Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

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Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are likely to be present in Zwedru Proposed Protected Area.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 637.15 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting, large-scale mining and commercial logging.
• Zwedru Proposed Protected Area has been designated a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and an International Bird Area (IBA).

Site characteristics

Zwedru Proposed Protected Area is located 20 km west of the town Zwedru – the capital of Grand Gedeh county - on the northern border between Liberia and Côte D’Ivoire. It has been designated an IBA and a KBA, because it is the only known site where the critically endangered Liberian greenbul, Phyllastrephus leucolepis, has been reported (Johnson 2015). No information about other surveys at this site could be found. During the nationwide survey in 2010-2012 (Tweh et al. 2014), the survey teams found fresh and old chimpanzee nests three kilometres from the border of Zwedru Proposed Protected Area, on the north-western boundary of the site (Junker unpubl. data).

Table 1. Basic site information for Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	637.15 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.32 , Lon: -8.40
Type of site	Proposed protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

A survey of indicator species was undertaken in 2005 (FFI 2005). This was a collaborative effort of Fauna & Flora International (FFI) the FDA, Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA) and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA). However, no further details on this survey could be found.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Zwedru 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	Zwedru Proposed Protected Area	Other	Junker et al. 2015 (Fig. 6A, Appendix B)	The site itself was not surveyed, estimate based on a nationwide chimpanzee abundance model

Threats

The entire proposed protected area is covered by Mineral Exploration Licenses (MEL) for gold, diamonds and other minerals except for iron ore owned by Superior Mineral Resources Inc. (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). Zwedru 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). Moderate amounts of hunting signs were also recorded on two line transects about 3 km south-west of Zwedru Proposed Protected Area (Junker unpubl. data).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Zwedru 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	Mining for gold, diamonds and other minerals, except for iron ore (Johnson 2015)	Ongoing (2015)
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium	Hunting signs recorded (Junker unpubl. data)	Ongoing (2011/2012)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Low	Area overlapped with Private-Use Permits, which have been withdrawn (Global Witness 2013, Johnson 2015)	2013-2015
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		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

No conservation activities have been reported for the site.

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Zwedru 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 Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

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.

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