Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
West Africa > Liberia > Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
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Summary
- Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Cestos-Senkwehn.
- The population size is unknown.
- The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
- This site has a total size of 832.09 km².
- Key threats to chimpanzees are artisanal and large-scale mining and poaching.
- No conservation activities have been reported for the site.
- Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area forms part of an Important Bird Area (IBA). There are plans to link Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area to Sapo National Park. The area falls into one of the conservation priority areas identified for Liberia by Junker et al. (2015). The latter was ranked highest of all patches in terms of chimpanzee density, and mammal and tree diversity and links up with Krahn Bassa National Forest.
Site characteristics
Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area lies in the lowly populated coastal centre of Liberia between the towns of Buchanan and Greenville and stretches inland from the coast for some 70 km. The area serves as host for wildlife transiting from Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area and Sapo National Park. Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area includes inland-, littoral-, and mangrove forests (Verschuren 1983). The site has also been classified as an IBA. In addition to chimpanzees, Tweh et al. (2014) found tracks of zebra- Cephalophus zebra, Maxwell- Philantomba maxwellii, and black duiker Cephalophus niger in this area during their nationwide survey. The endangered pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis has been reported for this site (Mallon et al. 2011), but could not be confirmed by Tweh et al. (2014) who surveyed two line transects in this area.
Table 1. Basic site information for Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
| Species | Pan troglodytes verus |
| Area | 832.09 km² |
| Coordinates | Lat: 5.49 , Lon: -9.30 |
| Type of site | Proposed protected area |
| Habitat types | Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Wetlands (lakes, rivers, streams, bogs, marshes), Marine coastal/supratidal |
| Type of governance |
IUCN habitat categories Site designations
Ape status
No published information could be found on wildlife surveys conducted in this area. Tweh et al. (2014) surveyed two line transects, each 3 km in length, and recces in Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area during their nationwide survey and found 10 chimpanzee nests in three different groups (Junker unpubl. data).
Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
| Species | Year | Abundance estimate (95% CI) | Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI) | Encounter rate (nests/km) | Area | Method | Source | Comments | A.P.E.S. database ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pan troglodytes verus | 2012 | 3.3 | Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area | Line transects & recces | Tweh et al. 2014 (Junker unpubl. data) | Reconnaissance walk, total survey effort: 6 km, 10 nests were found | |||
| Pan troglodytes verus | 2023 | Camera trap | Fauna & Flora |
Threats
The main threats to chimpanzees in this area include artisanal mining for gold and poaching. Tweh et al. (2014) found numerous empty cartridges and a few snares, as well as signs of artisanal gold mining. However, people who were interviewed in the villages in this area reported that there was a local taboo against killing chimpanzees in their area (Junker unpubl. data). The area has also been assigned to a mining company on a Mineral Exploration License (MEL) (Johnson et al. 2015). This license type entails that after a proposed exploration program has been handed to the Minister of Land, Mines, and Energy, the company commences exploration (Wilson et al. 2017).
Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
| Category | Specific threats | Threat level | Description | Year of threat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Residential & commercial development | Unknown | |||
| 2 Agriculture & aquaculture | Unknown | |||
| 3 Energy production & mining | 3.2 Mining & quarrying | High | Open pit mining for gold (Johnson 2015), MEL issued in 2011 (Johnson 2015), signs of artisanal gold mining were recorded on 2 line transects (Junker unpubl. data) | Ongoing (2017) |
| 4 Transportation & service corridors | Unknown | |||
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals | Medium | Empty cartridges and snares were recorded on 2 line transects (Junker unpubl. data) | Ongoing (2014) |
| 6 Human intrusions & disturbance | Unknown | |||
| 7 Natural system modifications | Unknown | |||
| 8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Unknown | |||
| 9 Pollution | Unknown | |||
| 10 Geological events | Absent | |||
| 11 Climate change & severe weather | Unknown | |||
| 12 Other threat | Unknown | |||
| 5 Biological resource use | 5.1.1 Subsistence bushmeat hunting | Present (unknown severity) | Hunting signs recorded on recce transects (Fauna & Flora 2023) | 2023 |
Conservation activities
No conservation activities have been reported for the site.
Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
| Category | Specific activity | Description | Implementing organization(s) | Year of activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Protection & restoration | 5.5 Demarcate and enforce boundaries of protected areas |
Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)
Challenges
Table 5. Challenges reported for Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
| Challenges | Specific challenges | Source | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not reported | |||
| Unknown |
Enablers
Table 6. Enablers reported for Cestos-Senkwehn 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 Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area
| Behavior | Source |
|---|---|
| Not reported | |
| Not reported |
Exposure to climate change impacts
External links
Relevant datasets
References
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).
Junker J, Boesch C, Freeman T, Mundry R, Stephens C, Kühl HS. 2015. Integrating wildlife conservation with conflicting economic land-use goals in a West African biodiversity hotspot. Basic and Applied Ecology: doi:10.1016/j.baae.2015.07.002.
Mallon D, Wightman C, De Onellas P, Ransom C. 2011. Conservation Strategy for the Pygmy Hippopotamus. IUCN Species Survival Commission.
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.
Verschuren J. 1983 Conservation of Tropical Rainforest in Liberia. Recommendations for Wildlife Conservation and National Parks. IUCN/WWF.
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.
Fauna & Flora (2023) Threat assesment of Cestos-Senkwehn and Grand Kru-River Gee Proposed Protected Areas. Unpublished report to Conservation Works / USAID.
Page created by: Andrew Bamford andrew.bamford@fauna-flora.org Date: 2024-09-05