Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

West Africa > Liberia > Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

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

Area	637.15 km²
Coordinates	6.32, -8.40
Designation	Proposed Protected Area
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest

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. Great ape population estimates in 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	Model estimate	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 great apes in Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	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)
	5.3 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 options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

No conservation activities have been reported for the site.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Zwedru 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 Zwedru Proposed Protected Area

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

No information on research activities has been documented.

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported 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.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 28/10/2019