Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are probably no longer present in Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area.
• This site has a total size of 248.12 km².
• Key threat to chimpanzees is mining.
• Conservation activities were not reported.
• The area has been designated an International Bird Area (IBA) and been proposed for a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).

Site characteristics

Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area is located in Bong county in central Liberia. The area has partially been deforested, especially along the edges (Christie et al. 2007). The area has also been affected by mining of the China Union Project (Johnson 2015). Bong Mountain has a core of steep land with a narrow zone of closed dense forest, but also has existing roads, a moderate population density on the margins, and a potential for iron ore production (Johnson 2015). Johnson (2015) mentions in her report that the boundaries of the Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area have been altered by the Forestry Development Authority in Liberia due to the mining operations that are/will be taking place in the area. Neither information on the altered geographical extent of this site, nor the flora and fauna in this area could be found.

Table 1. Basic site information for Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

Species	'Pan troglodytes verus
Area	248.12 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.87 , Lon: -10.14
Type of site	Proposed protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest, Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest, Urban areas
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

It is likely that chimpanzees have become extinct at this site, as the area around Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area has been almost completely deforested (Christie et al. 2017, Junker pers. obs.) and because much of the site is currently being mined for iron ore (Johnson 2015). The nationwide chimpanzee abundance model published by Junker et al. (2015) suggests that chimpanzees are likely to be absent from this area. However, no chimpanzee surveys have been conducted at this site. Because the entire Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area has been proclaimed a mining site (Johnson 2015), it will probably no longer be considered a protected area in the future.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes verus	2010-2012	Likely to be absent				Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area	Other		Junker et al. 2015	The site itself was not surveyed, estimate based on a nationwide chimpanzee abundance model

Threats

The southern part (about one third of the total area) of Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area has been sold to a mining company, namely China Union Mining Co. The commodity that is being mined is iron ore. The total area of the mining site is 610 km2 (Wilson et al. 2017). The license type is a Class A mining license, which entails that mining is permitted in the proposed production area (no size limit) for at least 25 years (Wilson et al. 2017). The remaining part of Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area is under a Development Exploration License (DEL), which means that the license holder has to submit a proposed exploration program to the Minister of Land, Mines, and Energy within 90 days-, and shall commence exploration within 180 days after the issuance of an exploration license (Wilson et al. 2017). The company started production in early 2014 to June 2015, but later suspended operations in late 2015, as a result of the twin shock - Ebola virus disease in Liberia and the price of iron ore. The water in the area is heavily polluted, because of seepage of heavy metals from the iron ore mine into local creeks, wells and groundwater (Wilson et al. 2017).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Open pit mining for iron ore, Class A Exploration License and DEL issued in 2014 (Johnson 2015, Wilson et al. 2017)	2014-Ongoing (2017)
9 Pollution	9.2 Industrial & military effluents	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Seepage from mining, six water samples were taken, iron, aluminium, calcium, boron, phosphorous, chromium, arsenic, and zinc were present in high concentrations (Wilson et al. 2017)	2014-Ongoing (2017)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5 Biological resource use		Unknown
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12 Other threat		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

No conservation activities have been reported for the site.

Challenges

No information on challenges has been documented.

Table 5. Challenges reported for Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Research activities

No information on research activities has been documented.

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Bong Mountain Proposed Protected Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Christie T, Steining MK, John D, Peal A. 2007. Fragmentation and clearance of Liberia’s forests during 1986–2000. Oryx 41: 539–543.

Johnson S. 2015. Aggregated Biodiversity Offsets: A Roadmap for Liberia’s Mining Sector. Unpublished report by the World Bank Group (WBG) and Program On Forests (PROFOR).

Tweh C, Lormie M, Kouakou CY, Hillers A, Kühl HS, Junker J, et al. 2014. Conservation status of chimpanzees Pan troglodytes verus and other large mammals in Liberia: a nationwide survey. Oryx: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313001191.

Wilson STK, Wang H, Kabenge M, Qi X. 2017. The mining sector of Liberia: current practices and environmental challenges. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 24: 18711–18720.

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