Summary

Loading map...

Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are present in Gbi Proposed Protected Area.
The population size is unknown.
The chimpanzee population trend is unknown.
This site has a total size of 884 km².
Key threats to chimpanzees are hunting and commercial logging.
The following conservation activities were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation: camera trap survey and a socio-economic survey.
The area falls into one of the conservation priority areas identified for Liberia by Junker et al. (2015). It was ranked highest of all patches in terms of chimpanzee density, and mammal and tree diversity. It is part of the largest continuous forest patch in Liberia and connects all the way up to Cestos-Senkwehn Proposed Protected Area on the Liberian coast. Gbi Proposed Protected Area is also located inside a Key Biodiversity Area.

Site characteristics

Gbi Proposed Protected Area is located in a lowly populated and densely forested area of Grand Gedeh county, about 15 kilometers west of the county capital city Zwedru. Gbi Proposed Protected Area is an area of largely undeveloped closed dense forest and is unique in that it remains the largest area most distant from settlements in all of Liberia. This is one of the best sites for the endangered red colobus Piliocolobus badius, the endangered pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis and the vulnerable zebra duiker Cephalophus zebra. The national chimpanzee survey (Tweh et al. 2014) and subsequent data analysis indicates that this area supports a large population of the critically endangered western chimpanzees and has large mammal species diversity (Johnson 2015, Junker et al. 2015). Additional community forest applications overlapping with Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA), which includes the entire continuous forest block and which Gbi Proposed Protected Area forms part of, poses a serious threat to this site. The decision about the community forest applications and whether they will be considered despite their overlap with the proposed protected area shall be taken after the final presentation of results from the feasibility study. While in the meantime additional funding was acquired by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation for the pre-gazettement of KBPPA, respective activities can only fully start once the extent and status of the future protected area have been confirmed by the Forestry Development Authority.

Table 1. Basic site information for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Species	Pan troglodytes verus
Area	884 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 6.00 , Lon: -8.53
Type of site	Proposed protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest
Type of governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

The nationwide chimpanzee abundance model predicted chimpanzees to be present at this site (Tweh et al. 2014). More specifically, teams found signs of chimpanzee presence, including nests, feeding remains, and nut-cracking sites in the north-eastern area of Gbi while walking a reconnaissance path (“recce”) - only about 16 kilometers away from the city Zwedru. Further analysis of the nationwide dataset revealed that Gbi Proposed Protected Area was located in an area ranked highest in terms of chimpanzee density, and mammal and tree diversity (Junker et al. 2015). A feasibility study for Gbi Proposed Protected Area was conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and completed in 2019 (Riedel pers. comm. 2019). This study had two components: a camera trap survey focusing on key conservation species and a socio-economic survey implemented by WCF’s consortium partner Fawlkes Consulting. The socio-economic survey was conducted in February-March 2019 and the camera trap survey in April 2019. During the camera trap survey threatened key species, such as forest elephants Loxodonta africana and pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis were recorded. However, the final results of the camera trap study have not yet been analyzed and are not available.

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes verus	2010-2012	Present				Gbi Proposed Protected Area	Reconnaissance walk		Junker unpubl. data	‘Reconnaissance walk’, 3 nests were found (old and recent), chimpanzees were heard vocalizing and nut cracking tools and feeding remains were found

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Additional community forest applications overlapping with Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA), which includes the entire continuous forest block and which Gbi Proposed Protected Area forms part of, poses a serious threat to this site. The Gbi Proposed Protected Area is surrounded by Ratified and Proposed Logging Concessions (Junker et al. 2015), as well as by Mineral Exploration Licenses (MEL) held by Middle Island Resources Liberia Ltd. for gold, diamonds, and other commodities except for iron ore (Johnson 2015). MEL’s entail that after a proposed exploration program has been handed to the Minister of Land, Mines, and Energy, the company commences exploration (Wilson et al. 2017). Few empty gun shells or traps were recorded on line transects and recces near Gbi Proposed Protected Area (Junker unpubl. data); however, hunting with guns is a widespread threat to large mammals across most of Liberia’s forests (Junker et al. 2015).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High (more than 70% of population affected)	The site is surrounded by/ and overlaps with ratified and proposed logging concessions (Tweh et al. 2015, Riedel pers. comm. 2019)	2015-Ongoing (2019)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Tweh et al. 2014, Junker unpubl. data	Ongoing (2014)
3 Energy production & mining	3.2 Mining & quarrying	Medium (30-70% of population affected)	Mining for gold and diamonds (Johnson 2015).	Ongoing (2015)

