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West Africa > Liberia > Sapo National Park

Summary

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Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Sapo National Park.
It has been estimated that 1,055 (CI: 595-1,870) individuals occur in the site.
The chimpanzee population trend is stable.
The park has a total size of 1,804 km².
Key threats to chimpanzees are poaching and illegal mining.
Conservation activities have focused on long-term bio-monitoring and law enforcement.
Sapo National Park is Liberia's first protected area, established in 1983.

Site characteristics

Located in southeastern Liberia, Sapo National Park is Liberia's first protected area and represents one of the most intact forest ecosystems of the country (Tweh et al. 2018). The area of the park was extended from 1,304 km² to 1,804 km² in 2003 (Tweh et al. 2018). The park forms part of the Upper Guinean Forest ecosystem, and contains high levels of biodiversity (N'Goran et al. 2010). The park is a low elevation tropical humid rainforest. Elevation in the southeastern area is approximately 100m with gently rolling hills while in the north, the elevation is approximately 400m in the north with steep ridges (Peal & Kranz 1990). In addition to the western chimpanzee, other endangered and vulnerable species inhabit the site, including forest elephants (Loxodonta africana), pygmy hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon liberiensis), Jentink’s duiker (Cephalophus jentinki), red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), and Diana monkeys (Cercopithecus diana diana, N'Goran 2010).

Table 1. Basic site information for Sapo National Park

Area:	1804 km²
Coordinates	5.378432, -8.496117
Designation:	National park
Habitat types:	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

A survey in 1982 (one year before the establishment of the park), confirmed the presence of chimpanzees in the Sapo forest (Anderson et al. 1983). Based on the estimates from two surveys, one in 2009 (N'Goran et al. 2010) and a second one in 2017 (Tweh et al. 2018), the chimpanzee population in the park has remained relatively stable, with an estimated abundance of approximately 1,055 individuals.

Table 2. Great ape population estimates in Sapo National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate	Area	Method	Source	Comments
Pan troglodytes verus	1983		0.24	Present	Southeastern sector of the park (50 km²)	Line transects (Distance)	Anderson et al. 1983	Total survey effort: 42.7 km
Pan troglodytes verus	2002			Present	Sapo National Park	Line transects (Distance)	Waitkuwait 2003	Assessment of Fauna & Flora International's bio-monitoring programme
Pan troglodytes verus	2007-2009			0.27	Sapo National Park, excluding south east area	Line transects (Distance)	Vogt 2011	Fauna & Flora International bio-monitoring programme
Pan troglodytes verus	2009	1079 (CI: 713-1633)	0.86	4.05	Sapo National Park, excluding mining areas	Line transects (Distance)	N'Goran et al. 2010
Pan troglodytes verus	2016-2017	1055 (CI: 595-1870)	0.83		Sapo National Park, excluding south east area	Line transects (Distance)	Tweh et al. 2018	Total survey effort: 38.38 km

Threats

Sapo National Park has been primarily threatened by illegal hunting and mining (Tweh et al. 2018; Greengrass 2015; N'Goran et al. 2010). An estimated 18,000 illegal miners were inhabiting the park in 2010, the majority of which was evicted by the government on the same year (Vogt 2011). A survey of two commercial hunting camps bordering the park revealed high hunting pressure in the area, and the majority of bushmeat harvested was destined to urban areas (Greengrass 2015). The carcasses documented during this survey included chimpanzees as well as other endangered and vulnerable species, such as the red colobus monkey, Diana monkey, and pygmy hippopotamus. Furthermore, the development of the road network around the park is expected to increase hunting pressure and facilitate the bushmeat trade (Greengrass 2015), as well as other illegal activities in the park.

Illegal mining activity in Sapo © Ben Tally
Mining camp © Ben Tally
Illegal mining © Ben Tally
Illegal mining © Ben Tally

