Gbi Proposed Protected Area

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Gbi Proposed Protected Area.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 884 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting and commercial logging.
• The following conservation activities were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation: camera trap survey and a socio-economic survey.
• The area falls into one of the conservation priority areas identified for Liberia by Junker et al. (2015). It was ranked highest of all patches in terms of chimpanzee density, and mammal and tree diversity. It is part of the largest continuous forest patch in Liberia and connects all the way up to Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area on the Liberian coast. Gbi Proposed Protected Area is also located inside a Key Biodiversity Area.

Site characteristics

Gbi Proposed Protected Area is located in a lowly populated and densely forested area of Grand Gedeh county, about 15 kilometers west of the county capital city Zwedru. Gbi Proposed Protected Area is an area of largely undeveloped closed dense forest and is unique in that it remains the largest area most distant from settlements in all of Liberia. This is one of the best sites for the endangered red colobus Piliocolobus badius, the endangered pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis and the vulnerable zebra duiker Cephalophus zebra. The national chimpanzee survey (Tweh et al. 2014) and subsequent data analysis indicates that this area supports a large population of the critically endangered western chimpanzees and has large mammal species diversity (Johnson 2015, Junker et al. 2015). Additional community forest applications overlapping with Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA), which includes the entire continuous forest block and which Gbi Proposed Protected Area forms part of, poses a serious threat to this site. The decision about the community forest applications and whether they will be considered despite their overlap with the proposed protected area shall be taken after the final presentation of results from the feasibility study. While in the meantime additional funding was acquired by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for the pre-gazettement of KBPPA, respective activities can only fully start once the extent and status of the future protected area have been confirmed by the Forestry Development Authority.

Table 1. Basic site information for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Species	'Pan troglodytes verus
Area	884 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.00 , Lon: -8.53
Type of site	Proposed protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The nationwide chimpanzee abundance model predicted chimpanzees to be present at this site (Tweh et al. 2014). More specifically, teams found signs of chimpanzee presence, including nests, feeding remains, and nut-cracking sites in the north-eastern area of Gbi while walking a reconnaissance path (“recce”) - only about 16 kilometers away from the city Zwedru. Further analysis of the nationwide dataset revealed that Gbi Proposed Protected Area was located in an area ranked highest in terms of chimpanzee density, and mammal and tree diversity (Junker et al. 2015). A feasibility study for Gbi Proposed Protected Area was conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and completed in 2019 (Riedel pers. comm. 2019). This study had two components: a camera trap survey focusing on key conservation species and a socio-economic survey implemented by WCF’s consortium partner Fawlkes Consulting. The socio-economic survey was conducted in February-March 2019 and the camera trap survey in April 2019. During the camera trap survey threatened key species, such as forest elephants Loxodonta africana and pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis were recorded. However, the final results of the camera trap study have not yet been analyzed and are not available.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Gbi 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	Present				Gbi Proposed Protected Area	Reconnaissance walk		Junker unpubl. data	‘Reconnaissance walk’, 3 nests were found (old and recent), chimpanzees were heard vocalizing and nut cracking tools and feeding remains were found

Threats

Additional community forest applications overlapping with Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA), which includes the entire continuous forest block and which Gbi Proposed Protected Area forms part of, poses a serious threat to this site. The Gbi Proposed Protected Area is surrounded by Ratified and Proposed Logging Concessions (Junker et al. 2015), as well as by Mineral Exploration Licenses (MEL) held by Middle Island Resources Liberia Ltd. for gold, diamonds, and other commodities except for iron ore (Johnson 2015). MEL’s entail 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). Few empty gun shells or traps were recorded on line transects and recces near Gbi Proposed Protected Area (Junker unpubl. data); however, hunting with guns is a widespread threat to large mammals across most of Liberia’s forests (Junker et al. 2015).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High (more than 70% of population affected)	The site is surrounded by/ and overlaps with ratified and proposed logging concessions (Tweh et al. 2015, Riedel pers. comm. 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Mining for gold and diamonds (Johnson 2015).	Ongoing (2015)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Tweh et al. 2014, Junker unpubl. data	Ongoing (2014)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12 Other threat		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

A camera trap- and a socio-economic survey were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in 2019 (Riedel pers. comm. 2019).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
8 Permanent presence	8.1 Run research project and ensure permanent human presence at site	A camera trap- and a socio-economic survey were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (Riedel pers. comm. 2019).		2019

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Gbi 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

In 2019, a camera trap- and a socio-economic survey were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (Riedel pers. comm. 2019).

Documented behaviours

Junker and her teams (unpubl. data) found nut-cracking sites with stone- and wood hammers and –anvils, as well as a termite mound that was broken/opened by chimpanzees on the northern fringes of Gbi Proposed Protected Area.

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Behavior	Source
Termite eating	Junker unpubl. data
Nut cracking	Junker unpubl. data

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.

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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