Wologizi

West Africa > Liberia > Wologizi

Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Wologizi.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 995 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are large-scale mining, commercial logging and poaching.
• The following conservation activities were conducted byby the Skills and Agriculture Development Services (SADS) in villages near Wologizi: school-based environmental education program, community radio program, newspaper publication, discussions in villages, community forestry program.
• Wologizi was removed from the list of proposed protected areas, as it appears to be important for iron ore (Johnson 2015); Wologizi is one of the ten most important conservation priority areas in terms of chimpanzee density, and large mammal and tree diversity (Junker et al. 2015).

Site characteristics

The main features of this area are the Wologizi Mountain Range and Wonegizi Mountains, (the Wonegizi Mountains form a transboundary conservation corridor between Liberia and the republic of Guinea and the biosphere reserve of Ziama) within two separate large blocks of largely uninhabited closed dense forest with rich biodiversity (Johnson 2015). The area includes Liberia’s highest mountain, Mount Wuteve (Wutuwi) at 1,447 m, as well as several other peaks, including Mount Balagizi (1,100 m). The mountains extend for 22 km with spurs reaching up to 5 km on either side of the ridge. Slopes on the ridge are exceedingly steep and in places form sheer cliffs up to 100 m high. With increasing altitude, tree-height decreases and the understorey becomes denser. Above 1,000 meters, areas of dense bush and grass are more common. The foothills and lower valleys are surrounded by large areas of savanna woodland (BirdLife International 2019). The area is an Important Bird Area (IBA), and includes important portions of the upper Lofa, Lawa, and Gbaye River watersheds. It is an important site for the endangered amphibian Phrynobatrachus annulatus. It is also the only known site in Liberia for the vulnerable amphibian Phrynobatrachus villiersii. Additionally, it is one of two sites in Liberia that contain the vulnerable Nimba flycatcher Melaenornis annamarulae and the white-necked picathartes Picathartes gymnocephalus. Also present are the zebra duiker Cephalophus zebra, pygmy hippopotamus Hexaprotodon liberiensis, leopard Panthera pardus, forest elephant Loxodonta africana (Johnson 2015), Upper Guinea red colobus Piliocolobus badius, Diana monkey Cercopithecus diana (Barrie et al. 2005), and bongo Tragelaphus euryceros (Junker unpubl. data). Wologizi is one of the ten most important conservation priority areas in terms of chimpanzee density, and large mammal and tree diversity (Junker et al. 2015).

Table 1. Basic site information for Wologizi

Area	995 km²
Coordinates	8.06, -9.79
Designation	None
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane Forest, Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude Shrubland, Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude Grassland

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The Rapid Assessment Survey conducted by FFI in 2005 (Barrie et al. 2005) confirmed the presence of chimpanzees in this area. The teams of the nationwide chimpanzee and large mammal survey (Tweh et al. 2014) also found direct (vocalization) and indirect signs of chimpanzee presence (nests, feeding sins) (Junker unpubl. data). A second Rapid Assessment Survey was conducted by FFI in collaboration with Elephant Research and Conservation (ELRECO) (Vogt pers. comm. 2019), again confirming the presence of chimpanzees in Wologizi. In addition, Johnson (2015) mentions that surveys were conducted in this area as part of the REDD Program; however, no further information regarding these surveys could be found.

Table 2. Great ape population estimates in Wologizi

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	2005			Present	Wologizi (North Lorma National Forest)	Index survey	FFI Rapid Assessment Survey	‘reconnaissance walk’
Pan troglodytes verus	2010			Present	Wologizi (south-western boundary)	Index survey, Line transects (Distance)	Junker unpubl. data	‘reconnaissance walk’, as part of the nationwide chimpanzee and large mammal survey (Tweh et al. 2014)
Pan troglodytes verus	2018-2019			Present	Wologizi	Index survey	FFI Rapid Assessment Survey	‘reconnaissance walk’

Threats

A considerable part of the proposed protected area is covered by Mineral Exploration Licenses (MEL) for gold and diamonds owned by Noya Mining 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). Barrie et al. (2005) mention logging and poaching as additional threats to wildlife in this area. Wologizi used to overlap with illegally issued Private-Use Permits (PUP) for commercial logging. Private Use Permits were a type of logging licence designed to allow private landowners 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). The nationwide teams found signs of small-scale logging and poaching on recces/line transects near the north-eastern and south-western boundary of Wologizi (Junker unpubl. data). However, they also recorded taboos against the killing and/or eating of chimpanzees in villages in the same area (Junker unpubl. data).

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Wologizi

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Low		Small-holder rice fields and other plantations observed (Junker unpubl. data)	Ongoing (2011)
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High		Mining for gold diamonds (Johnson 2015)	Ongoing (2015)
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Medium		Evidence of logging activities (Barrie et al. 2005); area overlapped with PUPs, which have been withdrawn (Johnson 2015, Junker et al. 2015)	Ongoing (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

The work of the Skills and Agriculture Development Services (SADS) focuses on promoting environmental conservation, sustainable forest management and alternative livelihood provision, as means of generating incomes to support their lifestyle (Johnson 2015). In May 2010, SADS, in collaboration with Conservation International (CI) has launched The Green Forum Program, which includes a community radio program, a newspaper publication, a school-based environmental education program, and a community forestry program.The purpose of The Green Forum is to set a stage for the exchange of ideas and information on current environmental issues of relevance in Liberia in order to raise public awareness and lay the framework for informed engagement (SADS 2010).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Wologizi

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	10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use	School-based environmental education program (SADS 2010) – not specifically targeted at chimpanzee/primate conservation	2010
	10.4. Regularly play TV & radio announcements to raise primate conservation awareness	Community radio program (SADS 2010) – not specifically targeted at chimpanzee/primate conservation	2010
	10.5. Implement multimedia campaigns using theatre, film, print media, discussions	Newspaper publication, discussions in villages near Wologizi (SADS 2010) – not specifically targeted at chimpanzee/primate conservation	2010
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 Wologizi

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Signs of chimpanzee nut cracking observed during Rapid Assessment Survey (Barrie et al. 2005).

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Wologizi

Behavior	Source
Nut cracking	Barrie et al. 2005

References

BirdLife International 2019. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Wologizi mountains. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 04/11/2019.
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.
Skills and Agricultural Development Services (SADS) 2010. Annual Report. Unpublished report.
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: 04/11/2019