Forests, Biodiversity, and Protected Areas of Liberia

Liberia contains a major share of the remaining Upper Guinean Forest, a West African biodiversity region with exceptional plants, animals, watersheds, and cultural landscapes.

Protected areas

Nationally recognized protected areas include Sapo National Park, East Nimba Nature Reserve, Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve, Gola Forest National Park, and Grebo-Krahn National Park. Proposed conservation areas are not treated as legally established until formally designated.

Why forests matter

Forests regulate water, store carbon, protect soils, provide food and medicine, and support rural livelihoods. They also contain habitat for species found nowhere else or threatened across their range.

Pressures and stewardship

Commercial and informal logging, mining, agricultural expansion, roads, hunting, and fire can fragment ecosystems. Sustainable management must recognize community rights, lawful land use, conservation science, and transparent benefit sharing.

Responsible institutions

The Forestry Development Authority leads forest and protected-area administration, working with the EPA, communities, researchers, and conservation partners.

Sources and verification

• Forestry Development Authority: Conservation Brief
• World Bank: Liberia Forest and Climate Resilience Forum

← Return to Land, Waters, Boundaries, and Natural Resources

Measurements, legal designations, programs, and resource data can change. Liberia Civic dates its sources and distinguishes confirmed facts from proposals and estimates.