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Keywords: language-nature co-occurrence; protected area shared governance; administración compartida de las áreas protegidas; coincidencia natural de lenguajes EN language-nature co-occurrence protected area shared governance administración compartida de las áreas protegidas coincidencia natural de lenguajes 1426 1436 11 10/05/21 20211001 NES 211001 Introduction Africa hosts much of the planet's biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity (Moore et al. 2002; UNEP-WCMC 2016; Kandybowicz & Torrence 2017), although conserving this diversity amid widespread poverty, rapid population growth and development, and social conflict found throughout much of the continent presents an enormous challenge. For Natural WHSs in Africa, a positive statistical relationship existed between the number of Indigenous languages in a reserve and the species ranges intersected by language footprints (Fig. Although the ranges of Indigenous languages often cover much of a WHS, occasionally this is not the case and focusing on language ranges enabled us to account for such instances and measure the geographic interface of language and species ranges more precisely. Prior research indicates that protected areas often host speakers of Indigenous languages (Gorenflo et al. 2012), marking Indigenous peoples as potential conservation partners for many reserves. [Extracted from the article]

As the world grows less biologically diverse, it is becoming less linguistically and culturally diverse as well. Biologists estimate annual loss of species at 1,000 times or more greater than historic rates, and linguists predict that 50-90% of the world's languages will disappear by the end of this century. Prior studies indicate similarities in the geographic arrangement of biological and linguistic diversity, although conclusions have often been constrained by use of data with limited spatial precision. Here we use greatly improved datasets to explore the co-occurrence of linguistic and biological diversity in regions containing many of the Earth's remaining species: biodiversity hotspots and high biodiversity wilderness areas. Results indicate that these regions often contain considerable linguistic diversity, accounting for 70% of all languages on Earth. Moreover, the languages involved are frequently unique (endemic) to particular regions, with many facing extinction. Likely reasons for co-occurrence of linguistic and biological diversity are complex and appear to vary among localities, although strong geographic concordance between biological and linguistic diversity in many areas argues for some form of functional connection. Languages in high biodiversity regions also often co-occur with one or more specific conservation priorities, here defined as endangered species and protected areas, marking particular localities important for maintaining both forms of diversity. The results reported in this article provide a starting point for focused research exploring the relationship between biological and linguistic-cultural diversity, and for developing integrated strategies designed to conserve species and languages in regions rich in both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]