京津冀地区物种多样性保护优先区识别研究

着力扩大环境容量和生态空间，加强跨区环境保护合作，是落实京津冀一体化协同发展国家战略的重要内容。摸清京津冀地区的生物多样性分布格局，可为国家公园布局、生态环境保护工程的实施提供依据。根据"自然保护区生物多样性保护价值评估技术规程（LY/T 2649-2016）"，基于京津冀地区自然保护区的综合科学考察报告，评估了京津冀地区典型自然保护区的物种多样性保护价值，并以其为因变量，以自然保护区的综合地形地貌为自变量，构建多元回归模型，同时以自然保护区的平均面积为基准，利用ArcGIS的创建"渔网"功能，将京津冀地区划分为1638个网格单元，利用构建的多元回归模型评估了这些网格单元的保护价值。结果表明：京津冀地区国家级自然保护区的保护价值平均得分为204分，比参评的全部35个自然保护区的平均分高40分；在省级自然保护区中也存在一些得分较高的自然保护区，如，唐海湿地自然保护区和河北南大港自然保护区，且超过了参评国家级自然保护区保护价值得分的平均值。京津冀地区的物种多样性保护优先区总面积为36791.35 km²，占京津冀地区总面积的16.94%，其中一级保护优先区面积4611.57 km²，二级保护优先区面积16045.79 km²，三级保护优先区面积16133.98 km²。这些区域主要分布在河北省和北京市的北部地区，区域内绝大部分以森林植被和灌丛植被为主。建议在未来的国家公园布局、生态环境保护工程布局中重点考虑这些地区。     

珠穆朗玛峰保护地生态系统文化服务空间分布及评价

珠穆朗玛峰保护地是全球重要的生态保护地和享誉世界的生态旅游目的地,开展该区域的生态系统文化服务研究将有助于了解人与环境相互作用产生的无形价值收益。通过近10年的实地调查,结合网络大数据采集,建立了覆盖珠峰南北坡6个保护地的生态系统文化服务POI数据库,合计116处18个类型。运用生态系统服务制图、线性回归模型等方法,开展研究区文化服务POI空间分布特点分析及评价。研究表明：（1）珠峰北坡保护地的文化服务POI共76处,定日县占总数的73.68%,珠峰南坡保护地的文化服务POI共40处,萨加玛塔国家公园占总数的67.5%,珠峰自然保护区定日县境内和尼泊尔萨加玛塔国家公园是珠峰南北坡保护地文化服务POI的集中区域,文化服务POI在珠峰保护区核心区和尼泊尔国家公园占57.75%,珠峰南北坡保护地的核心区域也是文化服务价值最高的区域;（2）文化服务价值排序为美学价值（280分） > 经济价值（213分） > 信仰价值（200分） > 治疗价值（188分） > 游憩价值（169分）,为游客提供精神享受的美学价值是该区域提供的最重要的文化服务价值类型;（3）通过高程、NDVI和坡度3个环境因子与116个文化服务POI进行皮尔森显著性检验,高程与文化服务总价值呈现高相关性（P=0.004）。通过回归关系计算,高程与美学价值、生命可持续价值、生计价值等回归结果可信度较高。文化服务价值及其各个方面受高程因子的影响最为显著。研究结果为进一步开展生态系统服务研究,促进中国-尼泊尔在珠峰南北坡保护地的可持续发展,推进第三极生态安全屏障建设提供科学支持。     

松嫩平原苍鹭秋季栖息地选择及适宜性分布

苍鹭（Ardea cinerea）是松嫩平原湿地的常见鸟种,松嫩平原也是苍鹭重要的栖息地。为了了解苍鹭潜在栖息地的适宜性分布,利用GPS/GSM卫星跟踪技术,结合遥感影像和地理信息系统,应用Maxent模型对松嫩平原苍鹭秋季潜在的栖息地进行了评价,并对其适宜性分布进行了分析。结果显示：水源距离和绿度指数是影响松嫩平原苍鹭秋季栖息地适宜性的重要环境变量;松嫩平原内苍鹭适宜栖息地面积为2761.06 km²（占研究区域的1.24%）,主要分布在大庆（756.86 km²,占适宜栖息地面积的27.41%）、白城（537.14 km²,占适宜栖息地面积的19.45%）、齐齐哈尔（439.43 km²,占适宜栖息地面积的15.92%）等地市行政区,以大庆市杜尔伯特蒙古族自治县（429.90 km²,占适宜栖息地面积的15.57%）、白城市镇赉县（334.92 km²,占适宜栖息地面积的12.13%）、大庆市肇源县（185.54 km²,占适宜栖息地面积的6.72%）等县级行政区为主;其中,15.79%的适宜栖息地依次受到莫莫格保护区（10.34%）、扎龙保护区（3.47%）、向海保护区（0.67%）、查干湖保护区（0.54%）、大布苏保护区（0.41%）、乌裕尔河保护区（0.36%）等国家级自然保护区的保护。建议对未受到保护的零星小面积栖息地给与更多关注。     

