Liberia

Information Sources

Location

West Africa, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone

 CIA World Factbook

National websites

Liberia: News and Resource  www.africanews.org/liblinks.html

The Liberia Page www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Country_Specific/Liberia.html

Liberia http://www.africaindex.africainfo.no/africaindex1/countries/liberia.html

Embassy / Chancery in U.S.

 5201 16^th Street NW

Washington DC, 20011

Info@liberiaemb.org

 CIA World Factbook

Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation

Major Natural Resources

Major Environmental and Conservation Issues

It must be noted that Liberia is faced with enormous debt which hinders most environmental action. Also, current political situations are more important to Liberians at the moment.

 Compiled from Liberian Webpages

Statistics

Land area

96,320 Sq. km

 CIA World Factbook

Area of forest

Area of wetlands

Area of territorial waters

15,050 Sq. km

 CIA World Factbook

Population

 2,771,901

 CIA World Factbook

Population Density

28.778/Sq. km

Area protected (ha) (only areas 1000ha) at all IUCN levels

 None

 WRI

Fraction of land area protected (%)

 0

Major Protected Areas

 No protected area

Http://www.wri.org

Endemic Species

Mammals

Total species: 193 (including endemic and non-endemic)

Http://data.wri.org:1996/

And

Http://www.wri.org/sdis/ctr_std/cs-pdf/liberia.pdf

Birds

Total: 581

Reptiles

Total: 62

Amphibians

Total: 38

Fish

 N/A

Invertebrates

 N/A

Plants

Total: 2,200

Endangered and Threatened Species

Mammals

 13

 Http://data.wri.org:1996/

Birds

 13

Reptiles

 3

Amphibians

1

Fish

 N/A

Invertebrates

N/A

Plants

 1

Extinct Species

 None, or none recorded

 Http://www.wcmc.org.uk/species/animals/animal_redlist.html

Species listed on CITES Appendix I

 http://www.wcmc.org.uk/CITES/english/fauna.htm then Select All species, Malawi and the appropriate appendix for the list

 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Species listed on CITES Appendix II

There are 3 species of endangered plants, and 25 total species of plants threatened.

 Http://www.wcmc.org.uk/species/plants/geographic_table.htm

Legislation

Laws protecting endangered or threatened species

Laws protecting endangered ecosystems

Signatory to CITES

3/11/81

 Http://www.wcmc.org.uk/CITES/english/parties.htm

Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention

No

 Ramsar

Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity 

No

Http://www.biodiv.org/conv/ratify.html

Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty

No

 The Migratory Bird Treaty

Member of International Whaling Commission

No

Http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/iwcoffice

Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources

 Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber '94

 CIA World Factbook

Non-government Organizations (NGOs), or chapters of international organizations concerned with the preservation of natural resources

Natural Resource Use

Fisheries

Marine Catch: 3,778 tonnes

The WRI 

Forestry

Value of exports: $72,859,000 US (equal to US dollars, not to the US necessarily)

 The WRI

Ecotourism

Trade in wildlife products

Hunting

Other uses of natural resources

Human Impacts on Natural Resources

Air pollution

Water pollution

 Pollution of rivers from iron ore tailings; pollution of coastal waters from oil and sewage

 Http://www.selu.com

Development activities

 Deforestation of Tropical Forests; soil erosion

 Http://www.selu.com

Introduced species

 Only one fish species, with unknown effects on the environment, but beneficial effects on the economy, has been introduced

 Http://www.fao.org/scripts/acqintro/query/retrive.idc

Legislation addressing these issues

Restoration and Reintroduction

Programs for restoration of damaged habitat 

Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species