Identification, mapping and ranking of important plant areas in Oshana, Oshikoto, Omusati and Ohangwena regions in Namibia
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Date
2024
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The identification of IPAs (Important Plant Areas) has been at the forefront of
conservation research in recent years however, there is no recent information on the
IPAs in Namibia. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify, map, and rank the IPAs
in the study regions using the IPA criteria established by Darbyshire (2017) and
validate those demarcated based on expert knowledge (hereafter referred to as
preliminary IPAs). New IPAs were identified using the global IPA criteria following
Blasi et al. (2011) and Darbyshire et al. (2017). Similarly, preliminary IPAs were
validated using the global IPA criteria. IPAs were ranked in terms of their conservation
importance using a grid-based ranking system.
QGIS software was used to produce maps for new IPAs. In addition, current protected
areas and non-protected areas do not differ significantly in terms of species richness
based on this standard scoring method. Consequently, Cluster analysis produced four
clusters with 10% similarity in species composition, indicating huge differences in
species composition between protected and non-protected areas that satisfy the IPAs
criteria. QDS with high conservation scores were identified as the new IPAs instead of
the previously demarcated IPAs. This study recommends stakeholders, practitioners,
and policymakers to prioritize IPAs that are not in protected areas for conservation.
Additionally, this study revealed the effectiveness of identifying and recognizing IPAs
using globally standardized IPA criteria and expert-opinion-based selection alone
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Biodiversity Management and Research)
Keywords
Important plant areas, Preliminary important plant areas, Quarter degree square, Identification, Mapping, Ranking, Protected and non-protected areas, Namibia, University of Namibia