<b>Assessing the political vulnerability of National Parks in sub-Saharan Africa using data on digital trends and engagement</b>

Dataset of the supplementary material. WDPAID = reference code from the National Park of Protected Planet | NAME = name of the National Park | REP_AREA = area of the National Park | STATUS_YR = establishment year of the National Park | GOV_TYPE = type of government that manage the National Park | MANG_PLAN = information provided by Protected Planet regarding the park management plan | ISO3 = ISO3 code of the country where the National Park is located | REGION = African region of the National Park | AVERAGE_VIEWS = average views extracted from the wikipedia page between 2015-2020 | DEGAZETTE = number of degazettement events | DOWNGRADE = number of downgrading events | DOWNSIZE = number of downzising events | wikidata_url = address of the centralised repository of structured data for Wikipedia | wikidata_id = identifier of the centralised repository of structured data for Wikipedia | AGRILAND = percentage of agricultural cultivation area coverage within and around the park (10km² buffer) | POPDENSITY = population density in ind/km within and around the park (10km² buffer) | BUILTUP = percentage of built/urbanized area coverage within and around the park (10km² buffer) | ROAD = area coverage with presence of highways within and around the park (10km² buffer) | GPI2020 = Global Peace Index from 2020 provided by IEP | EXTERNALINTERV = considers the influence and impact of external actors on the functioning of the economy and security provided by IEP | TOURISM = number of tourists (arrivals per 100,000) provided by IEP | GDP = GDP per capita (US$) divided by mid-year population provided by IEP. Abstract: National Parks (NP) and other protected areas in sub-Saharan Africa are crucial in attracting international tourists interested in wildlife tourism, contributing to national economies. Despite their cultural, economic, and conservation significance, these areas face diverse development threats, leading to pressures for protected area downgrading, downsizing, or degazettement (known as PADDD). We comprehensively analyse the geographical, historical, and structural aspects of 322 National Parks in sub-Saharan Africa and assess their political vulnerability by exploring the interplay of development pressures and public interest (as measured through Wikipedia page views). Fewer than 30% of these NPs possess or report information regarding management plans, even among the five most frequently viewed areas on Wikipedia. This is particularly concerning, since among those who underwent a PADDD event (51 NPs), almost 90% of them also had no information about the existence of management plans. Although we did not identify a statistically significant association between tourism and public interest online, tourism emerges as a potential mitigating factor against PADDD, along with high levels of peace. National parks that garner significant public interest online do not share the same socio-geographic profile as parks that are most resilient to PADDD events. While digital metrics of public interest have potential as indicators of political resilience in National Parks, our research has shown that these metrics need refinement to fully understand which biophysical and cultural aspects of parks attract more public attention. Overall, effective conservation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa require a more holistic understanding of historical, socio-economic, and cultural factors.