Book excerpt: This situation analysis was undertaken to inform responses to several resolutions made at the 5th World Conservation Congress in 2012 about the plight of large vertebrates in West and Central Africa. It draws on a wide range of information to provide information on the status of these species, important sites, pressures, legislation, the effectiveness of protected areas, and both community-based incentives for conservation and institutional responses. The overriding conclusion is of substantial wildlife declines and inadequate responses to either long-standing pressures or rapidly escalating threats that have emerged in recent years.