Wildlife of Liberia

This West African nation has a long Atlantic coastline and a range of habitat types, with a corresponding diversity of plants and animals.

Liberia is considered a biodiversity hotspot and has more intact forests characteristic of the Upper Guinea Massif than do neighbouring countries.

The terrain consists of flat or undulating coastal plains, which rise to a rolling plateau and low mountains in the northeast.

[2] Liberia can be considered a biodiversity hotspot and has the highest remaining portion of the forests of the Upper Guinea Massif, containing many species endemic to the region.

Evergreen forests in the south east of the country, which has very high rainfall, are characterised by dense vegetation with trees of varying heights.

Moist semi-deciduous forest is found in the central and northwestern parts of the country with slightly lower rainfall.

The Liberian mongoose is probably the rarest mammal, none having been seen for years until one was captured in 1989;[5] it is hunted for bushmeat and classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

Six species of turtle are found in Liberia, three marine and three freshwater, although one of the latter, the forest hinge-back tortoise is largely terrestrial.

[16] Other commercially-fished species are the Madeiran and round sardinellas, the Spanish mackerel, the bonga, and the European anchovy, and large quantities of shrimps and lobsters are brought ashore.

The main conservation threats are the replacement of forests by rubber plantations, and more recently by oil palm plantations, mining, lumbering, unsustainable firewood collection, charcoal production, the introduction of alien species, slash-and-burn cultivation practices and the uncontrolled hunting and harvesting of wild animals and plants.

An action plan, running from 2017 to 2027, has been put in place which is designed to educate the populace in order to "promote the conservation and sustenance of Liberia‘s rich biological diversity, resources and culture".