West Africa > Liberia > Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

Summary

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Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are likely to be present in the Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area.
The population size is unknown.
The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
This site has a total size of 837 km².
Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting, large-scale mining and commercial logging.
Kpo Mountains forms part of a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) spanning Kpelle Forest and Lorma National Forest.

Site characteristics

Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area encompasses the Kpo Mountain range, Bulubala Mountain, an important section of the Ba Creek watershed, and surrounding closed dense forest lowlands which connect these otherwise steep and relatively narrow mountain ranges. It is one of Liberia’s remaining forests with rich biodiversity. Though not close to the Gola Forest National Park and the Foya Proposed Protected Area, it serves as host for wildlife transiting from these areas (FDA 2017). A site of intermediate importance for the vulnerable zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra) and pygmy hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon liberiensis), and the endangered Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana, Johnson 2015). Apart from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), survey teams of the nationwide chimpanzee and large mammal survey (Tweh et al. 2014) found numerous signs of Maxwell duiker (Philantomba maxwellii), Bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys), lowland Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus), red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), and the forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus) in vicinity of Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area (Junker unpubl. data).

Table 1. Basic site information for Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

Area	837 km²
Coordinates	7.41, -10.06
Designation	Proposed Protected Area
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 2017, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) published a request for expressions of interest for provision of consultancy services to carry out a biological baseline survey of Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area and carry out a socio-economic study of the local communities (FDA 2017). However, no information about surveys in this area could be found. Although Tweh and colleagues (2014) did not survey Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area directly, they found a few nests and feeding signs of chimpanzees on recces and line transects in the forests north-west and south-west of Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area (Kpelle Forest), as well as to the far east of this area (Lorma National Forest) (Junker unpubl. data). The nationwide chimpanzee abundance model published by Junker et al. (2015) suggests that chimpanzees are likely to occur in this area. Further analysis of the nationwide dataset revealed that Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area was located in the fifth highest ranked conservation priority area in terms of chimpanzee density, and mammal and tree diversity (Junker et al. 2015). Interview surveys showed that several villages to the west of Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area in Kpelle Forest practice taboos against the killing and eating of chimpanzees (Junker unpubl. data).

Table 2: Great ape population estimates in Kpo Mountains 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	2010-2012			Likely to be present	Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area	Model estimate	Junker et al. 2015	The site itself was not surveyed, estimate based on a nationwide chimpanzee abundance model

Threats

During the nationwide chimpanzee and large mammal survey, teams encountered moderate amounts of hunting signs in the forests around Kpo Proposed Protected Area (Junker unpubl. data). However, no line transects or recces were surveyed directly inside Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area. A considerable part of the proposed protected area is covered by Mineral Exploration Licenses (MEL) for gold and other base metals and iron ore owned by BCM International Liberia Ltd., SALMEC Resources Ltd., and Mining and Exploration Services Liberia Ltd. (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). Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area overlapped with illegally issued Private-Use Permit (PUP) for commercial logging. Private Use Permits were a type of logging licence designed to allow private land owners to cut trees on their property, but which were reportedly subject to misuse by commercial logging companies. After investigations by Global Witness (Global Witness 2013) much public outcry and extensive media coverage, PUPs have now largely been rescinded (Johnson 2015).

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Medium	Mining for gold and other minerals (Johnson 2015)	Ongoing (2015)
4. Transportation & service corridors		Not reported
5. Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Low	Area overlapped with PUPs, which have been withdrawn	2013-2015
6. Human intrusions & disturbance		Not reported
7. Natural system modifications		Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Not reported
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

No conservation activities have been reported for the site.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	Not reported
6. Human intrusions & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	Not reported
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Forestry Development Authority (FDA) 2017. Request for Expressions of Interest for Provision of Consultancy Services. Liberia Forest Sector Project, Project Id: P154114, Grant Id: Tfa2427. (15 October 2019; https://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/Community_37.pdf).
Global Witness. (2013). Avoiding the Riptide: Liberia must Enforce its Forest Laws to Prevent a New Wave of Illegal and Destructive Logging Contracts. Global Witness.
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.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 23/10/2019

Kpo Mountains Proposed Protected Area

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