Gola Rainforest National Park
West Africa > Sierra Leone > Gola Rainforest National Park
Summary
- Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Gola Rainforest National Park.
- It has been estimated that 270 (CI: 159-468) individuals occur at the site.
- The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
- This site has a total size of 710 km².
- Key threats to chimpanzees are poaching and habitat destruction due to logging and shifting agriculture.
- A REDD+ project is being developed and implemented at the site with the support of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, which aims to ensure funds for the continuation of conservation work in the park and improve the management of natural resources.
Site characteristics
The site consists of three forest blocks (Gola North, Central, and South) situated in southeast Sierra Leone, which are linked to Liberia’s Gola National Park, forming a transboundary peace park. The forests in Gola Rainforest National Park are a catchment for the Moro, Mahoi, Mano and Moa rivers, providing an important water source for nearby villages (Barca et al. 2018). The area forms part of the Upper Guinean forest ecosystem, a biodiversity hotspot with a large number of endemic species. Close to 1,000 plant species have been identified in Gola Rainforest National Park, half of which are endemic to the Upper Guinea forest ecosystem. In addition to the western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), other threatened species inhabit the area, including pygmy hippos (Choeropsis liberiensis), pangolins, red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), and Jentink’s duiker (Cephalophus jentinki). Gola Rainforest National Park is also classified as an Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2019a) and has been included in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites.
Table 1. Basic site information for Gola Rainforest National Park
| Area | 710 km² |
| Coordinates | 7.60, -10.92 |
| Designation | National Park |
| Habitat types | Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest |
IUCN habitat categories Site designations
Ape status
The chimpanzee population in Gola Rainforest National Park is estimated to be 270 individuals, which is equivalent to almost 5% of Sierra Leone’s estimated population (Brncic et al. 2010). The population trend is unknown.
Table 2. Ape population estimates in Gola Rainforest National Park
| Species | Year | Abundance estimate (95% confidence interval) | Density estimate (per km²) | Encounter rate (nests/km) | Area | Method | Source | Comments | A.P.E.S. database ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pan troglodytes verus | 2006-2007 | 0.102 | Gola West, East, North, and an extension of Gola North | Line transects (Distance) | Klop et al. 2008 | Survey effort: 245.28 km. No evidence of chimpanzees found in Gola West | |||
| Pan troglodytes verus | 2009 | 305 (203-458) | 0.27 (0.18-0.42) | Gola forest reserves and potential corridors | Line transects (Distance) | Ganas 2009 as cited in Brncic et al. 2010 | Survey effort: 173 km | ||
| Pan troglodytes verus | 2009 | 270 (159-468) | 0.25 (0.14-0.43) | 0.76 | Gola forest reserves and potential corridors | Line transects (Distance) | Brncic et al. 2010 | Population estimate based on a re-analysis of data presented in Ganas 2009 | |
| Pan troglodytes verus | 2015-2016 | 0.6 | Gola Rainforest National Park | Line transects (Distance) | Barca et al. 2018 | 96 chimpanzee nests were recorded |
Threats
Approximately 28% of Gola Forest has been subject to logging (Klop et al. 2008). Large-scale logging operations in Gola started in the 1960s and continued until the late 1980s (Klop et al. 2008). Forestry Industries Corporation (FIC) and the Sierra Leone Timber Industry and Plantation Company (Sileti) were the two main companies responsible for the exploitation of timber in Gola (Klop et al. 2008). The resulting impacts from these logging operations include an extensive road network in Gola North, and a large clearing in Gola East. During the 1991-2001 civil war in Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front set up camps near Gola forest; however, a survey that compared wildlife abundances before and after the war found no evidence of serious negative impacts from the war (Lindsell et al. 2011). Current threats in the area include small-scale logging, bushmeat hunting, and shifting agriculture.
Table 3. Threats to great apes in Gola Rainforest National Park
| Category | Specific threats | Threat level | Quantified severity | Description | Year of threat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Residential & commercial development | Absent | ||||
| 2. Agriculture & aquaculture | 2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops | Present | Shifting agriculture due to increasing population growth around the area and scarcity of fertile land (BirdLife International 2019b) | Ongoing (2019) | |
| 3. Energy production & mining | Absent | Extensive road network in Gola North as a result of large-scale logging activities (Klop et al. 2008), which facilitates access to the forest | Ongoing (2008) | ||
| 4. Transportation & service corridors | 4.1 Roads & railroads | High | |||
| 5. Biological resource use | 5.3 Logging & wood harvesting | High | Large-scale logging operations between 1960s and 1980s (Klop et al. 2008), Small-scale logging by local communities (BirdLife International 2019a) | 1960-1989 | |
| 6. Human intrusions & disturbance | Unknown | ||||
| 7. Natural system modifications | Absent | ||||
| 8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases | Unknown | ||||
| 9. Pollution | Unknown | ||||
| 10. Geological Events | Absent | ||||
| 11. Climate change & severe weather | Unknown | ||||
| 12. Other options | Unknown |
Conservation activities
A conservation program began in 1990 by the Forestry Division of the government of Sierra Leone and the Conservation Society for Sierra Leone (CSSL). Since then, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) became a supporter of the conservation projects in Gola, and the site is part of RSPB’s Forests of Hope Programme. Conservation activities were interrupted by the civil war but resumed after the return of peace in 2002 (Lindsell et al. 2011). A REDD+ project is currently under development at the site. The project will use funds obtained from the sale of carbon credits to improve the management of the park, fund long-term conservation work, develop sustainable farming practices, and the establishment of a research station in the park. Gola Rainforest National Park also has its own conservation center, the Gola Rainforest Conservation Center (GRCC), which hosts visitors and researchers. The GRCC also offers capacity building and environmental education activities to the staff of the park, students, and local communities.
