Surfbirds News

President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, is today expected to back plans to make the 75,000-hectare Gola Forest his country's second national park protecting more than 50 mammal species including Leopards, Chimps and Forest Elephants, 2,000 different plants and 274 bird species of which 14 are close to extinction.

The area, close to the Liberian border, will become the flagship site in a new national park network with local communities paid annually to replace royalties linked to logging and diamond mining in the forest.

White-necked Picathartes: an inhabitant of Gola forest, image kindly supplied by Birdlife International

The project is being funded by the European Commission, the French government, the RSPB and US-based Conservation International.

Alistair Gammell, International Director for the RSPB said: "In Sumatra, we are helping to rehabilitate the forest because most of it has been logged at some stage. Gola is different because much more of the area is primary rainforest and other areas have nog been logged for more than 30 years. Without this project, the forest would have been destroyed within ten years because Sierra Leone needs funds for its development."

The Rufous Fishing Owl Scotopelia ussheri, the Green-tailed Bristlebill Bleda eximia and the Gola Malimbe Malimbus ballmanni are amongst bird species at risk in Gola. But best known in the forest is the White-necked Picathartes Picathartes gymnocephalus whose appearance and nesting habits are bizarre.

The Picathartes nests under the forest's towering rocks. Gola is thought to be the major stronghold for the bird, which is highly respected by villagers.

President Koroma is planning to establish six more national parks in Sierra Leone to develop tourism as the country recovers from the civil war of the 1990s.

Graham Wynne, Chief Executive of the RSPB, said: "There are few places in the world where you will find such diversity. Gola is a magical place and it is worth saving simply because it is there."