Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

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Summary

• Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve.
• The population size is unknown.
• The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
• This site has a total size of 972 km².
• Key threats to chimpanzees are pollution, logging, urban expansion, and hunting.
• Conservation activities have focused on education and awareness campaigns.

Site characteristics

The site is situated on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is an important catchment area, with several streams and three rivers (Mafa, Mofe and Mawua) emptying into it (Sambolah 2007). Lake Piso has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International (BirdLife International 2019), and a wetland of international importance (Ramsar 2003). In addition to the western chimpanzee, the reserve hosts several resident and migratory bird species (FFI 2015). The site has been protected since 2011 (The Analyst News 2018).

Table 1: Basic site information for Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

Area:	972 km²
Designation:	Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve
Habitat types:	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland, subtropical/tropical mangrove vegetation above high tide level, subtropical/tropical swamp, subtropical/tropical moist montane, savanna, permanent rivers/streams/creeks, sandy shoreline and/or beaches, sand bars, spits, etc., coastal brackish/saline lagoons/marine lakes

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Western chimpanzees are reported to still be present at the site (Sambolah 2007). However, there is a lack of data on chimpanzee abundance and status.

Table 2: Great ape population estimates in Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

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	2004			present	Lake Piso forest block	unknown	Sambolah 2007	19 observations of chimpanzees or signs of chimpanzees

Threats

The main threats in the site are pollution (including solid waste, sewage disposal, and industrial pollution), hunting, and habitat destruction as a result of logging, agricultural expansion, road construction and urban expansion (Sambolah 2007, Spalding et al. 2010).

Table 3: Threats to great apes in Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	present	expansion of urban areas [6]
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	present	conversion of land to rice field [6] and farming [1]
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	high	sand mining [1]
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	present	construction of roads [6]
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals	high	hunting pressure was especially high in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s [1]
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	high	overharvest of timber and fuelwood 1, 6]
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	6.2 War, civil unrest & military exercises	high	pressure on mangroves greatly increased during civil conflict, by displaced people who moved to coastal areas [6]	1990-2003
7. Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	high	burning of vegetation (savannah woodland) [1]
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		present	Ebola virus disease was present in the counties of Bomi and Grand Cape Mount, where the site is located, during the 2014-2016 epidemic (CDC)	2014-2016
9. Pollution	9.1 Domestic & urban waste water	high	sewage pollution [6]	ongoing
	9.2 Industrial & military effluents	high	industrial pollution [6]	ongoing
	9.4 Garbage & solid waste	high	solid waste disposal [1, 6], disposal of rotten fish [1]	ongoing
10. Geological Events		absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		unknown
12. Other options		unknown

Threats list

Conservation activities

Several projects have been funded by the Global Environmental Facility’s Small Grant Program (SGP) aiming to protect wildlife whilst providing sustainable alternative sources of income for the local people. These include, for example, projects promoting sustainable fishing practices (SGPa), as well as sustainable forestry community management (SGPb).

Table 3: Conservation activities in Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development		absent
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		absent
3. Energy production & mining		absent
4. Transportation & service corridors		absent
5. Biological resource use		absent
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		absent
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	environmental education and awareness raising in nearby communities [1]	2005-2006
	10.1. Educate local communities about primates and sustainable use	project implemented by Ecosanity Services Liberia to engage local communities in the management of waste and raise awareness on the negative impacts of pollution on the reserve [10]	2016-2017
	10.4. Regularly play TV & radio announcements to raise primate conservation awareness	create awareness on community forestry through local radio stations [8]	ongoing
	10.5. Implement multimedia campaigns using theatre, film, print media, discussions	information spread through posters, billboards, T-shirts to promote a sustainable community forest and create awareness implemented by Farmers Associated to Conserve the Environment [8]	ongoing
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	the site is classified as a multiple sustainable use reserve since 2011 [5]	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)	establish community forests [8]	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] Sambolah, R.S. (2007) Biodiversity and environmental Impacts of Human Activities on the proposed Lake Piso Nature Reserve.Online: https://www.cepf.net/sites/default/files/face_lake_piso_report_2_.pdf
[2] BirdLife International (2019) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Piso (Cape Mount). Online: http://www.birdlife.org
[3] Ramsar (2003) Liberia joins the Ramsar Convention. Online: https://www.ramsar.org/news/liberia-joins-the-ramsar-convention
[4] Fauna & Flora of Liberia (2015). Online: http://www.liberianfaunaflora.org/research/sapo-conservation-centre/7653-lake-piso
[5] The Analyst News (2018) YES Visits Lake Piso Multiple Use Reserve in Robertsport. Online: https://liberiananalyst.com/2018/11/14/yes-visits-lake-piso-multiple-use-reserve-in-robertsport/
[6] Spalding, M., Kainuma, M. and Collins, L. (2010) World atlas of mangroves. Earthscan, London.
[7] CDC. 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak Distribution in West Africa. Online: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/history/2014-2016-outbreak/distribution-map.html
[8] SGPa. Promoting Sustainable Fishery In The Lake Piso Basin Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve Without Reducing The Protected And Endangered Species To Maintain Their Population. Online: https://sgp.undp.org/spacial-itemid-projects-landing-page/spacial-itemid-project-search-results/spacial-itemid-project-detailpage.html?view=projectdetail&id=24555
[9] SGPb. Promoting Sustainable Community Forestry Management in the Lake Piso Sustainable Multipurpose Use Reserve, Liberia. Online: https://sgp.undp.org/spacial-itemid-projects-landing-page/spacial-itemid-project-search-results/spacial-itemid-project-detailpage.html?view=projectdetail&id=21597
[10] SGPc. Preventing organic pollution of Lake Piso; a catalyst for clean environment. Online: https://sgp.undp.org/spacial-itemid-projects-landing-page/spacial-itemid-project-search-results/spacial-itemid-project-detailpage.html?view=projectdetail&id=24550

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 26/03/19