基于MaxEnt模型的四川王朗国家级自然保护区蓝马鸡栖息地适宜性评价

明确野生动物栖息地的空间分布格局和影响因子,是有效的栖息地管理和物种保护的基础。基于王朗国家级自然保护区自2001至2018年间的野外调查记录,首次使用MaxEnt模型对蓝马鸡（Crossoptilon auritum）栖息地适宜性进行了分析和评价。结果显示：（1）地形特征和极端时期的气候是影响蓝马鸡栖息地适宜性的主要环境因子,年最低温高于-14.4℃、海拔约2430-3100 m、坡度小于40°、靠近河流且最干月降水低于4.4 mm的区域属于蓝马鸡的适宜栖息地;（2）保护区内共有蓝马鸡栖息地102.28 km²,约占保护区总面积的三分之一,其中适宜栖息地面积59.41 km²,次适宜栖息地面积42.87 km²,为该物种提供了面积巨大且连通性极好的栖息地;（3）在不适宜蓝马鸡分布的区域,海拔过高和最干月降水量较大是限制其栖息地适宜性的主要环境因子。目前保护区内主要的人为干扰类型是牦牛和马匹的放牧活动,并且放牧强度和区域有扩大趋势,潜在威胁着蓝马鸡种群及其栖息地。因此,基于模型结果和野外调查,为避免保护区内蓝马鸡栖息地的退化和破碎化,提出了控制放牧数量和面积、增强对放牧人员的宣传教育以及定期监测河流水质的保护建议,以期促进蓝马鸡的种群和栖息地保护。     

长江经济带自然保护地边界重叠关系及整合对策分析

我国自然保护地类型多样,级别成体系,但由于我国自然保护地一直存在多头管理、权限不清等原因,导致边界混乱、重叠严重。对我国自然保护地空间分布和重叠情况进行梳理是构建以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系的重要基础,能为我国新型自然保护地的科学选址和优化整合提供有效依据。长江经济带作为我国生态、生活、生产均十分重要的区域,其生态保护具有重要的屏障作用。收集了长江经济带11省份建设开展较成熟的6类自然保护地矢量边界2383个,通过构建重叠关系模型,深入分析了不同类型自然保护地间的边界重叠关系,并针对重叠情况提出系统化对策,结果表明：（1）保护地之间具有重叠关系的数量达1296个,占已获取保护地边界总数的54.4%;重叠部分面积达29728.4 km²,占已获取自然保护地总面积的11.4%;总体呈现为西部重叠面积大、数量多,中部重叠数量多,东部重叠面积小的特点。（2）从重叠区域看,有一次重叠区域的保护地有1138组,有两次重叠区域的有249组,有三次重叠区域的有17组,无四次及以上重叠区域。（3）从重叠关系看,与其他5个及以上保护地有重叠的保护地有56个。（4）通过对重叠区域和关系的分析与政策研究,提出针对不同重叠特性的整合对策,包括勘界调整、合并和类型整合等,并将重叠热点区域提取,以期为自然保护地整合和国家公园建设提供数据支撑,为当前中国自然保护地体系改革的紧迫需求提供参考。     

