Assessment and prioritization of cultural ecosystem services in the Sahara-Sahelian region

Frederico Santarém; Jarkko Saarinen; José Carlos Brito

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146053

Assessment and prioritization of cultural ecosystem services in the Sahara-Sahelian region

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 10:777:146053. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146053. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Authors

Frederico Santarém¹, Jarkko Saarinen², José Carlos Brito³

Affiliations

¹ CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, R. Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Departamento de Biologia da Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: fredericosantarem@cibio.up.pt.
² Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland; School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³ CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, R. Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Departamento de Biologia da Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.

PMID: 33684754
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146053

Abstract

Desert environments remain largely neglected by the society and their potential to provide benefits to people remain understudied. Hotspots of cultural ecosystem services have been identified in some deserts; yet, knowing which countries need to strengthen efforts to satisfy people's demand for those services is timely needed. Here, we show the performance of countries within the Earth's largest warm region - the Sahara-Sahel - in managing cultural ecosystem services. Using the most-advanced decision-support tools and updated databases on biodiversity features and constrains to ecosystem services and on socioeconomic indicators, we identified national priorities for cultural services management. We also identified countries that are missing opportunities for local sustainable development. About 34% of Sahara-Sahel is prioritized for cultural ecosystem services, particularly in the main mountains and waterbodies of the region and along the Western and Eastern coastal limits. Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia are performing better in managing their cultural services given the availability of such services in their territories. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, and South Sudan need to urgently improve their ease of mobility, governance, safety, socioeconomic and health systems to foster ecosystem services demand. Cameroon, Eritrea, and Senegal are receiving far less tourists than what their ecosystems can handle and need to improve their local conditions for better marketing international tourists able to economically contribute to sustainable development through ecotourism programs. The approach developed here serves as a framework for conserving the last world wild ecosystems and is replicable to other contexts where regional planning for ecosystem management is compulsory.

Keywords: Cultural ecosystem services; Maximum Likelihood Classification; Principal component analysis; Sahara-Sahelian region; Socio-economic analyses; Sustainable development.