Sub-Saharan Africa has lost almost one-quarter of its pre-industrial biodiversity

To map the biodiversity of sub-Saharan Africa, 200 specialists in African plants and animals were asked to estimate local species abundances. This approach integrates contextual, place-based knowledge into a multi-scale, comparative biodiversity assessment that can be used to support policy decisions at national, regional and global scales. Biodiversity loss in sub-Saharan Africa has been estimated using the expertise of 200 local specialists.