Implementing effective management of East Nimba Nature Reserve

The East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR) was gazetted in 2003, is 11,500 hectares and forms part of the Mount Nimba Range that spans across Liberia, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. Despite formal gazettement and both its national and international reputation for conservation importance, the reserve continued to lack active management and protection protocol.

In 2010, a Co-Management Agreement was signed between the Liberian government Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and local stakeholder communities in order to manage the ENNR through a joint board, the Co-Management Committee (CMC).

In 2013, a Management Plan was developed by Fauna & Flora in partnership with Arcelor Mittal Liberia (AML) and Conservation International (CI), and endorsed in March 2014. The ENNR project took flight in 2015 (following a brief delay due to the Ebola outbreak) and addresses the implementation of the ENNR Management Plan through technical support and capacity building.

The capacity-building component addresses the daily essential operations, such as patrolling, monitoring and research methods, through training courses and on-the-job learning. The project also supports education activities by holding stakeholder meetings, producing educational materials, and establishing transboundary collaboration with partners in Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire.