Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area

West Africa > Liberia > Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area

Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area.
• It has been estimated that 531 (CI: 321-1,028) individuals are present in the area.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 2,901 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are poaching and habitat disturbance due to logging, mining, and farming activities.
• As a means to endorse the creation of the protected area, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation has collected survey data on the critically endangered western chimpanzee and other large mammal species.

Site characteristics

Situated to the northwest of (Sapo National Park), Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA) is part of the Taï-Grebo-Sapo forest complex. The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) have collected nearly 3,000 observations of wildlife at the site; in addition to the critically endangered western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), pygmy hippos (Hexaprotodon liberiensis), pangolins (Smutsia gigantea), and forest elephants (Loxodonta africana) inhabit the area (WCF 2018).

Table 1. Basic site information for Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area

Area	2,901 km²
Coordinates	5.768000, -8.680139
Designation	Proposed Protected Area
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Based on a transect survey in 2017, the estimated chimpanzee population is approximately 531 (WCF 2018). No other systematic surveys have been conducted in the area, thus, the population trend is unknown.

Table 2. Great ape population estimates in Krahn-Bassa 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	2017	531 (321-1028)	0.151	0.95	Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area	Line transects (Distance)	WCF 2018

Threats

The WCF surveyed 455 households in the proposed protected area in 2017. This socioeconomic survey showed that communities in the area have very limited access to public services, vital resources and infrastructure (WCF 2018). Bushmeat hunting and trade are primary activities in the surveyed communities. Anthropogenic pressure is high in and around the area, due to logging, mining, and farming activities. In addition, WCF’s survey revealed some chimpanzees kept as pets in the communities, and one chimpanzee was confiscated by the Forestry Development Authority (WCF2018).

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area

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	High		A survey by the WCF reported that approximately 82% of surveyed households are farming in and around the site (WCF 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High		Former artisanal gold mining pits are present at the site (Rödel & Glos 2019). The WCF has also reported the presence of mining activities (WCF 2018)	Ongoing (2019)
4. Transportation & service corridors		Absent
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Two surveys in the area have recorded a large number of poaching signs (Rödel & Glos 2019, WCF 2018)	Ongoing (2019)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present		Logging in the area (WCF 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
6. Human intrusions & disturbance		Absent
7. Natural system modifications		Absent
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Absent
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options	12.1 Other threat	Present		Pet trade, a survey by the WCF revealed chimpanzees kept as pets in some of the communities (WCF 2018)	Ongoing (2018)

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Together with Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the WCF has surveyed the proposed protected area to provide knowledge on the abundance and distribution of threatened and endemic species, and thereby endorse the creation of a new protected area (WCF 2018).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Krahn-Bassa 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 Krahn-Bassa 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 Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF). 2018. Activities of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for improved conservation of chimpanzees and their habitat in West Africa. Annual report 2017.
Rödel M-O, Glos J. 2019. Herpetological surveys in two proposed protected areas in Liberia, West Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 95(1): 15-35. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.95.31726

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 30/08/2019