Today, about 12% of the region is protected, and this seems to suggest that the international goals (of the Convention on Biodiversity for instance) can be considered as met. Yet, in the facts, the assessment of protected areas networks show important gaps in terms of management competencies, and therefore the weakness of the results obtained in terms of conservation. Apart few isolated cases of promising experience which however remain very fragile on the long term, the global situation of protected areas in Central and West Africa is getting worse from year to year.

If some issues can be solved by bringing technical or financial supports, most of them (certainly the most important) will only be solved by managers themselves; so, this mainly depends on their capacity to manage all the challenges related to protected areas (conservation of biodiversity, restoration of ecosystems, management of the interface with fringe populations, financial stakes, sensitization, local development, communication, etc.). The situation in which protected areas are today clearly shows that it is necessary to strengthen protected areas managers' capacities in many fields.

Two studies carried out in 2008 ( regional diagnosis ) by Papaco and in 2009 (by RAPAC) in West and Central Africa underlined the importance in this region to promote training intended to protected areas managers and their partners of public and private sectors and associations.