基于多源数据空间分析的国家公园管控分区研究——以钱江源国家公园体制试点区为例

《关于建立以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系的指导意见》提出国家公园实行管控分区的要求，以便实现国家公园最严格保护目标。然而，国家公园管控分区评价的指标尚不明确，以浙江钱江源国家公园体制试点区（以下简称"钱江源国家公园"）为研究对象，采用层次分析法从基础环境（包括高程、植被指数、交通道路影响和基本农田）、重点野生动植物分布（野生动植物、黑麂生境适宜性和白颈长尾雉生境适宜性）、自然资源保护基础（古田山国家级自然保护区、钱江源国家森林公园、钱江源风景名胜区和生态公益林）和生态现状（生态功能适宜性评价、自然资源承载力、三区三线和土地利用现状）等指标构建多源数据空间分析指标体系，利用空间叠加分析技术获取钱江源国家公园的管控分区结果，并与管控分区最终结果进行对比分析。结果表明：（1）基于多源数据的方法能有效地识别钱江源国家公园内生态保护价值较高区域；（2）多源数据空间分析结果与最终管控分区结果对比显示，其总体精度为78.07%（197.70 km²），在核心保护区精度为83.55%（127.99 km²），一般控制区精度为69.67%（69.71 km²）；（3）影响精度主要原因是新调入区域基础数据不足，以及通过定性分析解决管控分区破碎化等。研究认为基于多源空间数据分析技术能够客观、高效地划分国家公园管控分区，具有一定普适性，但仍需通过增加数据数量或优化算法提高精度。     

大熊猫国家公园四川片区自然保护地空间关系对大熊猫分布的影响

理清自然保护地的空间关系与分布格局是加强空间管控、整合优化自然保护地体系的基础。以大熊猫国家公园四川片区内的自然保护地为案例,基于ArcGIS空间数据的处理、分析与可视化表达等功能,结合韦恩(Venn)图在空间层面上量化分析了公园范围内各类自然保护地的空间关系,并进一步揭示了不同保护情景下大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)的分布格局。研究结果表明:(1)研究区内含有6类自然保护地,占研究区总面积的75.13%,其中40.68%为交叉重叠区域。(2)各类自然保护地皆存在大面积的交叉重叠。自然保护区为研究区面积最大的自然保护地类型,占自然保护地总面积的72.53%,其中45.89%为交叉重叠区域;其他类自然保护地占自然保护地总面积的60.87%,其中66.48%为交叉重叠区域。(3)猫点密度与自然保护地的交叉重叠程度呈现逆向增长趋势,区域的重叠水平越高,猫点密度越低。(4)自然保护地整体非重叠区的猫点密度高于重叠区。自然保护区是整体猫点密度最高的自然保护地类型,其非重叠区密度明显高于重叠区;森林公园非重叠区与水利风景区重叠区呈现较高的猫点密度。(5)与自然保护区交叉重叠的自然保护地中,位于自然保护区的猫点密度远高于其他重叠区。由此可见,大熊猫国家公园四川片区内原有自然保护地体系体量大但空间关系复杂,不同区域间的保护效能既不平衡也不充分。建议将研究区内自然保护区的非重叠区、位于自然保护区的世界遗产地区域、森林公园的非重叠区以及水利风景区的重叠区等作为大熊猫的核心保护区,施行严格保护;将自然保护区的重叠区、世界遗产地的其他区域作为生态保育区,恢复受损退化的大熊猫栖息地及所在的自然生态系统;将其他区域作为一般控制区,在有效维护大熊猫种群及其栖息地的前提下适度开展人为活动。同时,建议对空间重叠和邻近相接的区域开展科学评估,明确自然保护地的唯一属性。另一方面,我们期待健全自然保护地管理体制,统筹自然保护地的空间布局,为以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系建设"松体制之绑"。     

基于生态安全格局的山水林田湖草生态保护与修复

山水林田湖草生命共同体理论认为：生态要素之间存在普遍联系。在生态安全格局构建中,也应着重维护生态过程的完整性与连通性。以宁波市下辖6个城区为研究区,基于山水林田湖草生命共同体理论构建生态安全格局,以景观连通性评价与栖息地质量评价为基础提取生态源地,确定生态保育区。选取地形、地类因子分别作不同距离的缓冲区分析,对由土地利用类型设定的基础阻力面进行修正,形成综合阻力面。通过最小累积阻力模型识别生态廊道,与生态保育区结合,构建宁波市点-线-面的生态安全格局。研究结果表明：生态源地面积47.24 km²,占研究区总面积的1.30%,生态源地分布较为分散,在东西方向上分布不均衡,生态保育区总面积1191.67 km²,占研究区总面积的32.83%。生态保育区与山地丘陵重合度较高,且植被覆盖度高,生态资源丰富,生态廊道总长度519.32 km。研究区生态廊道呈网状分布,有效的促进物质能量的流动。在阻力面设定中引入邻域分析方法,突出了不同生态要素之间的联系,体现了山水林田湖草生命共同体思想,为该地区生态保护修复提供参考。     

