congo Basin is increasingly important in the face of advancing human pressures and deforestation. Since 2004, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has led conservation and land-use planning activities in the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) Landscape located in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We identified four distinct spatial patterns of primary forest conversion in the landscape and compared rates of primary forest loss between 2000-2005 and 2005-2010. Although overall primary forest loss during 2000-2010 was relatively low, nearly two-thirds occurred during the second half of the decade and took place within one kilometer from existing human settlements. We developed a threat-based multi-criteria model addressing relative threats from hunting and habitat degradation using the bonobo (Pan paniscus) as a surrogate species in order to delineate a set of relatively undisturbed forest blocks for potential habitat conservation. Next, we used Corridor Designer to model the connectivity zones between them. Lastly, we compared the amount of primary forest loss taking place in the forest blocks and corridors to target areas for further prioritization. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of recent land use dynamics and conservation priorities to aid conservation planning in the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba area of the Congo Basin.