The African Mammals Databank is a GIS-based databank on the distribution and
conservation of all the big and medium-sized mammals over the whole African
continent. The databank has been implemented by the IEA (Institute of Applied
Ecology), in co-operation with several institutions in Africa, during a
three-year project funded by the European Commission, Directorate-General for
Development (DG VIII). It was designed to collect, store, organise and
pre-analyse data for distribution to institutions and individuals worldwide
concerned with the design and implementation of conservation projects in
Africa: its scope is to provide national and international authorities,
organizations, projects, etc. with a set of baseline data to be used in the
analysis and implementation of conservation and management actions in Africa.
The data bank covers the whole African continent excluding Madagascar, and
includes a total of 281 species, belonging to 12 orders and 28 families. The
two species of rhinos (Diceros bicornis and Ceratotherium simum) were excluded because data on the last few areas in which they are found are
being kept from the public and we did not want to interfere with this important
decision; the elephant (Loxodonta africana) was also excluded because an excellent and detailed database in a format very
similar to the one proposed here is kept in Nairobi by the Elephant Specialist
Group of the Species Survival Commission SSC/IUCN - World Conservation Union.
For each species a set of data on its distribution, ecology, conservation
status, etc. has been produced. The project's output is expected to add
significantly to the understanding of the status, trends, and threats of the
African mammals, both the large charismatic and the smaller, lesser known
species. The project's output will be made available to all the institutions
dealing with research and conservation of animal species at national and
international level; for example many analyses aimed at the study of specific
aspects of the conservation of individual species, homogeneous taxonomic groups
or particular African regions can be carried out with the databank in its
current form. Such ad hoc analyses could also be performed by the IEA on
request of conservation or development agencies or other national and
international organisations, or for scientific research on conservation biology
issues.
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