Protected area gap analysis of important bird areas in Tanzania Shakthi Sritharan 1 * and Neil D. Burgess 2,3 1 School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K., 2 WWF-US Conservation Science Program, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington, DC, U.S.A. and 3 Centre for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract Analyses of gaps in protected area (PA) coverage of species distributions have been carried out extensively for the past two decades, aiming to better locate new PAs and conserve species. In this study, progress to close gaps in the pro- tection of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) of Tanzania is assessed between 2002 and 2009, with a detailed GIS analysis from 2007 to 2009. Remaining gaps are ranked according to biological factors such as numbers of red list and restricted range avian species and social pressures such as human population, agriculture and density of the road network. Results show that there has been a 5.3% increase (7615.1 km 2 ) in protection of IBAs between 2007 and 2009. Of the 27 remaining IBA protection gaps, three are of high, nine of medium and fifteen of low priority for action. The current IBA ‘gap area’ of 17,133.3 km 2 con- tains around 26% forest, 13% shrubland, 9% grassland, 36% wetland and 12% agricultural land. This analysis provides a simple template for defining where further ac- tion to protect remaining IBA sites in Tanzania would lead to enhanced conservation of avian biodiversity in that country and provides a methodology for analysis leading to conservation action elsewhere in Africa. Key words: biodiversity, extended gap analysis, GIS, important bird areas, protected areas, social pressures Re´sume´ Des analyses des lacunes dans la couverture de la distri- bution d’espe`ces par des aires prote´ge´es furent re´alise´es de fac¸on extensive au cours des deux dernie`res de´cennies, afin de mieux choisir l’emplacement des nouvelles aires prot- e´ge´es et de pre´server les espe`ces. Dans cette e´tude, on e´value les progre`s re´alise´s entre 2002 et 2009 pour com- bler les lacunes dans la protection des Zones importantes pour la conservation des oiseaux (ZICO) de Tanzanie, avec une analyse GPS de´taille´e depuis 2002. Les lacunes qui persistent sont classe´es selon des facteurs biologiques tels que le nombre d’espe`ces d’oiseaux sur la Liste rouge et d’espe`ces a` l’aire de re´partition restreinte, et les pressions sociales telles que la population humaine, l’agriculture ou la densite´ du re´seau routier. Les re´sultats montrent qu’il y a eu une augmentation de 5,3% (7.615,1 km 2 ) de la protection de ZICO entre 2007 et 2009. Sur les 27 lacunes de protection de ZICO restantes, trois sont d’une haute priorite´ d’action, neuf d’une priorite´ moyenne et 15 d’une priorite´ faible. La « superficie des lacunes de couverture des ZICO » identifie´e actuellement est de 17.133,3 km 2 et comprend environ 26% de foreˆts, 13% de broussailles, 9% de prairies, 36% de zones humides et 12% de terres ag- ricoles. Cette analyse donne un mode`le simple pour de´finir ou` de nouvelles mesures pour prote´ger des sites ZICO en Tanzanie pourraient conduire a` une meilleure conserva- tion de la biodiversite´ aviaire du pays, et elle donne une me´thodologie d’analyse qui pourrait entraı ˆner des actions de conservation ailleurs en Afrique. Introduction In response to commitments made under the Convention of Biological Diversity, governments across the world have invested in developing systems of protected areas (PAs). These are sites protecting biodiversity, natural resources, ecosystem services and associated cultural resources, managed through legal or other effective means (Dudley, 2008). Despite a remarkable increase in the land area covered by PAs (Coad et al., 2008; Jenkins & Joppa, 2009), these measures have not slowed rates of species decline *Correspondence: E-mail: Shakthi.Sritharan@gmail.com 66 Ó 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Afr. J. Ecol., 50, 66–76