IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Hoke, P.; Demey, R.; Peal, A. | |
| A rapid biological assessment of North Lorma, Gola and Grabo National Forests, Liberia | |
| 2007 Full Book | |
Liberia lies entirely within the Upper Guinea forest region that stretches from Guinea to Togo and is part of the Guinean Forests of West Africa Hotspot, making it one of the 34 biologically richest and most endangered terrestrial ecoregions in the world (see map, Myers et al. 2000, Mittermeier et al. 2004). The remaining forests in this region contain exceptionally diverse ecological communities, distinctive flora and fauna, and a mosaic of forest types providing refuge to a number of endemic species (McCullough 2004). At the Upper Guinean Forest Priority-Setting Workshop in 1999, Gola National Forest and Grebo National Forest were ranked as being 'exceptionally high' and North Lorma National Forest as 'very high' conservation priority areas (Bakarr et al. 2001). Since more than 40% of forest remaining in this hotspot is located in Liberia (Bakarr et al. 2004), the country is key to protecting what is left of the region's fragmented forests. Historically, Liberia's 9.6 million hectares were completely forested; however, only 36% remains as intact closed forest (2.4 million hectares) or as open forest (1 million hectares) with evidence of recent logging (Bayol and Chevalier 2004). An additional 24% has been altered by agriculture of which nearly 10% is potentially suitable for sustainable forestry. The estimated annual deforestation rates of 1.6% between 1990-2000 and 1.8% between 2000 -2005 are higher than that of the total Upper Guinea forest region (1.4% and 1.6%) (FAO 2005). A large portion of Liberia's forest lies in two large blocks: the evergreen lowland forest in the southeast and the semi-deciduous montane forests in the northwest. Overall, little is known about the country's flora and fauna since few studies have been conducted here. Liberia currently has two protected areas: Sapo National Park (created in 1983) located in the lowland rainforests of southeastern Liberia and East Nimba Nature Reserve (created in 2003) located in the highest elevations of northeastern Liberia. Prior to the civil war (1989- 2003), Sapo National Park was well managed and destined to be the model for all of Liberia's future parks. However, the long war eroded infrastructure and restricted management. Since the end of the war, a concerted effort has been put forth to re-establish conservation, restore the current protected areas and promote sustainable forest management (Waitkuwait and Suter 2001, 2002; Whiteman 2004). In 2002, Conservation International (CI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Liberia which proposed seven conservation areas to form the basis of a Liberian protected area network (Conservation International 2002). This would increase the area under protection from 0.2% to 10.6% (Bayol and Chevalier 2004). As Liberia emerges from 14 years of civil war, there will be tremendous pressure on the natural resources to develop the economy (ITTO 2006). A balance between the needs of Liberians and those of their region's imperiled flora and fauna will need to be achieved. |
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