New National Park in Sierra Leone Sets the Standard for Conservation
Mammals in Gola
- There are 56 mammal species in Gola, of which 13 are threatened and more than 2,000 species of plants including ten which are at risk.
December 2007. A huge rainforest in one of Africa’s poorest countries has won indefinite government protection and is being heralded as one of the first examples of forest conservation to cut carbon emissions.
President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone has backed plans to make the 75,000-hectare Gola Forest his country’s second national park, and thus protecting more than 50 mammal species including leopards, chimps and forest elephants, 2,000 different plants and 274 species of bird of which 14 are close to extinction.
The area, close to the Liberian border, will become the flagship site in a new national park network with local communities paid annually to replace royalties linked to logging and diamond mining in the forest.
Alistair Gammell, International Director for the RSPB, said: ‘We are helping the government turn a logging forest into a protected forest. The forest is owned by Sierra Leone and we are working with the Sierra Leonean people to conserve the area, which has rarely been done before.
The area, close to the Liberian border, will become the flagship site in a new national park network with local communities paid annually to replace royalties linked to logging and diamond mining in the forest.
Alistair Gammell, International Director for the RSPB, said: ‘We are helping the government turn a logging forest into a protected forest. The forest is owned by Sierra Leone and we are working with the Sierra Leonean people to conserve the area, which has rarely been done before.
Upper Guinea Forest
- Gola is part of the Upper Guinea Forest, of which less than 30 per cent remains. It was once a huge expanse of lowland rainforest covering Sierra Leone, south-east Guinea, Liberia, the southern Ivory Coast and south-west Ghana. Widespread forest clearance began in the 1700s, for agriculture, charcoal mining and timber, leaving less than 30 per cent of the forest remaining. The civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002) restricted government protection for the forest.
‘Huge amounts of carbon will be saved and the site is an excellent example to those now involved in climate talks in Bali. It is showing how richer countries can help poorer countries protect wildlife, support local communities and tackle climate change. It is a project that politicians in Bali seeking to cut the world’s carbon emissions should be lauding, applauding and copying.’
100 rangers being trained
The European Commission and French government are both contributing more than £3 million towards the training of more than 100 staff to patrol Gola’s boundaries, monitor wildlife and run education programmes.
Research and Eco-tourism
Scientists will be encouraged to study the wildlife of the area which is expected to become a hub for eco-tourism in the country.
At the same time, a £6 million trust fund is being established to pay the park’s running costs and the annual payments to local communities, representing more than 100,000 people. The RSPB and Conservation International have paid about £1m each into the fund.
100 rangers being trained
The European Commission and French government are both contributing more than £3 million towards the training of more than 100 staff to patrol Gola’s boundaries, monitor wildlife and run education programmes.
Research and Eco-tourism
Scientists will be encouraged to study the wildlife of the area which is expected to become a hub for eco-tourism in the country.
At the same time, a £6 million trust fund is being established to pay the park’s running costs and the annual payments to local communities, representing more than 100,000 people. The RSPB and Conservation International have paid about £1m each into the fund.
The project is the RSPB’s second forest protection initiative and differs from its Harapan Rainforest scheme in Sumatra where the charity and Indonesian conservationists have halted deforestation by buying the site’s logging rights. The groups spent several years lobbying for law change in Indonesia to enable the Harapan project to go ahead.
Primary Forest
Alistair Gammell said: ‘In Sumatra, we are helping to rehabilitate the forest because most of it has been logged at some stage. Gola is different because much more of the area is primary rainforest and other areas have not been logged for more than 30 years. Without this project, the forest would have been destroyed within ten years because Sierra Leone needs funds for its development.’
New species discoveries in Ghana Forests
Coincidentally, and announcement was made in the very same week that several new endangered and new species have been discovered in Ghansa Atewa Forest, part of the Upper Guinea Forest.
Primary Forest
Alistair Gammell said: ‘In Sumatra, we are helping to rehabilitate the forest because most of it has been logged at some stage. Gola is different because much more of the area is primary rainforest and other areas have not been logged for more than 30 years. Without this project, the forest would have been destroyed within ten years because Sierra Leone needs funds for its development.’
New species discoveries in Ghana Forests
Coincidentally, and announcement was made in the very same week that several new endangered and new species have been discovered in Ghansa Atewa Forest, part of the Upper Guinea Forest.
These are the 14 birds in the Gola forest now close to extinction. They are classified by status by the IUCN – World Conservation Union. The white-eyed prinia* is found close to Gola but not in the forest itself.
- Rufous fishing owl - Endangered
- Gola malimbe - Endangered
- White-breasted guineafowl - Vulnerable
- Western wattled cuckoo-shrike - Vulnerable
- Green-tailed bristlebill - Vulnerable
- Yellow-throated olive greenbul - Vulnerable
- White-necked rockfowl - Vulnerable
- White-eyed prinia - Vulnerable
- Nimba flycatcher - Vulnerable
- Brown-cheeked Hornbill - Near threatened
- Yellow-casqued Hornbill - Near threatened
- Yellow-footed Honeyguide - Near threatened
- Lagden’s bush-shrike - Near threatened
- Rufous-winged illadopsis - Near threatened
- Copper-tailed glossy-starling - Near threatened
Endangered Birds
The rufous fishing owl, the green-tailed bristlebill and the Gola malimbe are amongst bird species at risk in Gola. But best known in the forest is the white-necked picathartes whose appearance and nesting habits are bizarre.
The picathartes nests under the forest’s towering rocks. Gola is thought to be the major stronghold for the bird, which is highly respected by villagers.
Six more National Parks
President Koroma is planning to establish six more national parks in Sierra Leone to develop tourism as the country recovers from the civil war of the 1990s.
The rufous fishing owl, the green-tailed bristlebill and the Gola malimbe are amongst bird species at risk in Gola. But best known in the forest is the white-necked picathartes whose appearance and nesting habits are bizarre.
The picathartes nests under the forest’s towering rocks. Gola is thought to be the major stronghold for the bird, which is highly respected by villagers.
Six more National Parks
President Koroma is planning to establish six more national parks in Sierra Leone to develop tourism as the country recovers from the civil war of the 1990s.
Rarest birds
- The white-necked picathartes is found only in rainforest in five west African countries and there are fewer than 2,500 pairs left. In Sierra Leone, poor breeding success has been linked with human disturbance. Populations near urban areas are seriously threatened by the conversion of land to agriculture. It is protected by law in Sierra Leone and by local religious beliefs.
- The bird has a bald chrome-yellow head and two black patches resembling earmuffs. It scurries over the ground flying only when threatened. It is classified by the IUCN-World Conservation Union as Vulnerable, or facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- The Gola malimbe, a black and yellow weaver, lives in the forest canopy. There are thought to be fewer than 20,000 left and it is thought to live in Gola, eastern Liberia and the Ivory Coast but has not been seen there for more than 15 years.
- The rufous fishing owl lives along forest riverbanks and in mangroves and is threatened by logging and poisoning. The green-tailed bristlebill is rare in Gola and faces a high extinction risk.
Graham Wynne, Chief Executive of the RSPB, said: ‘Protecting Gola as a national park reflects the foresight of the Sierra Leone government and with time, Gola forest and the other parks will give the country something very special to shout about.
‘There are few places in the world where you will find such diversity. Gola is a magical place and it is worth saving simply because it is there.’
The project is being funded by the European Commission, the French government, the RSPB and US-based Conservation International.
‘There are few places in the world where you will find such diversity. Gola is a magical place and it is worth saving simply because it is there.’
The project is being funded by the European Commission, the French government, the RSPB and US-based Conservation International.
