WEST AFRICA: EU supports preservation of Mount Nimba ecosystems
The European Union (EU) is providing a $2.8 million loan to the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The funding is for the implementation of the 'Support Project for the Preservation of Transboundary Forest Ecosystems in the Nimba Mountains', located in Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia.
The Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (MNR) is once again the focus of a conservation project. Called the "Projet d'appui à la préservation des écosystèmes forestiers transfrontaliers des Monts Nimba", the initiative aims to The initiative aims to reduce the mining, agricultural encroachment, deforestation and poaching that degrade this nature reserve. It covers Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia.
The new project will be implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) over a 39-month period. UNOPS will support the departments in charge of biosphere reserve protection in the three countries. UNOPS teams will work in collaboration with local communities, who will be involved in the entire project, from the design of territorial development plans to the operation of the biosphere reserve.The UNOPS teams will work with local communities, who will be involved in the entire project, from the design of territorial development plans to the operationalization of protected forest area management systems, as well as integrated natural resource management.
The "Support Project for the Preservation of Transboundary Forest Ecosystems in the Nimba Mountains" will cost $2.8 million. The project is part of the Support Programme for the Preservation of Forest Ecosystems in West Africa (PAP-FOR), funded by the European Union (EU) to the tune of more than 23 million dollars. The initiative aims to protect biodiversity and forests in five West African countries. "The Nimba project will implement the Landscape Approach, which consists of taking advantage of the presence of the biosphere reserve to strengthen socio-economic development around the area while improving the monitoring and management of the area.The Nimba project will implement the landscape approach, which consists of taking advantage of the presence of the biosphere reserve to strengthen socio-economic development around the area while improving monitoring and law enforcement within the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve," says Juan Jose Villa Chacon, the head of the European Union's cooperation in Guinea.
An area of 17,540 hectares
Before the harmful action of man, the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve had "an originality and diversity of animal and plant populations of the most remarkable kind, not only in terms of the number of animals, but also in terms of the number of animals and plants.The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) has stated that the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve had "a remarkable originality and diversity of animal and plant populations, not only for West Africa, but also for the entire African continent". It included endangered species such as the Micropotamogale of Mount Nimba (Micropotamogale lamottei), the viviparous toad of Mount Nimba (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis) and chimpanzees that use stones as tools.
"The 17,540 hectare protected area is also one of the only sites in the Gulf of Guinea with a high potential for endemism. The reserve's great diversity of habitats with its many niches provides a home for more than 317 species of vertebrates, including 107 mammals, and for a large number of other species.s including 107 mammals, and on the other hand more than 2,500 species of invertebrates with a high rate of endemism, "says UNESCO.
Source: www.afrik21.africa
