Citizen science for biodiversity monitoring in the Great Green Wall

Biodiversity in the GGW

Case study: Ghana

This map focuses on restoration sites across northern Ghana as part of the Regreening Africa program from 2017 - 2021. Of these restoration sites, we are focusing on those under farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR) practices, captured using the Regreening App's FMNR module. This helps us understand the diversity of existing treestock in the landscape.

Connect observations to the IUCN Red List

Species recorded were matched to their IUCN Red List conservation status and aggregated to administrative boundaries. This helps show where species of conservation concern are being recorded within restoration landscapes and how those records relate to existing conservation areas.

Threatened species?

Approximately 27% of recorded species in the Ghana dataset are classified as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List - demonstrating that species of conservation concern are being recorded within active restoration areas.

The example of shea

One frequently recorded species of conservation concern is Vitellaria paradoxa (VU), or shea. Shea is ecologically important in dryland parkland systems and economically important for millions of people, particularly women involved in shea value chains.

V. paradoxa was last assessed by the IUCN in 1998 as Vulnerable and is earmarked as needing an update, despite growing global demand for shea in the cosmetics and food industries. In Ghana, this demand has led to increased pressure on natural shea stands through unsustainable harvesting, even as the sector provides vital income, particularly for women.

At the same time, there’s growing interest in shea planting and parkland restoration, creating a complex dynamic where overexploitation and plantation efforts are unfolding in parallel, highlighting the need for updated data and clearer guidance on sustainable management.

Data gaps

Recognise what is missing

Across our Regreening Africa FMNR dataset, spanning seven countries, more than a thousand different species were captured using the app (n = > 1000). Alarmingly, nearly half of these (n = 508) records did not have corresponding conservation assessments. I.e., were either known by the IUCN and data-deficient, or remain completely unknown to the IUCN.

We therefore need to not only improve biodiversity data collection, but ensure that the reference systems needed to actually interpret biodiversity data are maintained and appropriately updated.

Multifunctional landscapes

Biodiversity in working landscapes

We can also overlay species occurrence data with the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) data to see that many threatened and data-deficient species occur outside of formally protected areas. In regions like northern Ghana, where protected area coverage is sparse and land is largely under customary tenure, community-managed landscapes like FMNR sites are important refugia for dryland woody flora.

These working landscapes play a critical role in maintaining landscape connectivity, enabling gene flow, dispersal and range shifts across otherwise fragmented environments. Regenerating woody cover through FMNR helps retain vegetation structure and continuity across the landscape, supporting ecological processes beyond protected area boundaries.

While formal reserves remain important, much of the region’s biodiversity depends on what happens in the surrounding landscape, particularly in areas under community management.

Citizen science and participatory monitoring

Citizen science data can't replace rigorous biodiversity surveys, but they can be powerful supplements in landscapes with big data gaps or monitoring challenges.

Monitoring biodiversity at scale requires new, and multiple approaches

In order for GGW countries to meet biodiversity conservation and restoration commitments made under the Global Biodiversity Framework, we need biodiversity data. Traditional ecological surveys are essential but remain expensive, resource intensive and difficult to roll-out across much of the GGW region due to infrastructure constraints, security issues and the sheer scale of restoration efforts. This is all the more important in dryland regions, where biodiversity is often under-sampled and poorly understood but still plays a critical role in ecosystem functioning and livelihoods.

Alternative, novel approaches to data collection and monitoring are needed to overcome these challenges. This article shows the potential of combining citizen science tools, digital monitoring systems and interoperable biodiversity databases. We can connect in-situ, georeferenced field observations with reference databases to generate useful information on biodiversity across GGW landscapes, including insights around conservation status of ecosystems and where more research is required owing to data deficiencies.

To meet the immensity of the biodiversity challenge lying ahead of us, we need to combine multiple sources of evidence and tools to build a more complete picture of how biodiversity is changing across restoration landscapes.