August 31st, 2009
A new national park in the Gola Forest in Sierra Leone is to be created, after a long-standing campaign by Birdlife and other groups. The Gola Forest is is composed of hill forest, extensive riverine systems and swamps, holding 90 per cent of Sierra Leone’s forest bird species, and is is the largest area of lowland rain forest remaining in the country. The park’s creation will allow greater cross-border biodiversity preservation and hopefully put a stop to commercial logging activities, gold and mineral prospecting and illegal hunting of large quantities of ‘bushmeat’.
Birdwatch
More on the Gola forest
- Gola Forest Reserve
- Gola Forest Reserve (Important Birds Areas of Sierra Leone)
- Saving the Gola rainforest (The Guardian) – including map – The Gola forest, in Sierra Leone is home to chimpanzees, leopards, forest elephants and more than 250 species of bird. It is being protected by a pioneering project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, funded by the European commission, the French government, the RSPB and US-based group Conservation International
Africa nature, Sierra Leone nature | Tags: Gola Forest, National parks in Sierra Leone|