Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve is a protected area and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

located in both

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

and

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

, extending over a total of area of 17,540 hectares, with 12,540 hectares in Guinea, and 5,000 hectares in Côte d'Ivoire. The reserve covers significant portions of the

Nimba Range The Nimba Range forms part of the southern extent of the Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Richard-Molard on the border of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, at 1,752 m (5,750 ft). "Mount Nimba" may refer either to Mount Richard-Mola ...

, a geographically unique area with unusually rich

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, including exceptional numbers of single-site

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, such as

Nimbaphrynoides ''Nimbaphrynoides'' is a monotypic genus of true toads from highlands in the Mount Nimba region of the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. The sole species is ''Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis''. Along with ''Nectoph ...

(a genus of

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...

toads), the

Nimba otter shrew The Nimba otter shrew (''Micropotamogale lamottei'') is a dwarf otter shrew and belongs to the mammal family Potamogalidae. Otter shrews are shrew-like afrotherian mammals found in sub-Saharan Africa. They are most closely related to the tenrecs ...

, and multiple species of

horseshoe bat Horseshoe bats are bats in the family Rhinolophidae. In addition to the single living genus, ''Rhinolophus'', which has about 106 species, the extinct genus '' Palaeonycteris'' has been recognized. Horseshoe bats are closely related to the Old ...

s. Its highest peak is

Mount Richard-Molard Mount Richard-Molard, also known as Mount Nimba, is a mountain along the border of Ivory Coast and Guinea in West Africa. The highest peak for both countries and the Nimba Range is at . The mountain is a part of the Guinea Highlands, which straddl ...

at 1,752 m (5,750 ft), which is the highest peak of both countries.

History

The strict nature reserve was established in 1943 by Order No. 4190 SE/F in Côte d'Ivoire and in 1944 by decree in Guinea. The Guinean part was accepted as a biosphere reserve in 1980. Both reserves were combined to form one

in 1981 (Guinea) and 1982 (Côte d'Ivoire) becaue of its outstanding biodiversity and unique mosaic of tropical habitats.

Iron-ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

exploration for mining in the most vulnerable montane zone started in 1992, and the reserve has been listed as a

in danger since then. For the sake of an improved protection, a conservation management centre is being built by

Guinean Parks Foundation Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

. The project was approved by the Guinean Government and CEGENS in 2016.

Geography

The

is a narrow ridge extending approximately 40 km long, with an orientation of northeast–southwest; it forms a part of the southern extent of the

Guinea Highlands The Guinea Highlands is a densely forested mountainous plateau extending from central Guinea through northern Sierra Leone and Liberia to western Ivory Coast. The highlands include a number of mountains, ranges and plateaus, including the Fouta ...

. Its highest peak is

at 1,752 m (5,750 ft). Other peaks include Grand Rochers at 1694 m (5558 ft), Mont Sempéré at 1682 m (5518 ft), Mont Piérré Richaud at 1670 m (5479 ft), Mont Tô at 1675 m (5495 ft), and Mont LeClerc 1577 m (5174 ft). All of them are located in the Guinean part of the reserve. There are about fifty springs, including the origins of the Cavally, Cestos, and

Sassandra River The Sassandra River is a river of western Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of northwestern Côte d'Ivoire, and the Gouan River (also known as the Bafing Sud Rive ...

s. Mining of top-quality iron-ore poses the major threat to the unique geomorphology and wildlife.

Climate

The

has a sub-equatorial montane climate. Temperature changes extremely with altitude, with a daytime maximum ranging between 24 °C and 33 °C, and the nightly minimum can fall below 10 °C. Some parts of the reserve receive significantly less precipitation, due to rain-shadow effect of the high ridge. In general, southern slopes are moister than the leeward northern ones which are affected by dry

Harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the ...

wind from the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

. The Nimba Range, as well as the reserve has exceptional microclimatic diversity.

Ecology

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve-108442

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve lies within the

Guinean Forests of West Africa The Guinean forests of West Africa is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which includes the belt of tropical moist broadleaf forests along the coast of West Africa, running from Sierra Leone and Guinea in the west to ...

Biodiversity Hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the co ...

. It harbours an especially rich flora and fauna, and it is the home of more than 2000

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

species, 317

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

species, 107 of which are

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s, and to more than 2,500

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

species. The reserve is a subject of biological surveys, because there are still large numbers of unknown species. Vertebrates endemic to the reserve include the Nimba viviparous toad (''Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis''),

Lamotte's roundleaf bat Lamotte's roundleaf bat (''Hipposideros lamottei'') is a species of bat found only at Mount Nimba on the border of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea and Liberia. It is critically endangered. Taxonomy It was described as a new species in 1984 by French ...

(''Hipposideros lamottei''), and

(''Micropotamogale lamottei''). Other rare and endangered animals foudn within the reserve include the

West African lion ''Panthera leo leo'' is a lion subspecies, which is present in West Africa, northern Central Africa and India. In West and Central Africa it is restricted to fragmented and isolated populations with a declining trajectory. It has been referred to ...

