Relationship between biodiversity and poverty in Africa
Other maps from this report
This map may be used to show areas in which biodiversity is threatened in relation to poverty on a continental scale. Areas where high percentage of underweight children - used as a proxy for poverty - coincide with a high occurrence of amphibian species and endemic bird areas - a proxy for biodiversity - may indicate areas in which poor people likely have no other choice than the unsustainable extraction of resources, in turn threatening biodiversity . The map has been produced from a simple site selection using poverty data (CIESIN, 2004) on a first level administrative boundary level together with endemic bird areas (Stattersfield et al., 1998) and amphibian species (Conservation International, 2004) as a biodiversity proxy.
More specifically, Figure 3 is based on percentage of underweight children at first level sub-national administrative units (CIESIN, 2004) and a composite index on the presence of endemic bird areas (Stattersfield et al., 1998) and amphibian species per 0.25 degree grid cells (Conservation International, 2004). "Very high" poverty refers to areas with 40-80% underweight children per administrative unit, while "high" poverty entails 20-40 % underweight children per administrative unit. In future analyses the poverty data could be further enhanced by filtering areas in which high population density occurs.
For references, please see the paper, linked in the sidebar.
