In sub-Saharan Africa conservation of biodiversity is increasingly predicated on finding ways to ensure that the economic value of maintaining a landscape in its ‘natural’ state meets or exceeds the expected returns from converting the area to an alternative land use, such as agriculture. ‘Wildlands’ in Africa must generate, directly or from donor contributions, funds sufficient to cover both the operating costs of conservation, and the opportunity costs of forgoing other forms of resource use. Government and donor investments currently meet less than 30 per cent of the estimated recurring costs required to manage the protected-area network within central African countries effectively, and cover none of the growing opportunity costs incurred to maintain protected areas. Unfortunately, few additional sources of funding are available.