Grebo-Krahn National Park

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Summary

• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Grebo-Krahn National Park.
• The total chimpanzee abundance was 313 (95% CI: 186-449) in 2015.
• The chimpanzee population trend is stable.
• This site has a total size of 971.36 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are poaching, as well as illegal mining and farming activities.
• Conservation activities, led primarily by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF), have focused on law enforcement, awareness campaigns (including theater plays), and supporting sustainable small-scale aquaculture activities in local communities.

Site characteristics

Located in southeastern Liberia, the site is part of the Tai-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex, a biodiversity hotspot and conservation priority in West Africa (Kouakou et al. 2012). In addition to the Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), several endangered species inhabit Grebo-Krahn National park, including Jentink’s duiker (Cephalophus jentinki), forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), pygmy hippos (Hexaprotodon liberiensis), and Diana monkeys (Cercopithecus diana diana) (Kouakou et al. 2012, Barrie et al. 2007).

Table 1: Basic site information for Grebo-Krahn National Park

Area:	971.36 km²
Designation:	National Park
Habitat types:	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In 2012, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) conducted the first complete survey of chimpanzees and other large mammals of the Grebo National Forest (Kouakou et al. 2012). The estimated abundance has remained relatively stable since then; the most recent survey estimated a total population of approximately 313 individuals in 2015 (Furnell et al. 2015).

Table 2: Great ape population estimates in Grebo-Krahn National Park

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% Confidence Interval)	Density estimate (per km2)	Encounter rate	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Western chimpanzee	2005			present	Grebo National Forest	camera traps and recce	Barrie et al. 2007	nut-cracking sites and vocalizations
Western chimpanzee	2012	412 (CI: 216-787)	0.110 individuals/km2		Grebo National Forest	transect survey	Kouakou et al. 2012	survey effort: 178.21 km
Western chimpanzee	2012	352 (CI: 214-578)	0.10 individuals/km2		Grebo National Forest	transect survey	Tweh et al. 2014
Western chimpanzee	2013	341 (CI: 139-836)	0.289 individuals/km2		Proposed Grebo-Krahn National Park (including Glaro Native Reserve)	transect survey	Kouakou et al. 2013	total survey effort: 51.5 km
Western chimpanzee	2014	247 (CI: 155-396)	0.161 individuals/km2	0.91 signs/km	Proposed Grebo-Krahn National Park (including Glaro Native Reserve)	transect survey	Kouakou et al. 2014	total survey effort: 242.73 km
Western chimpanzee 2015	2015	313 (CI: 186-449)	0.230 individuals/km2	1.01 signs/km	Proposed Grebo-Krahn National Park (including Glaro Native Reserve)	transect survey	Furnell et al. 2015	total survey effort: 249.32 km

Threats

Grebo-Krahn National Park is mainly threatened by illegal hunting, mining, and farming activities (WCF 2019). The park has also been highly threatened by chewing-stick (Garcinia spp.) harvesting, which developed into industrial-scale operations in some areas of the park (WCF 2017).

Table 3: Threats to great apes in Grebo-Krahn National Park

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & Urban Areas	low	illegal settlements [3]
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	present	farming activities, including cocoa production in southern areas of the park [3, 8]	ongoing
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	medium	mining activities have increased; in 2016, eco-guard teams came across 6 illegal mining sites [8]	ongoing
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	high	logging roads and paths leading to mining, farming, and logging sites [3]
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals	high	although hunting levels decreased in 2015 due to the Ebola outbreak, hunting for bushmeat continues to be a main threat in the site [2, 8]	ongoing
	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	high	harvest of chewing stick (roots of Garcinia spp. [8]
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	low	logging [3]
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	6.3 Work & other activities	high	human encroachment due to mining, hunting, farming activities, as well as harvesting of chewing stick [8]	ongoing
7. Natural system modifications		unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		present	Ebola virus disease was present in the counties of Grand Gedeh and River Gee, where the park is situated [9]	2014-2016
9. Pollution		unknown
10. Geological Events		absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		unknown
12. Other options		unknown

Threats list

Conservation activities

The WCF has invested much effort in conservation activities in the Tai-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex, including Grebo-Krahn National Park. In 2018 WCF worked alongside two theatre companies to produce a plays aiming to sensitize the communities surrounding the park to issues of deforestation and wildlife protection (WCF 2019). The WCF also works together with Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to systematically survey the park and collect signs of large mammals, as well as hunting and habitat disturbance signs. Sustainable fish-farming has also been facilitated by the WCF to provide an alternative protein source to bushmeat.

