Alignment of Research and Conservation in the Protected Areas of Ten Central African Countries

In protected areas, research is intended to support management and conservation decisions. However, the sharing of research results is often insufficient, as is the dialogue between researchers, field managers and policy makers. Here, we clarified how research is produced, accessed, and used in Central African protected areas. We conducted surveys, focus groups, and interviews of 73 field managers to capitalize their experience, representing 42 protected areas across 10 countries. Only 20% of protected areas have defined their priority research questions in a formal way and 61% report the existence of dormant data that no one uses. In addition, 45% of field managers consider that scientific publications are not produced quickly enough to respond to management issues, whereas 73% of managers generally have access to the results of research conducted in their protected area, and 61% generally get access to the raw data. To reinforce the science-policy interface for research funding, production, dissemination, and concrete use, we recommend the following: allocate sufficient resources to research within protected areas, allowing for the development of a strategic vision; ensure long-term funding and projects (minimum 10 years); establish commitments between managers and researchers for the dissemination of research results; promote funding for national master and doctoral theses. Research can thus be useful for conservation, but only when it is strategically aligned with the priority management objectives of protected areas.