Mapping of biodiversity hubs and key ecosystem services as a tool for shaping optimal areas for conservation

4. Sticking to the classic focus of PA on biodiversity failing to open the doors to the underway major shift toward broadening the goals of PA to also encompass the provision of ES for human well-being. 5. Disregarding the contribution of PA at addressing the planet’s concerning issues such as cli- mate change, air pollution, disasters, epidemics, etc. Due to the diffusion of remote sensing practices, ES mapping techniques have generated great interest in recent literature. Mapping provides spatial information about the state of ES which makes it an important element in the decision-making process where it is necessary to implement and monitor environmental policies [20, 21]. We hypothesize that the application of these newly developed methods on a region in which the majority of PA were created nearly a 100 years ago could highlight loopholes that lie between the established PA and both priority areas for conservation and new conservation imperatives, hence contribute to the establish- ment of a more efficient system. To test this hypothesis, we intend to combine both the map- ping of endangered wildlife and of some key ES, quantify their level of overlapping with the existing NP system, to derive its efficiency against current imperatives, only after that can we be able to pinpoint the location of the main loopholes that exist through the system, to enlighten those who have the will and power to improve the conservation system in Rwanda. 2 Material and methods 2.1 Study area: Overview of rwanda and its NP system

Rwanda (Fig 1) is a landlocked country in central eastern of Africa at latitude 1˚57012.77@S and longitude 30˚05032.52@ E (Capital Kigali), its total land area is 26,338 sq.km, of which around 8.5% is covered by PA [22]. The country had a projected human population of 12,089,720 in 2018 and the highest popu- lation density on mainland Africa (477 people per sq.km) [16]. Around 90% of its still rapidly growing population depend on small-scale agriculture which exacerbated the quest for arable land and fuelwoods, leading to massive degradation of all forests and wetlands outside reserves [19]. Though located within the equatorial climatic zone, Rwanda is characterized by a tropical temperate climate due to its high altitude ranging from 950 m above sea level (a.s.l) at the Rusizi River (south-west) to 4507 m a.s.l at Mount Karisimbi (north-west). The area exhibits two dry seasons from January to February and from June to August, and two rainy seasons from March to May and From September to December. The annual rainfall increases in gen- eral from east to the west and ranges from less than 1000 mm per year to over 1800 mm per year. The temperature regime is more or less constant with a mean temperature of 20–24˚C for the eastern lowlands, 18–21˚C for the central plateau region and 16–17˚C for the western high altitudes [23]. Diverse Eco-climatic zones comprising the Afro-alpine, humid, sub-humid and the sub-arid zones influence a large variety of vegetation and landscapes that support habi-

tats for a wide range of animals some of which are endemic. Several bird species many of which have adapted to the human-modified habitats have been identified, many mammal, rep- tile amphibian and invertebrate species exist in large numbers as well. Rwanda’s contemporary biodiversity conservation strategy has principally centered on PA model. The PA in Rwanda are largely a colonization legacy predominantly sustained by gov- ernment institutions and international NGOs. One of the drawbacks of that PA model is that it can indirectly confine the arena for conservation action within reserves, hence condemning outside landscapes to maximum exploitation, which finally creates pockets of PA in extensive human transformed habitats [16]. In developing countries, PA model faces another more fun- damental problem which is that the designation status, even when backed by laws, does not PLOS ONE How do old national parks cope with regenerating conservation mission? PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253151 August 17, 2021 3 / 20