❮ Projects page World Resources Institute

Spatial Analysis Project:

This project seeks to understand the variables that lead to successful conservation efforts in Salonga National Park, the largest protected area of forest in Africa and home to many threatened species, including bonobos and forest elephants. Despite its importance and status as a World Heritage Site, Salonga has been plagued by poaching and poor governance for decades. This project would use socio-economic information collected from communities in and around Salonga to link poverty levels, education and cultural influences of villages to illegal activities in the park, including poaching, forest loss and fire occurrence. Using overlay analysis and spatial statistics, we hope to better understand the factors which lead to conservation threats in protected areas and monitor the success and effectiveness of ongoing conservation efforts. If successful, this project would be scaled to other conservation areas in the Congo Basin where these datasets are also available.

Data available:

We have all of the necessary datasets on hand to support this project. This includes the following data:

• Basic Necessities Surveys administered to local communities
• Illegal activity and wildlife sightings from regular ranger patrols in Salonga National Park (SMART data)
• GIS base layers such as land cover, settlements, roads and rivers
• Weekly forest loss data
• Daily fire activity

Documentation on conservation efforts in Salonga are also available.

Maps and Reports that will be created:

This project would create online and static maps that visualize the link between poverty levels, education, and cultural habits of villages with illegal activities in and around Salonga National Park. This analysis will start with an overlay of all the different variables, focusing on how best to visualize and filter the data. Spatial statistics, such as Geographically Weighted Regression or Emerging Hot Spots would also be used to quantify and further examine the relationship between all variables. Ultimately we would like to synthesize which combination of factors encourage the best conservation practices Salonga and which lead to worsening conditions. This work would be made available on the Landscape Application online portal and depending on timing, we would also ask the fellow to assist with the cartographic design of the portal.

How the maps and reports will be used:

The study and associated web tools will be used by our conservation partners and government authorities to support improved protected area management and biodiversity conservation. Our conservation partners include the African Wildlife Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society, and the World Wildlife Fund, among others. The Landscape Application will be used by these partners to manage data, conduct analyses, communicate results, and inform decision making on protected area management. This project will help our partners to prioritize outreach efforts to Salonga area communities and understand which socio-economic factors have the highest influence on successful conservation efforts.