All parameters required for the execution of the analysis are set through a configuration file. Each line of this file should start with a parameter keyword, followed with an equals sign and its designated value. Do not include equal character within parameter values. Comments can be included, provided they are preceded by a sharp (#). Possible keywords are the following:

1. distribution_file: Path to the .csv file containing the distribution data.
2. iucn_file: Path to the .csv file containing the Red List assessment information.
3. kba_species_file: Path to the .csv file containing the trigger species information of previously delimited KBAs.
4. kba_directory: Path to a directory containing the shapefiles of previously delimited KBAs.
5. kba_index: Name of the field used to index KBAs in both shapefiles and trigger species file.
6. focal_area_directory: Path to a folder with shapefiles of areas to constraint the analysis; solutions (new KBA) will only be searched within its limits. With this option the user can reduce the memory burden of extremely detailed analyses (cell size is very small and study area too large). Besides solution optimizing, no other parts of the method are restricted to this area, such as the total population count and the occurrence aggregation routine. Optional.
7. outfile_root: Text to be used as common root for output file names.
8. cell_size: Extent (in EPSG:4326 degrees) of grid cells.
9. offset_lat: Latitudinal difference (in EPSG:4326 degrees) between the northern margin of the grid and the northernmost record.
10. offset_lon: Longitudinal difference (in EPSG:4326 degrees) between the western margin of the grid and the westernmost record.
11. eps: Maximum Kulczynski distance allowed among observational grids. Applied exclusively during the clustering procedure. It is a real number within the range 0-1.
12. iters: Number of iterations of the heuristic search procedure.
13. max_kba: Maximum number of KBA areas to be returned after analysis execution.
14. ndn_weight: Weighting factor to be applied to the congruency term of the optimality score.