Conservation Issues in the Nimba Mountains

The Nimba Mountains consist of a 40km-long scenic mountain chain, which extends along the tri-national border between Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia. Their unique biogeographical characteristics have led to the differentiation of multiple micro-climates and ecological niches, which have favored the emergence of highly diverse wildlife and landscapes. They form a varied but single ecological and anthropological entity that is torn between different administrative and protective statuses. The Nimba Mountains have benefited from an early protective status, which was favored by the numerous scientific investigations initiated in the 1940s. Threats to biodiversity, including chimpanzees, are tightly linked to habitat destruction, which is mainly due to the increasing human pressures. The biggest challenge consists of dealing with the trade-off between biodiversity preservation and local development. This reinforced the necessity for elaborating a global and coherent transnational program of natural resource management.