2000-2014年我国西北地区湖泊面积的时空变化

以2000-2014年Landsat TM、ETM+以及OLI影像为基础,通过人工目视解译方法提取我国西北地区111个面积10.0 km²以上湖泊矢量数据,并对湖泊面积变化总体趋势、空间分异特征以及成因进行分析。结果表明：（1）2000-2014年期间,西北地区湖泊总面积呈整体增加的态势,由1.58×10⁴ km²增加为1.74×10⁴ km²。（2）在研究时段内,我国西北地区湖泊面积在整体增加的同时也表现出明显的空间差异。根据湖泊面积变化不同,研究区可以被划分为稳定、扩张、萎缩3种类型和5个区域：新疆维吾尔自治区北部与青海省南部为湖泊面积稳定区;塔里木盆地、昆仑山北麓、阿尔金山、柴达木盆地、可可西里地区、祁连山南麓至三江源北部大片区域为湖泊面积扩张区;由准噶尔盆地和吐鲁番盆地组成的北疆中部地区和喀喇昆仑山北坡山区为湖泊萎缩区。（3）受研究区复杂的自然人文环境影响,在不同区域引起湖泊面积变化的原因不尽相同：总体而言,降水增加、气温上升导致的冰川融水增加和冻土水分释放是湖泊面积呈现扩张趋势地区的最主要原因;在湖泊面积稳定区,湖泊所处的地形条件以及湖泊与河流间强烈的水量交换起着关键作用;日益增强的人类活动是湖泊萎缩区的主要影响要素,但在喀喇昆仑山北坡地区,冰川物质平衡状态的变化也可能发挥着重要作用。     

三江平原湿地鸟类丰富度的空间格局及热点地区保护

全球气候变化和人类的开垦开发活动使湿地生物多样性遭到严重的干扰和破坏,导致生物多样性空间分布格局及热点地区的保护成为研究的热点。在对三江平原湿地鸟类预测的基础上,利用空间自相关方法分析三江平原湿地鸟类丰富度的空间分布格局,并找出湿地鸟类多样性的热点地区及优先保护顺序。研究结果表明,三江平原湿地鸟类丰富度高高集聚区主要分布在保护区及周边地区、河流和湖泊沿岸,是新建和扩建自然保护区的最佳区域。湿地鸟类丰富度高低集聚区主要分布在农田景观中,将它们设立成微型保护地块对于区域景观生态安全具有重要意义;利用湿地鸟类物种丰富度、国家级保护湿地鸟类、生境类型和结构、距最近保护区距离、破碎度、干扰度等指标,在研究区内共找到13个热点地区,总面积为1018.7km²,占研究区总面积的8%;利用系统聚类分析,将13个热点地区划分成3种优先保护顺序。构建的小区域范围内寻找生物多样性热点地区的方法,为相关政府部门更有效地进行湿地生物多样性的保护和管理提供科学依据。     

Review of the protected area network in Guinea, West Africa, and recommendations for new sites for biodiversity conservation

With only five protected areas dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity (two national parks, one strict nature reserve and two faunal reserves), Guinea has one of the smallest protected area networks in West Africa. As a result, two of the five ecoregions of the country and six of the 14 globally threatened large and medium-sized mammals occurring in Guinea are not found in the national protected area network. To identify areas with high biodiversity that could be included in the national protected area network, we used the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) methodology. We devised a scoring system to rank the identified KBAs according to their relative conservation significance. We identified a total of 16 KBAs throughout the country. Their proclamation as protected areas would result in the protection of all ecoregions and all but one of Guinea’s globally threatened large and medium-sized mammals. Twelve of the 16 KBAs have the legal status of classified forest, a status that should facilitate the change into formal biodiversity protected areas (IUCN category I–IV). Our analysis indicates that even if only the two areas with the highest conservation significance score, the Ziama and Diécké forests, become formal protected areas, this would provide protection to both the western Guinean lowland forests, one of the most threatened ecoregions in Africa, and to 11 of the 14 threatened large and medium-sized mammals occurring in Guinea.     

