Protected Area Requirements in Southern Africa
Martin (1996) empirically derived the relationship that the number of men required for
effective patrolling against illegal hunting in any park was approximately equal to the square
root of the area of the park. The relationship was based on the relative success of the different
protected areas in Zimbabwe using the criterion that, under effective patrolling, illegal hunters
will be found within less than two days where A is expressed in square kilometres
Number of men:
NS = A
- where A is expressed in square kilometres
PARK SIZE km2
1
5
10
50
100
500
1,000
5,000
10,000
NUMBER OF MEN
1
2
3
7
10
22
32
71
100
Martin (1997) developed standard spreadsheets for calculating the operating costs and
capital requirements based on this relationship. The number of men determines the annual
running cost for any park. The budget is made up of salaries, field allowances, equipment,
transport and maintenance costs and includes provisions for senior field and research staff.
Allowing for variations in salaries and fuel costs from country to country in the region, the
operational costs are approximately given by the formula —
Annual Recurrent Expenditure/km2 CR = US$50 (1 + 2/A + 3/A)
The capital requirements to set up a new park from scratch are also dependent on the
total staff complement in the park and vary slightly depending on building costs across the
region. The required capital per unit area is approximately given by —
CC = US$500 (1 + 1/A + 1/A)
Total Capital Expenditure/km2
— where A is expressed in thousands of square kilometres in both formulas
STAFF NUMBERS, OPERATING COSTS AND CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VARIOUS
PARK SIZES
PARK SIZE
km2
Number of Field
Staff Required
Operating Costs
US$/km2/year
Total Operating Cost
US$/year
Capital Required
US$/km2
1
Total Capital
US$
1
104,793
104,793
516,311
516,311
2
1
53,404
106,808
261,680
523,361
5
2
22,171
110,857
107,571
537,855
10
3
11,550
115,500
55,500
555,000
20
4
6,111
122,213
29,036
580,711
50
7
2,721
136,041
12,736
636,803
100
10
1,524
152,434
7,081
708,114
200
14
885
177,082
4,118
823,607
500
22
462
231,066
2,207
1,103,553
1,000
32
300
300,000
1,500
1,500,000
2,000
45
206
412,132
1,104
2,207,107
5,000
71
137
685,410
824
4,118,034
10,000
100
107
1,074,342
708
7,081,139
20,000
141
89
1,770,820
637
12,736,068
50,000
224
73
3,660,660
581
29,035,534
100,000
316
66
6,600,000
555
55,500,000