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Rainforests and Biodiversity

Experts assume that more than 150 species of animal and plant species are becoming extinct every day in the beginning 21st century. This alarming process doesn’t exclude the biodiversity of the West African rainforests and our closest relatives, the primate species of the world.

Therefore, the Upper Guinean Rainforest with its unique biodiversity is regarded by the World Conservation Organization (IUCN) as one of the world’s 25 “hotspots of biodiversity”. These “hotspots” only cover 1,4 % of the earth’s surface but they contain more than 60 % of all animal and plant species to be found on this planet. Therefore they have highest priority for long-term international conservation efforts.

The “hotspot” Upper Guinean Rainforest provides habitat for six monkey species that are being counted among the world’s 25 most endangered primate species and many other rare animal species. In order to protect these and to conserve the enormous biological variety of the area WAPCA will concentrate on this area.

The Upper Guinean Rainforest


A 350 km wide strip of coastal forest area is called the Upper Guinean Rainforest. It stretches from Sierra Leone through Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire up to Ghana. In Ghana the Volta River marks the end of this forest area. In Cote d’Ivoire there is a v-shaped interruption (the “Baoule-V”) separating the Upper Guinean Rainforest into an eastern and western part.

In the eastern part of the Upper Guinean Rainforest live several endemic animal species, for example the Western black and white colobus (Colobus polykomos), the Lesser spot-nose monkey (Cercopithecus cephus petaurista), Zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra), Liberian mongoose (Liberiictis kuhni), Diana guenon (Cercopithecus diana) and White-naped mangabey (Cercocebus atys lunulatus).