Gola Forest National Park

West Africa > Liberia > Gola Forest National Park

Summary

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• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Gola Forest National Park.
• It has been estimated that 94 (CI: 225-539) individuals occur in the site.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 880 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting and habitat disturbance due to illegal farming, logging and mining activities.
• BirdLife International, the Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia, and the Forestry Development Authority of Liberia worked together on the establishment of Gola Forest National Park; these are also the main organizations implementing conservation activities in the park.
• Gola Forest National Park is adjacent to the Gola Rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone, forming a transboundary peace park.

Site characteristics

Situated in northwest Liberia, the site was first classified as a National Forest in 1960 (Hoke et al. 2007), and designated as National Park in 2016 (Rainforest Trust 2018). The park is located in the Upper Guinea Forest of West Africa, a biodiversity hotspot with very high rates of endemism (Hoke et al. 2007). In addition to chimpanzees, other endangered mammal species occur, including Jentink’s duiker (Cephalophus jentinki), forest elephant (Loxodonta africana), pygmy hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon liberiensis), leopard (Panthera pardus), and bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) (Barrie et al. 2007). The site has also been declared an Important Bird Area (BirdLife International 2019). Gola Forest National Park is strategically connected to Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest National Park to establish a bi-national peace park (Rainforest Trust 2018).

Table 1. Basic site information for Gola Forest National Park

Area	880 km²
Coordinates	7.48, -10.81
Designation	National Park
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

The most recent estimate of chimpanzee abundance was 94 individuals in the year 2012 (Tweh et al. 2014). Through the GolaMA project, line transect surveys with nest counts were conducted across a small portion of the northern sector and the adjacent community forest. Lines were surveyed in 2016-2017 and repeated in 2018-2019 The data have not yet been analyzed to obtain a density estimate.

Table 2. Great ape population estimates in Gola Forest National Park

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				Gola National Forest	Index survey, capture-recapture method	Barrie et al. 2007	Only hunters reported that chimpanzees were still present in parts of the forest
Pan troglodytes verus	2012	94 (225-539)	0.110		Gola National Forest	Line transects (Distance)	Tweh et al. 2014	Survey effort: 118.3 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2016-2017				Northern part of Gola NP	Line transects (Distance)	Jones unpublished data
Pan troglodytes verus	2018-2019				Northern part of Gola NP	Line transects (Distance)	Jones unpublished data
Pan troglodytes verus	2019			Present	Eastern part of Gola NP	Index survey	ELRECO Nationwide Forest Elephant Status Survey

Threats

Several years of civil conflict in Liberia (1989-2003) led to the encroachment of Gola National Forest by displaced people and increased illegal mining and farming activities, as well as bushmeat hunting (Hoke et al. 2007). Illegal mining and logging activities were particularly aggravated by the civil wars (Hoke et al. 2007). Other major threats include bushmeat hunting and illegal farming activities (Hoke et al. 2007). Furthermore, since the end of the second civil war, the interest from international logging and mining companies to extract timber and mineral resources in the country was renewed (Tweh et al. 2014). In 2005, two mining companies were large-scale prospecting at Gola National Forest (Barrie et al. 2007).

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Gola Forest National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	Present		Illegal settlement of displaced people due to civil conflict (Hoke et al. 2007)	1989-2003
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present		Illegal farming activities (Hoke et al. 2007)	Ongoing (2007)
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High		Illegal artisanal mining, especially during the Liberian civil wars (Barrie et al. 2007, Tweh et al. 2014)	Ongoing (2014)
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Present		Trails created by heavy machinery and poachers (Barrie et al. 2007)	2005
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Bushmeat hunting (Barrie et al. 2007, Tweh et al. 2014, Jones et al. 2019 a,b)	Ongoing (2014)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High		Logging and pit-sawing (Hoke et al. 2007)	Ongoing (2007)
6. Human intrusions & disturbance	6.2 War, civil unrest & military exercises	High		Two civil wars resulted in the encroachment of the park by displaced people; illegal mining and logging activities were also aggravated during this time (Hoke et al. 2007)	1989-2003
7. Natural system modifications		Absent
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Absent
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

