Western Area Peninsula National Park

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Western Area Peninsula National Park

IUCN Category II - National Park

Western Forest (Sierra Leone) .jpg
location West africa
surface 183.37 km²
WDPA ID 19249
Geographical location 8 ° 23 '  N , 13 ° 10'  W Coordinates: 8 ° 22 '59 "  N , 13 ° 10' 0"  W
mark
Topographic map of Sierra Leone
Setup date 1916 (forest reserve) / 2012 (national park)
administration National Protected Area Authority
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The Western Area Peninsula National Park ( English Western Area Peninsula National Park ), until June 2012 Western Area Peninsular Forest Reserve , is a national park in the West African Sierra Leone .

The area was proposed for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013 .

Geography and ecology

The national park covers almost the entire Freetown Peninsula with the Lion Mountains and surrounds Freetown , the capital of the country. It extends over an area of ​​around 18,300 hectares and reaches a height of 971 meters. It is up to 14 kilometers wide and 37 kilometers long. Parts of the forest are primary forest . With precipitation of up to 7000 millimeters per year, the nature reserve is one of the wettest protected areas on earth.

Larger parts of the reserve, especially in the area around Freetown, were affected by slash and burn and urbanization . The water is partially contaminated with pollutants. Since 2011, 3,200 hectares of the forest have been destroyed by new settlements. The bird protection association BirdLife International counted 314 bird species (2018) and classifies the national park as an Important Bird Area , which, however, is threatened. Dozens of mammal species , some of which are endangered , have also been identified in the park , including chimpanzees , West African colobus monkeys , white-bearded colobus monkeys , Jentink duikers , black duikers , Maxwell duikers and pangolins .

Port project

In May 2021, the Guardian reported that the Sierra Leone government had sold 100 hectares of beach and rainforest on Black Johnson Beach to the People's Republic of China for the equivalent of 45 million euros . The People's Republic wants to build an industrial fishing port there. According to a statement by the Ministry of Fisheries of Sierra Leone, large ships are supposed to fish there for the international market. "Waste management components" are foreseen to "recycle marine debris and other wastes into useful products". The ministry promised compensation to landowners. Two non-governmental Organizations demanded access to the evaluation reports to the project. Critics described the land sale as a "catastrophe" and an ecological disaster. An affected landowner, James Tonner, asked President Julius Maada Bio to prevent construction. He created a crowdfunding page to help fund a judicial review of the agreement.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary Annual Report 2015. Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, 2016. Accessed May 6, 2016th
  2. ^ Proposal to include Western Area Peninsula Forest, Beaches and Culture on the Tentative List of Sites for World Heritage Status in Sierra Leone. Conservation of the Sierra Leonean Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve (WAPFR) & its Watershed, date unknown ( January 6, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  3. ↑ Western Area Peninsula National Park , UNESCO (accessed May 17, 2021).
  4. ↑ a b Western Area Peninsula Forest National Park , BirdLife (accessed May 17, 2021).
  5. ↑ Gwyneth Letley / Jane Turpie: Business case development for the Western Area Peninsular Water Fund, Sierra Leone , Catholic Relief Services, October 2020 (accessed May 17, 2021).
  6. ↑ 'Catastrophic': Sierra Leone sells rainforest for Chinese harbor , The Guardian, May 17, 2021.