Table 4. Conservation activities in Gola Rainforest National Park
| Category | Specific activity | Description | Year of activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Residential & commercial development | |||
| 2. Agriculture & aquaculture | 2.1. Create natural habitat islands within agricultural land | Bordering the site, cocoa trees are strategically planted alongside tree and plant species that increase soil fertility and attract birds (BirdLife International 2018) | Ongoing (2018) |
| 2.11. Farm more intensively and effectively in selected areas and spare more natural land | Develop sustainable farming practices (BirdLife International 2019b) | Ongoing (2019) | |
| 3. Energy production & mining | |||
| 4. Transportation & service corridors | |||
| 5. Biological resource use | 5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols | Forest guards patrol and monitor the forest (Gola Rainforest National Park 2019a) | Ongoing (2019) |
| 6. Human intrusions & disturbance | |||
| 7. Natural system modifications | |||
| 8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases | |||
| 9. Pollution | |||
| 10. Education & Awareness | 10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use | The Gola Rainforest Conservation Center offers environmental education and conservation awareness to school classes and local communities (Gola Rainforest National Park 2019a) | Ongoing (2019) |
| 11. Habitat Protection | 11.2. Legally protect primate habitat | The site was designated as National Park in 2010 (Gola Rainforest National Park 2019b) | Since 2010 |
| 12. Species Management | |||
| 13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives | 13.2. Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g. better education, infrastructure development) | RSPB is developing a REDD+ project which aims to provide funds for the long-term management of the site and support local people in the sustainable management of resources (RSPB 2019) | Ongoing (2019) |
Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)
Challenges
Table 5. Challenges reported for Gola Rainforest National Park
| Challenge | Source |
|---|---|
| Lack of technical means | Brncic et al. 2010 |
Research activities
Several surveys have been done at the site to monitor wildlife and estimate species abundances (e.g., Brncic et al. 2010, Klop et al. 2008, Davies et al. 2008), and the nest ecology of chimpanzees has also been studied at the site (Barca et al. 2018).
Documented behaviours
Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Gola Rainforest National Park
| Behavior | Source |
|---|---|
| Not reported |
References
Barca, B., Turay, B.S., Kanneh, B.A., Tayleur, C. 2018. Nest ecology and conservation of Western Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone. Primate Conservation (32): 133-139.
BirdLife International. 2018. Eat chocolate, save a rainforest - the Gola Cocoa Project tells you how. Online: https://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/eat-chocolate-save-rainforest-gola-cocoa-project-tells-you-how
BirdLife International. 2019a. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Gola Forests. Downloaded from datazone.birdlife.org on 05/07/2019.
BirdLife International. 2019b. Forests of Hope site - Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone. Online: www.birdlife.org
Brncic, T.M., Amarasekaran,B. & McKenna,A. 2010. Final Report of the Sierra Leone National Chimpanzee Census Project. Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Davies, Glyn & Schulte-Herbruggen, Bjorn & Kümpel, Noëlle & Mendelson, Samantha. (2008). Hunting and Trapping in Gola Forests, South-Eastern Sierra Leone: Bushmeat from Farm, Fallow and Forest. 10.1002/9780470692592.ch1.
Gola Rainforest National Park. 2019a The Gola Rainforest Conservation Centre (GRCC). Online: https://www.golarainforest.org/conservation-center
Gola Rainforest National Park. 2019b. Online: https://www.golarainforest.org/about
Klop, E., Lindsell, J.A. & Siaka, A. 2008. Biodiversity of Gola Forest, Sierra Leone. Unpublished Report. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, UK, and Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Lindsell, J. A., Klop, E. and Siaka, A. 2011. The impact of civil war on forest wildlife in West Africa: mammals in Gola Forest, Sierra Leone. Oryx 45:69–77.
RSPB. 2019. The Gola Rainforest: Sierra Leone's first rainforest national park. Online: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/gola-rainforest-sierra-leones-first-rainforest-national-park/
UNESCO. Gola Rainforest National Park. Online: https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5747/
Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 02/09/2019