Spatially explicit threat assessment to target food tree species in Burkina Faso

There is a general agreement on the need to ensure the in situ conservation and availability of valuable genetic resources of wild species that are important for food security and nutrition. In order to be able to adopt adequate conservation measures a spatial assessment
of their distribution and a sound analysis of the causes of and their sensitivity to threats
is required.
The ADA funded project “Threats to priority food tree species in Burkina Faso: Drivers
of resource losses and mitigation measures” gave us the opportunity to develop a spati-
ally explicit threat assessment methodology with focus on expert feedback, as there is no
comprehensive and standardised approach available at the moment. Relevant threats were
identified jointly with regional project partners from INERA and CNSF during meetings
in Ouagadougou in 2012 and 2013 and by means of a case study on farmers’ perception.
Once determined were the most important ones (overexploitation, overgrazing, fire, climate
change, cotton production and mining) we identified openly accessible datasets suitable to
represent the spatial patterns of threat intensities throughout the country. Now we needed
to transform the threat intensities into potential impact over the target species distribution
ranges.
To do so the distribution and threat sensitivity of 16 food tree species were assessed by 17
local and international experts by means of an online feedback survey that was specifically
developed for this project. These experts were asked to rate on a five point scale different
distribution models and the sensitivity to threats. The survey was analysed applying a
consensus method to identify the most consistent distribution model and threat specific
sensitivity rating on a species by species basis. The potential impact of climate change was
modeled using Global Circulation Models (GCM’s) deriving from the fifth assessment of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC5) in 2014.
The results were then used to calculate and create individual and combined threat
potential maps that enable the identification of areas in Burkina Faso where species are
highly threatened. The spatial patterns of the threat levels provides evidence to prioritise
food tree populations with relative urgency for undertaking conservation actions.