More than $1 billion needed annually to secure Africa’s protected areas with lions

Significance Protected areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of conservation yet face funding inadequacies that undermine their effectiveness. Using the conservation needs of lions as a proxy for those of wildlife more generally, we compiled a dataset of funding in Africa’s PAs with lions and estimated a minimum target for conserving the species and managing PAs effectively. PAs with lions require $1.2 to $2.4 billion or $1,000 to $2,000/km 2 annually, yet receive just $381 million or $200/km 2 (median) annually. Nearly all PAs with lions are inadequately funded; deficits total $0.9 to $2.1 billion. Governments and donors must urgently and significantly invest in PAs to prevent further declines of lions and other wildlife and to capture the economic, social, and environmental benefits that healthy PAs can confer.