(''Panthera leo senegalensis''),

pygmy hippopotamus The pygmy hippopotamus or pygmy hippo (''Choeropsis liberiensis'') is a small hippopotamid which is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, primarily in Liberia, with small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. It has bee ...

(''Choeropsis liberiensis''), zebra duiker (''Cephalophus zebra''), and a population of

western chimpanzee The western chimpanzee, or West African chimpanzee, (''Pan troglodytes verus'') is a Critically Endangered subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It inhabits western Africa, specifically Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea ...

(''Pan troglodytes verus'') that use stones for tools. Terrestrial

ecoregions An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

within the reserve include Western Guinean lowland forest, Guinean montane forest,

Guinean forest-savanna mosaic Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

, and

West Sudanian savanna The West Sudanian savanna is a tropical savanna ecoregion that extends across West Africa. Geography The ecoregion stretches east and west across West Africa, from the Atlantic coast of Senegal to the Mandara Mountains on Nigeria's eastern borde ...

. The

is a part of a distinct

freshwater ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

with a high portion of endemic aquatic species. Terrestrial vegetation varies with altitude and cardinal orientation. * The mountain is isolated from other

sky island Sky islands are topographic isolation, isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated montane ecosystems, hi ...

s of

Forest Guinea A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

by the lowland

and Guinean forest-savannah mosaic. Savanna habitats are broken by

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

s and closed canopy forest islands. * The lowland

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

are covered by the Western Guinean Lowland Forest up to 600 meters. The characteristic forest type is semi-deciduous high forest with a main canopy and an emergent layer. There are 40-70 tree species found in a single hectare, and up to 500 forest tree species recorded in the area. *

Guinean Montane Forests The Guinean montane forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa. The ecoregion occupies the portions of the Guinea Highlands lying above 600 meters elevation, extending across portions of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia ...

are located between 600 and 1200–1400 meters. At lower levels, semi-deciduous high forests extend up to 900 meters; they are poorer in species compared to lowlands. Short dry forests can be found in the eastern end of the ridge. From 900 meters altitude, where the mountain is covered by clouds almost most of the year, mossy forests are present, which can be divided into three types: Parinari exclesa forests (1), summit forests (2), and tree fern forests in the valleys where ground water is abundant (3). Above the tree zone, there is a transition of Protea bushland to grassland. * Isolated high-altitude grassland extends from 1200 to 1400 meters to the highest peaks. There is the most famous endemic vertebrates are the Nimba viviparous toad (''Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis''), and the

(''Hipposideros lamottei''), the latter recorded from only one mining site. Endemic plants include among others '' Asplenium schnellii'', ''

Osbeckia porteresii ''Osbeckia'' is a genus of plants in the family Melastomataceae. It was named by Carl Linnaeus for the Swedish explorer and naturalist Pehr Osbeck (1723–1805). Distribution Osbeckias are native to Eastern Asia — China, Japan, Malaysia, Ind ...

'' and '' Blaeria nimbana''.

Tourism

Mount Nimba lies in remote region along the tri-nation border of

, and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, far from their capital cities. In fact, the Liberian part of the mountain is greatly degraded due to former mining activities. However, the Guinean half of the ridge is highly protected; and therefore this part is still characterized by intact montane ecosystems, and unique species assemblage (as well as the smallest, Ivorian section). To visit the strict nature reserve is the best choice from Guinea, where
local tour operator
organizes guided tours from Conakry.

Trivia

One of the four honey buzzards of Kempen-Broek that are equipped with GPS trackers passed this national park on 13 November 2013.

Gallery

File:Nimba mountainridge.jpg, Border of the reserve (Gbakore) File:Nimba savana.jpg, Lowland savanna around Mount Nimba File:Mount Nimba rainforest.jpg, Lowland rainforest File:Nimba westernchimps.jpg, Western chimpanzees File:Mount Nimba - cloud forests.jpg, Montane cloud forest File:Nimba proteabush.jpg, Montane Protea bushland File:Nimba montanegrassland.jpg, Montane grassland File:On the top of Nimba Range.jpg, A tourist above clouds

References

External links

UNESCO Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve Site

Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire (UNESCO MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory)

* ttp://www.eoearth.org/view/article/154709/ Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire (Encyclopedia of Earth)
Mount Nimba (Freshwater Ecoregions of the World)

APES MAPPER

WCMC Natural Site Data SheetAct Establishing East Nimba Nature Reserve
- Republic of Liberia

(the only tour operator, which organizes one-day hikings to the mountain) {{National parks of Ivory Coast Biosphere reserves of Guinea Guinean montane forests Nimba Nimba Nzérékoré Region Protected areas of Guinea Protected areas of Ivory Coast World Heritage Sites in Guinea World Heritage Sites in Ivory Coast Protected areas established in 1943 Transboundary protected areas