The rarest and least protected forests in biodiversity hotspots

The goal of biodiversity hotspots is to identify regions around the world where conservation priorities should be focused. We undertake a geographic information system and remote sensing analysis to identify the rarest and least protected forests in biodiversity hotspots. World Wildlife Fund ecoregions with terrestrial forest were subset from 34 biodiversity hotspots and forest cover calculated from GlobCover data at a 300?m pixel resolution. There were 276 ecoregions in 32 biodiversity hotspots classified as containing terrestrial forests. When the first quartile of forest ecoregions was subset based on smallest extent of forest cover in protected areas, there were 69 rare forests identified within 20 biodiversity hotspots. Most rare forest ecoregions (45) occurred on islands or island archipelagos and 47 rare forest ecoregions contained less than 10?% forest cover in protected areas. San Félix-San Ambrosio Islands Temperate Forests, Tubuai Tropical Moist Forests, Maldives-Lakshadweep-Chagos Archipelago Tropical Moist Forests, and Yap Tropical Dry Forests were identified as the least protected and possibly most vulnerable forests within biodiversity hotspots. These ecoregions cover less than 500?km², forest cover is less than 50?km², and there are no protected areas. There is a need to update classifications and boundaries of protected areas, insure that islands are included in global land cover datasets, and identify levels of endemism and endangerment within forest ecoregions. This should improve our ability to compare, prioritize, and monitor forests in biodiversity hotspots.     

Neglect of biological riches: the economics of nature tourism in Nepal

Nepal's spectacular parks and reserves have attracted dramatically increasing numbers of foreign visitors. It might be expected that these protected areas would be nurtured as valuable and irreplaceable economic assets. However they are becoming seriously degraded and the financial resources provided for their management have been inadequate. This paper explores why — starting with the hypothesis that so little of the economic value of protected area tourism in Nepal is captured through fees and other charges assessed on foreign visitors that the protected areas are perceived as being of inconsequential value. It is conservatively estimated that $27 million of tourists' total expenditure in Nepal were attributable to the protected area network in 1988, when the costs of managing the parks were less than $5 million but direct fees colleeted from tourists visiting the protected areas amounted to less than $1 million. These figures suggest the parks are a good investment. But it could also be argued that the costs of park management were more than five times the revenues collected by the government from park tourists. Policy measures are identified which could help Nepal increase the economic as well as environmental benefits from nature tourism.Case studies of Nepal's most-visited protected areas emphasize that the lack of funds for protected area management is not the only constraint on effective management. Some important economic and institutional interests have yet to be effectively reconciled with conservation in the protected areas. Most problematic are local people's economic aspirations and the operating practices of the principal government agencies involved — the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and the Ministry of Tourism. Fortunately there have recently been some encouraging signs of change within both of these agencies.     

贵州省国家公园选址及其植物多样性保育研究

贵州省生态资源丰富,建立国家公园有利于集中规范化管理生态资源。为了分析贵州省国家级自然保护地的空间分布特征,筛选出优势景观资源聚集区作为国家公园候选区,该文借助ArcGis空间分析工具对现有的5类113处保护地进行空间分布特征分析,筛选出国家公园试点候选区并对其进行资源评价。结果表明：(1)贵州省国家级自然保护地总体呈凝聚型分布,重叠度高,将保护地聚集区作为景观优势聚集区划定了8个国家公园试点候选区。(2)通过对聚集区主要代表性资源分析和专家评分得出,分值排在前列的聚集区可以考虑作为国家公园试点区进行推荐,分值最高的赤水-习水区可优先选为国家公园试点区。(3)赤水-习水区资源的国家代表性、适宜性、国有性和社会可行性等,满足设立国家公园优先整合交叉重叠保护地的基本原则,其植物多样性保育价值重大。该研究结果为国家公园的选址提供了新的思路,并为以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系建立以及国家公园植物多样性保育提供了参考依据。     

国家公园生态产品价值核算

生态产品是维系生态安全、保障生态调节功能、提供良好人居环境的自然要素，国家公园作为我国代表性生态系统、自然景观和遗产、野生动植物物种分布的重要区域，是生态产品的重要供给区域，在提供高质量调节服务和文化服务中发挥着重要作用。生态产品总值(GEP)是生态产品价值的总和，并能够客观反映生态系统状况和生态保护成效。以我国首批5处国家公园为研究对象，通过核算其2000年和2015年GEP,得出如下结论：(1)2015年国家公园总GEP为10813.6亿元，主导服务功能是水源涵养和气候调节，占总值的70.0%,单位面积GEP为652.0万元/km²,是全国均值的1.4倍。(2)三江源国家公园GEP最高(4547.7亿元),其次是大熊猫、海南热带雨林国家公园等；海南热带雨林国家公园单位面积GEP最高(5140.5万元/km²),其次是武夷山、大熊猫国家公园等。(3)2000—2015年，国家公园GEP增长1.0%,单位面积GEP基本稳定，三江源和海南热带雨林国家公园增幅较大(3.1%和1.0%),而大熊猫国家公园有所下降(-2.0%),主要与地质灾害导致的...     

