In Liberia, FFI plays a lead role in the development and implementation of Species Action Plans. In 2013, the pygmy hippopotamus National Action Plan, supported by FFI and FDA, was finalised, presenting clear strategies for pygmy hippopotamus conservation in Liberia. Regularly collected data, through transect and camera trap surveys, in Sapo National Park alone suggest that the pygmy hippopotamus density is 0.45/km2, which has prompted FFI to plan a nationwide survey of the pygmy hippopotamus. This will be the first attempt to estimate the population of this rare species across Liberia, and the results will be aligned with implementation of the pygmy hippopotamus National Action Plan.
FFI and partners have also devised a National Elephant Action Plan (NEAP), which has now been formally signed by the Liberian President at the time, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Action priorities in the NEAP have prompted increased focus on elephant censuses in the region.
FFI is also supporting the regional Chimpanzee Action Plan development for the West-African sub-species, which was upgraded to critically endangered in 2016.
Almost 8,000 species of fish, amphibian, reptile, mammal and bird are officially categorised as globally threatened, and over 9,600 tree species are in danger of extinction.
Liberia is home to large sections of Upper Guinean Forest – one of the world’s great tropical forest ecosystems that is rich in endemic and rare species including chimpanzees and pygmy hippos.
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