Threats

Conservation activities

A camera trap- and a socio-economic survey were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in 2019 (Riedel pers. comm. 2019).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
8 Permanent presence	8.1 Run research project and ensure permanent human presence at site	A camera trap- and a socio-economic survey were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (Riedel pers. comm. 2019).		2019

Conservation activities

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Research activities

In 2019, a camera trap- and a socio-economic survey were conducted by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (Riedel pers. comm. 2019).

Documented behaviours

Junker and her teams (unpubl. data) found nut-cracking sites with stone- and wood hammers and –anvils, as well as a termite mound that was broken/opened by chimpanzees on the northern fringes of Gbi Proposed Protected Area.

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Termite eating				Junker unpubl. data
	Nut cracking				Junker unpubl. data

Behaviours

Exposure to climate change impacts

As part of a study on the exposure of African great ape sites to climate change impacts, Kiribou et al. subm. extracted climate data and data on projected extreme climate impact events for the site. Climatological characteristics were derived from observation-based climate data provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP, www.isimip.org). Parameters were calculated as the average across each 30-year period. For 1981-2010, the EWEMBI dataset from ISIMIP2a was used. For the two future periods (2021-2050 and 2071-2099) ISIMIP2b climate data based on four CMIP5 global climate models were used. For future projections, two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) were used. RCP 2.6 is a scenario with strong mitigation measures in which global temperatures would likely rise below 2C. RCP 6.0 is a scenario with medium emissions in which global temperatures would likely rise up to 3C by 2100. For the number of days with heavy precipitation events, the 98th percentile of all precipitation days (>1mm/d) was calculated for the 1979-2013 reference period as a threshold for a heavy precipitation event. Then, for each year, the number of days above that threshold was derived. The figures on temperature and precipitation anomaly show the deviation from the mean temperature and mean precipitation for the 1979-2013 reference period.

The estimated exposure to future extreme climate impact events (crop failure, drought, river flood, wildfire, tropical cyclone, and heatwave) is based on a published dataset by Lange et al. 2020 derived from ISIMIP2b data. The same global climate models and RCPs as described above were used. Within each 30-year period, the number of years with an extreme event and the average proportion of the site affected were calculated (see Kiribou et al. subm. for details).

Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Value	1981-2010	2021-2050, RCP 2.6	2021-2050, RCP 6.0	2071-2099, RCP 2.6	2071-2099, RCP 6.0
Mean temperature [C]	25	26	25.9	26.1	27.2
Annual precipitation [mm]	2477	2472	2553	2512	2630
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year)	15.2	18.1	15.6	18.3	16.4
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year)	5.9	11.6	11.6	12.6	14.8

Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Gbi Proposed Protected Area

Type	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 6.0)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 2.6)	No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)	% of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)
Crop failure	4	0.01	3.5	0.01	2	0.01	8.5	0.01
Drought	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Heatwave	10	100	9	100	13.5	100	14	100
River flood	1	0.07	2	4.22	2	3.36	2	0.73
Tropical cyclone	0	0	0.5	0.11	0	0	0	0
Wildfire	30	0.44	30	0.44	29	0.48	28.75	0.42

External links

References

Johnson S. 2015. Aggregated Biodiversity Offsets: A Roadmap for Liberia’s Mining Sector. Unpublished report by the World Bank Group (WBG) and Program On Forests (PROFOR).

Junker J, Boesch C, Freeman T, Mundry R, Stephens C, Kühl HS. 2015. Integrating wildlife conservation with conflicting economic land-use goals in a West African biodiversity hotspot. Basic and Applied Ecology: doi:10.1016/j.baae.2015.07.002.

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.

Wilson STK, Wang H, Kabenge M, Qi X. 2017. The mining sector of Liberia: current practices and environmental challenges. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 24: 18711–18720.

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2019-10-11