Kitam Bird Sanctuary,the only low elevation protected area of Sikkim: A conservation hotspot for butterflies in the Eastern Himalaya

The lowland areas of the Himalayan region are subjected to immense anthropogenic pressure because of least representation in the protected area network. Kitam Bird Sanctuary is the only representative protected area that occurs below 1000 m in Sikkim state of India (a part of globally significant biodiversity hotspot of Himalayas) and serves as the refuge for various species of flora and fauna. Here we studied butterfly diversity and community composition in Kitam Bird Sanctuary (a small protected area of 6 km² geographical area) following point count method spread across predetermined transects. Altogether 1674 butterflies belonging to 111 species and six families were recorded after completion of 240 point counts. Among these, 18 species are federally protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972) of India. Most of the butterflies were forest specialist in terms of habitat preference, whereas based on host plant specificity, the butterfly community was mostly dominated by generalist feeder (Oligophagous II and Polyphagous). Butterfly community parameters showed a strong correlation with habitat variables. While Kitam Bird Sanctuary is primarily designated for conservation of lowland birds, the high diversity of butterflies both in terms of taxonomic richness and trait composition suggests that the sanctuary harbors an ideal habitat for butterflies of the tropical region and invites conservation attention.     

Land Cover Change in Colombia: Surprising Forest Recovery Trends between 2001 and 2010

Background

Monitoring land change at multiple spatial scales is essential for identifying hotspots of change, and for developing and implementing policies for conserving biodiversity and habitats. In the high diversity country of Colombia, these types of analyses are difficult because there is no consistent wall-to-wall, multi-temporal dataset for land-use and land-cover change.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To address this problem, we mapped annual land-use and land-cover from 2001 to 2010 in Colombia using MODIS (250 m) products coupled with reference data from high spatial resolution imagery (QuickBird) in Google Earth. We used QuickBird imagery to visually interpret percent cover of eight land cover classes used for classifier training and accuracy assessment. Based on these maps we evaluated land cover change at four spatial scales country, biome, ecoregion, and municipality. Of the 1,117 municipalities, 820 had a net gain in woody vegetation (28,092 km²) while 264 had a net loss (11,129 km²), which resulted in a net gain of 16,963 km² in woody vegetation at the national scale. Woody regrowth mainly occurred in areas previously classified as mixed woody/plantation rather than agriculture/herbaceous. The majority of this gain occurred in the Moist Forest biome, within the montane forest ecoregions, while the greatest loss of woody vegetation occurred in the Llanos and Apure-Villavicencio ecoregions.

Conclusions

The unexpected forest recovery trend, particularly in the Andes, provides an opportunity to expand current protected areas and to promote habitat connectivity. Furthermore, ecoregions with intense land conversion (e.g. Northern Andean Páramo) and ecoregions under-represented in the protected area network (e.g. Llanos, Apure-Villavicencio Dry forest, and Magdalena-Urabá Moist forest ecoregions) should be considered for new protected areas.     

Has the final countdown to wildlife extinction in Northern Central African Republic begun?

The wildlife populations of Northern Central African Republic experienced precipitous declines during the 1970s and 1980s. While anecdotes coming out of the region indicate that the wildlife populations remain under serious threat, little is known about their status. An aerial sample count was carried out in the Northern Central African Republic at the end of the dry season in June 2005 and covered an 85,000 km² complex landscape containing national parks, hunting reserves and community hunting areas. Results show a dramatic decline of wildlife since the previous survey in 1985. In 20 years, large mammals’ numbers decreased by 65%, probably because of poaching and diseases brought by illegal cattle transhumance. Elephant (Loxodonta africana) and Buffon kob (Kobus kob) populations showed the greatest decline (over 80% each), while buffalo (Syncerus caffer), roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus) and Giant Lord’s Derby Eland (Taurotragus derbianus) populations seem stable or increasing over these last 20 years. The analysis of the wildlife population distribution by status of the different types of protected areas (national parks, hunting areas) showed that individual encounter rates of elephant and buffalo were lower in national parks than in neighbouring hunting areas, while those for roan, giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and Buffon kob were higher in the national parks.