Biodiversity Loss

By Jacob Tweh, Communication Officer, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation   For the first time in the Taï-Grebo-Krahn-Sapo (TGKS) Transboundary Forest Landscape shared by Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, convictions have been made for illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking on the Liberian side. The quick crackdown on these unlawful acts is credited to the work of the Transboundary…

By Edudzi Nyomi, WA BiCC Communications Specialist In the early weeks of self-isolation and physical distancing, a few curious friends asked my opinion about the supposed positive environmental effects of COVID-19 stemming from us staying at home. The question remains legitimate even as countries around the world—including Ghana, where I live—have substantially eased restrictions on…

“Forest Blessings,” a 24-episode radio drama series produced by the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) Program, has officially launched in the Mano River Union (MRU) countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire. The drama was created to raise awareness about forest conservation issues, including deforestation, forest degradation, and biodiversity loss. These…

By Chaz Kyser   Building on the governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia’s commitment to protect the Gola Transboundary Forest Landscape, officials representing the two West African countries gathered on February 18 at Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia to sign amendments to their current memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding the conservation of this…

By Jacob Tweh, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Many might have said that 16-year-old Linda Nyanway’s future looked bleak as she took her now-husband’s hand in marriage. Linda’s parents divorced when she was just three, leaving her to spend most of her childhood with her grandmother in River Gee County, Liberia. Her grandmother worked as a subsistence…

Felicia Kyne may not look like a superhero. She can’t fly and does not carry magical weapons. But the soft-spoken 23-year-old woman from a remote village in Liberia is on the frontlines of a global battle to preserve biodiversity. Read the full story here.

By Nouhou Ndam, WA BiCC Forestry and Landscape Coordinator Guinea is known as the “Water Reservoir” of West Africa.” Many rivers, including the Niger, Senegal River and Gambia River, originate from Guinea and flow across over a dozen countries. Guinea is endowed with biodiversity that is unique in West Africa, especially in its dense and…

The Ziama-Wonegizi-Wologizi (ZWW) forest complex, shared by Guinea and Liberia, is home to more than 25% of Africa’s mammals. Nearly 90% of its native vegetation has been lost, however, because of unsustainable human activities. To sustainably manage this globally unique refuge of plant and animal biodiversity and essential ecosystem services such as water, the governments…

By Fauna & Flora International If you thought zebra duiker and otter shrew were four different animals, think again. These are just two of the elusive creatures that Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and partners were hoping to track down during recent surveys of large and small mammals in one of West Africa’s most important…

Trophy hunting. It’s one of the most emotive and divisive issues in conservation today, but Fauna & Flora International (FFI) had no hesitation in endorsing a trophy hunt with a difference earlier this month that saw a number of teams go toe to toe in the heart of the West African rainforest in a bid…