Table 3: Conservation activities in Grebo-Krahn National Park

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	absent
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.11. Farm more intensively and effectively in selected areas and spare more natural land	a survey conducted by the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL) and Multi-Agrosystems Promoters (MAP) identified top priorities for agricultural projects; the FDA is already working on developing sustainable cocoa farming with local communities outside the park [7]	ongoing
3. Energy production & mining	absent
4. Transportation & service corridors	absent
5. Biological resource use	5.6. Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols	forest guards of the Forestry Development Authority conduct poaching patrols [7]
5. Biological resource use	5.9. Regularly de-activate/remove ground snares	community eco-guards remove snares during patrols [7]	ongoing
5. Biological resource use	5.11. Provide training to anti-poaching ranger patrols	trainings are conducted for new eco-guards [7]	ongoing
5. Biological resource use	5.15. Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g. SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of wildlife law enforcement patrols	starting in 2016, SMART data collection methods are being used during patrols [8]	ongoing
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	6.7. Resettle illegal human communities (i.e. in a protected area) to another location	community eco-guards report any illegal settlements (e.g., bushmeat tents) that they come across to the FDA [7]	ongoing
7. Natural system modifications	absent
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	absent
9. Pollution	absent
10. Education & Awareness	10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use	awareness campaigns carried out by community eco-guards [7]	ongoing
	10.5. Implement multimedia campaigns using theatre, film, print media, discussions	theater plays to sensitize local communities to issues of wildlife protection and deforestation [7]
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	Grebo-Krahn National Park was launched in 2018 [7]	ongoing
11. Habitat Protection	11.6. Demarcate and enforce boundaries of protected areas	demarcation of national park boundary implemented in close collaboration with local communities [7, 8]	ongoing
12. Species Management	absent
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	13.2. Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g. better education, infrastructure development)	the WCF is supporting sustainable aquaculture activities in two communities next to the national park to increase revenues and supply an alternative to bushmeat [8]; in addition, farmers were trained in bee-keeping in 2018 by the Universal Outreach Foundation [7]	ongoing

Conservation activities list

Impediments

No information on impediments has been documented.

Impediments list

Research activities

No information on research activities has been documented.

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

[1] Kouakou, C.Y., Vergenes, V., Dowd, D., Normand, E., Boesch, C. (2012) Report on the large mammals survey and monitoring of chimpanzees in Grebo, National Forest, Liberia (February-August 2012) Report. Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire.
[2] 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.
[3] Furnell, S., Dowd, D., Tweh, C., Zoro Gone Bi, I.B., Vergenes, V., Normand, E., Boesch, C. (2015) Report on phase 2 in the proposed Grebo-Krahn National Park (February-June 2015) Report. Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire.
[4] 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.
[5] Kouakou, C.Y., Vergenes, V., Normand, E., Boesch, C. (2013) Report of the survey undertaken in the proposed Grebo National Park (February-March 2013) Report. Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire.
[6] Kouakou, C.Y., Dowd, D., Tweh, C., Zoro Gone Bi, I.B., Vergenes, V., Normand, E., Boesch, C. (2014) Report on phase 1 in the proposed Grebo National Park (February-July 2014) Report. Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire.
[7] Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (2019) Activities of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for improved conservation of chimpanzees and their habitat in West Africa. Annual Report 2018.
[8] Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (2017) Activities of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for improved conservation of chimpanzees and their habitat in West Africa. Annual Report 2016.
[9] CDC (2017) 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak Distribution in West Africa. Online: https://www.cdc.gov

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 25/03/19