The site is part of BirdLife International´s (Forests of Hope program), which aims to restore natural forests and support their long-term management. BirdLife International is also carrying out (monitoring projects) in the site. As part of the (GolaMa Project), the Society for Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL) works to manage and protect the surrounding parts of the Gola forest that are not protected. Jones et al. (2019a) used cluster analysis to group hunters based on their behavioural and demographic profiles. It showed that groups with different hunting impacts also had distinct livelihood profiles, so would probably be expected to respond differently to different interventions. In a further survey of the same park-adjacent villages, Jones et al (2019b) gives a description of the species hunted and the financial returns obtained by hunters and traders. Chimpanzees and several other threatened taxa were recorded among hunters catch. The study found that traders were highly discouraged from continuing their activities by law enforcement efforts at road blocks. A household survey conducted in 2017 and 2019 found bushmeat hunting levels remained relatively unchanged at about 30-40% of households, whereas bushmeat trading may have decreased somewhat (from about 40 to 20%). This is most likely to be related to increased law enforcement efforts and meat confiscations.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Gola Forest National Park

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	5.4. Implement road blocks to inspect cars for illegal primate bushmeat	Road blocks to inspect bushmeat traders (Jones et al. 2019b)	Ongoing (2019)
	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Forest guards of the Forestry Development Authority conduct poaching patrols (BirdLife International 2014)	Ongoing (2014)
	5.15. Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g. SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of wildlife law enforcement patrols	Monitoring work done by BirdLife International (RSPB 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
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	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	the area was designated as National Park in 2016 (Rainforest Trust 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
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 Gola Forest National Park

Challenge	Source
Lack of law enforcement	Barrie et al. 2007, Jones et al. 2019a

Research activities

Research activities in Gola Forest National Park focus on the monitoring of western chimpanzees (details in section on ape status), the bushmeat trade and appropriate conservation interventions (Jones et al. 2019 a,b; details section on conservation activities).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Gola Forest National Park

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

Barrie, A., Zwuen, S., Kota, A.N., Lou, M. Sr, Luke, R. 2007. Rapid survey of large mammals of North Lorma, Gola and Grebo National Forests. In A Rapid Biological Assessment of North Lorma, Gola and Grebo National Forests, Liberia (eds P. Hoke, R. Demey & A. Peal), pp. 59–64. Conservation International, Washington, DC, USA.
BirdLife International. 2014. Are we finally almost there? The Gola Forest National Park gazettement in Liberia: an update. Online: https://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/are-we-finally-almost-there-gola-forest-national-park-gazettement-liberia-update
BirdLife International. 2019. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lofa-Gola-Mano Complex. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 23/03/2019.
Hoke, P., R. Demey and A. Peal (eds.). 2007. A rapid biological assessment of North Lorma, Gola and Grebo National Forests, Liberia. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 44. Conservation International, Arlington, VA, USA.
Jones S et al. 2019a. Audience segmentation to improve targeting of conservation interventions for hunters: Audience Segmentation. Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13275.
Jones, S. et al. 2019b. Incentives and social relationships of hunters and traders in a Liberian bushmeat system. Biol. Conserv. 237, 338–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.06.006
Rainforest Trust. 2018. Liberia Marks Official Launch of Gola Forest National Park With Community Ceremony. Online: https://www.rainforesttrust.org/liberia-marks-official-launch-of-gola-forest-national-park-with-community-ceremony/
RSPB. 2019. Tropical Forests Research. Online: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/tropical-forests-research/)
Tweh, C., Lormie, M., Kouakou, C.Y., Hillers, A., Kühl, H.S., 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

Page completed by:Martina Vogt & Sorrel Jones Date: 12/12/2019