Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

West Africa > Liberia > Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

Summary

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• 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 forest buffaloes Syncerus caffer and Bongos Tragelaphus eurycerus, as well as 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
Coordinates	6.678939, -11.245522
Designation	Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve
Habitat types	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland Forest, Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level, Subtropical/Tropical Swamp, Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane Forest, 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, Tweh et al. 2014). However, there is a lack of data on chimpanzee abundance and status, so the population size and trend are unknown.

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

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	2004			Present	Lake Piso forest block	Unknown	Sambolah 2007	19 observations of chimpanzees or signs of chimpanzees
Pan troglodytes verus	2010-2012			Present	Lake Piso forest block	Index survey	Tweh et al. 2014	Total survey effort: 2 days, indirect signs of chimpanzee presence (vocalization, but no nests, Junker pers. comm. 2019)
Pan troglodytes verus	2023			Present	Lake Piso, Warkolor forest area	Index survey	Deh, J.J., pers. Comm. 2023

Threats

The main threats in the site are pollution (including solid waste, sewage disposal, and industrial pollution), hunting, and habitat destruction due to 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	Quantified severity	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development	1.1 Housing & urban areas	Present		Expansion of urban areas (Spalding et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2010)
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present		Conversion of land to rice field (Spalding et al. 2010) and farming (Sambolah 2007)	Ongoing (2010)
3. Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	High		Sand mining (Sambolah 2007)	Ongoing (2007)
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Present		Construction of roads (Spalding et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2010)
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High		Hunting pressure was especially high in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (Sambolah 2007)	Ongoing (2007)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High		Overharvest of timber and fuelwood (Sambolah 2007, Spalding et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2007)
6. Human intrusions & 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 (Spalding et al. 2010)	1990-2003
7. Natural system modifications	7.1 Fire & fire suppression	High		Burning of vegetation (savannah woodland, Sambolah 2007)	Ongoing (2007)
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution	9.1 Domestic & urban waste water	High		Sewage pollution (Spalding et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2010)
	9.2 Industrial & military effluents	High		Industrial pollution (Spalding et al. 2010)	Ongoing (2010)
	9.4 Garbage & solid waste	High		Solid waste disposal (Sambolah 2007, Spalding et al. 2010), disposal of rotten fish (Sambolah 2007)	Ongoing (2010)
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Several projects have been funded by the Global Environment 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 2019), as well as sustainable forestry community management (SGPb 2019). An ecolodge is currently being constructed in the Warkolor Forest, in the northern part of Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve; the presence of the ongoing construction and humans have reduced the presence of illegal activities in that part of the reserve (Deh, J.J., pers. Comm. 2023).

Table 4. Conservation activities in Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

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	1) environmental education and awareness raising in nearby communities (Sambolah 2007); 2) 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 (SGPc 2019)	1) 2005-2006; 2) 2016-2017
	10.2. Involve local community in primate research and conservation management	Establish community forests (SGPa 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
	10.4. Regularly play TV & radio announcements to raise primate conservation awareness	Create awareness on community forestry through local radio stations (SGPa 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
	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 (SGPb 2019)	Ongoing (2019)
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site is classified as a multiple sustainable use reserve since 2011 (The Analyst News 2018)	Since 2011
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 Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

Impediment	Source
Not reported

Research activities

No information on research activities has been documented.

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Great ape behaviors reported for Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve

Behavior	Source
Not reported

References

BirdLife International. 2019. Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Piso (Cape Mount). Online: http://www.birdlife.org
Fauna & Flora of Liberia. 2015. Online: http://www.liberianfaunaflora.org/research/sapo-conservation-centre/7653-lake-piso
Ramsar. 2003. Liberia joins the Ramsar Convention. Online: https://www.ramsar.org/news/liberia-joins-the-ramsar-convention
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
SGPa. 2019. 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
SGPb. 2019. 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
SGPc. 2019.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
Spalding, M., Kainuma, M. and Collins, L. 2010. World atlas of mangroves. Earthscan, London.
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/
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.

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 03/11/2023