Table 3. Threats to great apes in Sapo National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	High	18,000 settlers in 2010	Illegal settlement of miners (Vogt 2011)	2010
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present		Present as a result of illegal settlements; scale unknown (N’Goran et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2010)
3. Energy production & mining	3.2.3 Artisanal mining	High		Illicit gold mining which has decreased since 2010 (Tweh et al. 2018); artisanal mining is still present (Junket per. comm. 2019)	Ongoing ( 2019)
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Present		Development of the road network around the park facilitates illegal human activities in the park (Greengrass 2015)	Ongoing (2015)
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High	Hunting sign encounter rate: 1.7/km (Tweh et al. 2018)	Poaching represents a major threat to chimpanzees and other species in the park (Tweh et al. 2018, N’Goran et al. 2010, Greengrass 2015), and most of the bushmeat is destined to urban areas (Greengrass 2015)	Ongoing (2010, 2015, 2018)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	6.2 War, civil unrest & military exercises	High		Two civil wars since the establishment of the park disrupted conservation activities, and led to illegal occupation of the park, as well as poaching and extraction of natural resources (Greengrass 2015, Collen et al. 2011)	1989-1996, 1999-2003
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 Forestry Development Authority of Liberia is responsible for the sustainable management of the forest sector and the protection of all natural resources. It runs the Sapo National Park in collaboration with Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF). Main activities at the national park level include anti-poaching, conservation education awareness, and bio-monitoring & scientific research. As of 2019, the main activities in the research area have been camera trappings (2019,2020, 2021) by FFI and FDA in the entire national park. eDNA (focusing on Pygmy hippopotamus) was conducted in 2022. The national park forms part of the Tai-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex, which is a conservation priority in West Africa. Conservation efforts in Sapo National Park have mainly focused on law enforcement, conservation awareness, and bio-monitoring. The WCF has supported Community Watch Teams (CWT), which comprise members from surrounding communities, and regularly patrol and support FDA rangers (WCF 2019). CWTs have played an important role in the eviction of illegal miners from the national park (WCF 2019). In 2012, Fauna & Flora International established a long-term bio-monitoring program to follow the population trends for chimpanzees, pygmy hippopotamuses, elephants, as well as duikers, birds, reptiles, and amphibians (Tweh et al. 2018). Together with Liberia's Forestry Development Authority, permanent transects are surveyed twice a year as part of this long-term bio-monitoring program (Tweh et al. 2018).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Sapo 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	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	Community Watch Teams supported by the WCF regularly patrol the site (WCF 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
	5.11. Provide training to anti-poaching ranger patrols	Members of the Community Watch Teams are trained in the use of equipment (GPS, compass, camera) and patrolling (WCF 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
	5.15. Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g. SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of wildlife law enforcement patrols	Long-term bio-monitoring of chimpanzee population (Tweh et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2019)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	6.7. Resettle illegal human communities (i.e. in a protected area) to another location	Eviction of 18,000 illegal settlers in the park by the Liberia's government (Vogt 2011)	2010
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	10.2. Involve local community in primate research and conservation management	As part of a long-term bio-monitoring program, staff of Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority and members of the local community are involved in the surveys (Tweh et al. 2018)	Ongoing (2018)
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The area is designated as National Park (N’Goran et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2010)
12. Species Management	Not reported
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

The influx of local community dwellers inside the national park is hampering the SNP management to implement the protection of chimpanzees. Low manpower for conducting anti-poaching patrols in and outside the park has put chimpanzees under serious threat. Very high illiteracy among the rangers thus making it difficult to collect data, process court procedures, and conduct conservation education awareness to local community people.

Table 5. Challenges reported for Sapo National Park

Challenge	Source
Lack of law enforcement	Greengrass 2015, N'Goran et al. 2010
Lack of technical means	Tweh et al. 2018
Lack of logistical means	Waitkuwait 2003
Conflict on land tenure	Tally, B. pers. comm. 2022

Research activities

Several surveys have been done in the park to monitor the chimpanzee population (e.g., N'Goran et al. 2010, Tweh et al. 2018), assess the impacts of conservation interventions (Tweh et al. 2018), investigate the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees in the park (Anderson et al. 1983), and investigate the impact of hunting pressure in the area (Greengrass 2015).

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Sapo National Park

Behavior	Source
Nut cracking	Anderson et al. 1983

References

Tweh, C., Kouakou, C.Y., Chira, R., Freeman, B., Githaiga, J.M., Kerwillain, S., Molokwu-Odozi, M., Varney M. and Junker, J. 2018. Nest counts reveal a stable chimpanzee population in Sapo National Park, Liberia. Primate Conservation 2018 (32): 12 pp.
N’Goran, K. P., Kouakou, C.Y. and Herbinger I. 2010. Report on the Population Survey and Monitoring of Chimpanzee in Sapo National Park, Liberia (June–December 2009). Report. Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire.
Anderson, R., Williamson, E.A., and Carter, J. 1983. Chimpanzees of Sapo Forest, Liberia: density, nests, tools and meat-eating. PRIMAaXS, 24(4): 594-601.
Waitkuwait, W.E. 2003. Report on the First Year of Operation of a Community-based Bio-monitoring Programme in and around Sapo National Park, Sinoe County, Liberia. Report. Fauna and Flora International.
Vogt, M. 2011. Results of Sapo National Park Bio-Monitoring Programme 2007-2009. Report. Fauna & Flora International, Monrovia, Liberia.
Greengrass, E. 2015. Commercial hunting to supply urban markets threatens mammalian biodiversity in Sapo National Park. Oryx 50(3), 397–404.
Collen, B., Howard, B., Konie, J., Daniel, O., and Rist, J. 2011. Field surveys for the endangered pygmy hippopotamus Choerpsis liberiensis in Sapo National Park, Liberia. Oryx, 45(1), 35–37.
Wild Chimpanzee Foundation. 2019. Activities of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for improved conservation of chimpanzees and their habitat in West Africa. Annual Report 2018. Peal, A. L., & Kranz, K. R. (1990). Antelopes: GLobal Survey and Regional Action Plans, Part 3. West and Central Africa. Gland, Switzerland: World Conservation Union.

Page completed by: Ben Tally & A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 23/01/23

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