Lars H. Holbech (MSc, PhD (Copenhagen))

Research interest
• Avifaunal research in Ghana and West Africa with focus on biodiversity conservation, ecological applications and wildlife management, particularly in forested regions, but also in the context of urbanisation, hereunder Accra with associated green urban areas in Legon-Achimota.
• Bushmeat hunting and trade, and game production research in relation to land-use management, with specific focus on the Western Region in Ghana, hereunder the Bia and Ankasa Conservation Areas.
• General vertebrate ecology research, including birds, bats, snakes, as well as medium-large mammals subject to bushmeat utilisation in Ghana; includes also epidemiology, perceptions and myths of snakes and snakebites, general zoo-geography in Ghana, behavioural ecology, as well as ethno-zoology and zoo-therapy in the context of conservation and sustainable management practises.

Current research/project(s)
1) The synergistic effects of uncontrolled hunting and habitat degradation on hornbill populations in West Africa: Ghana's case of precipitous declines and extirpations.
2) Long- and short-term impacts of urbanisation on the avifauna of the Accra Plains, Ghana.
3) The importance of constructed wetlands and sewage treatment plants for waterbirds in urban West Africa: Positive and negative conservation implications - the case for Accra, Ghana.
4) The significance of informal protected areas for wildlife conservation within a rapidly expanding urban landscape in West Africa: The case for avifaunal diversity in the Legon-Achimota Green Belt, Accra, Ghana.
5) Human impacts on tropical forest wildlife in West Africa.
6) Foraging ecology of two piscivorous pursuit divers in urban small wetlands with emphasis on implications of water clarity and direct human disturbances.
7) Vertical distribution of birds in various forest and woodland habitats of Ghana.

Past research projects
Faunistic Diversity and Game Production in the High Forest Zone of Ghana with particular reference to the Western Region, Ghana. PhD-research project, 1993-1996, DANIDA funded. Partners: University of Copenhagen, University of Ghana, Ghana Wildlife Department/Forestry Department.

Protected Areas Development Programme, Ghana: Bia and Ankasa Conservation Areas; Consultancy Project, 1998-2001, European Union funded. Partners: Ghana Wildlife Division/Forestry Commission.

Recent publications

1)Yahaya Musah, Daniel K. Attuquayefio, Abigail N. A. Pobee & Lars H. Holbech (2021). Ophidiophobia, myth generation, and human perceptions: Implications for snake
conservation in a typical savanna community of northern Ghana, Human Dimensions of Wildlife. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2021.1952357

2}Holbech, L.H., Cobbinah, C.C. (2021) Pollution or Protection - What Early Survey Data Shows on Rapid Waterbird Utilisation of a Newly Established Sewage Treatment Plant in Urban Ghana, West Africa. Wetlands 41, 110 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01510-w

3) Holbech, L.H. (2020) The elevated mist‐net frame: A robust and versatile manoeuvrable design for capturing upper strata birds. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13425. First published online: 29 May 2020. Final printed version in press.
2) Yahaya, M., Ameade, E.P.K., Attuquayefio, Holbech, L.H. (2019) Epidemiology, ecology and human perceptions of snakebites in a savanna community of northern Ghana. PloS Neglected Tropical Diseases 13(8): e0007221. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pntd.0007221.
4) Holbech, L.H., Annorbah, N.N.D., Phalan, B. and Arcilla, N. (2018) Uncontrolled hunting and habitat degradation decimate and extirpate forest hornbills in Ghana, West Africa. Biological Conservation 223: 104-111.
5) Holbech, L.H., Gbogbo, F. and Aikins, T.K. (2018) Abundance and prey capture success of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) and Pied Kingfishers (Ceryle rudis) in relation to water clarity in south‑east coastal Ghana. Avian Research 9:25; pp. 1-13. (doi.org/10.1186/s40657-018-0116-7).
6) Congrains, C., Carvalho, A.F., Miranda, E.A., Cumming, G.S., Henry, D.A.W., Manu, S.A., Abalaka, J., Rocha, C.D., Diop, M.S., Sá, J., Monteiro, H., Holbech, L.H., Gbogbo, F. and Lama, S.L.D. (2016): Genetic and paleomodelling evidence of the population expansion of the cattle egret Bubulcus ibis in Africa during the climatic oscillations of the Late Pleistocene. Journal of Avian Biology 47: 846-857.
7) Gbogbo, F., Holbech, L.H. and Eriom, R.O. (2016) Usage pattern of artificial water resources by birds on a rapidly expanding university campus in Ghana. Malimbus 38: 1-9.
8) Holbech, L.H., Asamoah, A. and Owusu, E.H. (2015) A rapid assessment of species-specific bird strike risk at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. Ostrich 86(3): 277-285. DOI: 10.2989/00306525.2015.1068878.
9) Holbech, L.H., Acheampong, M.K., Amponsah-Mensah, K. and Gbogbo, F. (2015) Seasonal variation in the breeding ecology of three cooperatively breeding bird species on the University of Ghana Campus, Legon. Malimbus 37: 55-76.
10) Arcilla, N., Holbech, L.H. and O’Donnell, S. (2015) Severe declines of understory birds follow illegal logging in Upper Guinea forests of Ghana, west Africa. Biological Conservation 188: 41-49.

Professional membership(s)
Society for Conservation Biology, Ghana Science Association, West African Ornithological Society