Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa with a North Atlantic Ocean coastline to the west. It lies on the African Plate. The country's main geographical features include wooded hill country, an upland plateau, and mountains in the east. The highest peak is Mount Bintumani, which is 1,948 meters (6,391 ft) above sea level. The coastline has a belt of mangrove swamps. Freetown, the nation's capital city, has one of the world's largest natural harbours. The Rokel River is the largest river in Sierra Leone. It is 400 kilometres (250 mi) long and has a basin with a total area of 10,622 square kilometres (4,101 sq mi).
The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region.
Taï National Park is a national park in Côte d'Ivoire that contains one of the last areas of primary rainforest in West Africa. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982 due to the diversity of its flora and fauna. Five mammal species of the Taï National Park are on the Red List of Threatened Species: pygmy hippopotamus, olive colobus monkeys, leopards, chimpanzees, and Jentink's duiker.
The king colobus, also known as the western black-and-white colobus, is a species of Old World monkey, found in lowland and mountain rainforests in a region stretching from Senegal, through Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to the Ivory Coast. One of five members of the genus Colobus, the black-and-white colobuses, the king colobus is the westernmost species of the group on the continent of Africa. It eats mainly leaves, but also fruits and flowers. Though it is arboreal, it eats primarily on the ground. It lives in small groups consisting of 3 to 4 females and 1 to 3 males, plus their young. These groups maintain distance from one another through territorial calling.
The royal antelope is a West African antelope recognized as the world's smallest. It was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It stands up to merely 25 cm (10 in) at the shoulder and weighs 2.5–3 kg (5.5–6.6 lb). A characteristic feature is the long and slender legs, with the hindlegs twice as long as the forelegs. Horns are possessed only by males; the short, smooth, spiky horns measure 2.5–3 cm (0.98–1.18 in) and bend backward. The soft coat is reddish to golden brown, in sharp contrast with the white ventral parts. In comparison to Bates's pygmy antelope, the royal antelope has a longer muzzle, broader lips, a smaller mouth and smaller cheek muscles.
Guinée forestière is a forested mountainous region in southeastern Guinea, extending into northeastern Sierra Leone. It is one of four natural regions into which Guinea is divided and covers 23% of the country. It includes all of the Nzérékoré administrative region, and shares a border with Sierra Leone and Liberia. Its rocky topology contains several mountain ranges and has an average elevation of 460m. Forested Guinea contains important areas of biological diversity such as the UNESCO World Heritage site Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve and biosphere reserve Ziama Massif. The Guéckédou prefectures also recorded the initial case of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Meliandou, a rural village. The virus subsequently spread to urban areas and neighbouring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Upper Guinea is a geographical term used in several contexts:
- Upper Guinea is one of the four geographic regions of the Republic of Guinea, being east of Futa Jalon, north of Forest Guinea, and bordering Mali. The population of this region is mainly Malinke.
- In a larger sense, it refers to a large plain covering eastern Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and extending into north western Côte d'Ivoire. Mostly forming the upper watershed of the River Niger, it is sparsely populated and is home to the Haut Niger National Park.
- Upper Guinea can also refer to the interior part of the wider Guinea region, bordering the Sahel. The interior regions are largely defined by the watersheds of rivers that arise from Fouta Djallon, including the Niger, Senegal, Faleme and others. The term was widely applied during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries to describe a coastal region and its related hinterland with which Europeans traded.
- In biogeography, Upper Guinea refers the region of tropical rainforest extending from southwestern Guinea through Sierra Leone, Liberia, southeastern Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and southwestern Ghana. The Dahomey Gap, a drier region of Ghana, Togo, and Benin where the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic extends to the Gulf of Guinea, separates Upper Guinea from the tropical rainforests of Lower Guinea further east. The Upper Guinea forests are also recognized as an endemic bird area.
The Western Guinean lowland forests ecoregion is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa. It is centered on Liberia, with portions in surrounding countries. It is the westernmost tropical rainforest in Africa, and has high levels of species endemism, with over 200 species of endemic plants.
The Upper Guinean forests is a tropical seasonal forest region of West Africa. The Upper Guinean forests extend from Guinea and Sierra Leone in the west through Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to Togo in the east, and a few hundred kilometers inland from the Atlantic coast. A few enclaves of montane forest lie further inland in the mountains of central Guinea and central Togo and Benin.
The Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, also known as the Guinean forest-savanna transition, is a distinctive ecological region located in West Africa. It stretches across several countries including Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon. This region is characterized by a unique blend of forested areas and savannas, creating a diverse and dynamic landscape.
The white-necked rockfowl is a medium-sized bird in the family Picathartidae, with a long neck and tail. Also known as the white-necked picathartes, this passerine is mainly found in rocky forested areas at higher altitudes in West Africa from Guinea to Ghana. Its distribution is patchy, with populations often being isolated from each other. The rockfowl typically chooses to live near streams and inselbergs. It has no recognized subspecies, though some believe that it forms a superspecies with the grey-necked rockfowl. The white-necked rockfowl has greyish-black upperparts and white underparts. Its unusually long, dark brown tail is used for balance, and its thighs are muscular. The head is nearly featherless, with the exposed skin being bright yellow except for two large, circular black patches located just behind the eyes. Though the bird is usually silent, some calls are known.
The wildlife of Sierra Leone is very diverse due to the variety of different habitats within the country. Sierra Leone is home to approximately 2090 known higher plant species, 147 known species of mammals, 172 known breeding bird species, 67 known reptile species, 35 known amphibian species and 99 known species of fish.
The wildlife of Liberia consists of the flora and fauna of the Republic of Liberia. This West African nation has a long Atlantic coastline and a range of habitat types, with a corresponding diversity of plants and animals. Liberia is considered a biodiversity hotspot and has more intact forests characteristic of the Upper Guinea Massif than do neighbouring countries. There are 2000 species of vascular plants, approximately 140 species of mammals, and over 600 species of birds.
Leptopelis macrotis, sometimes called the big-eyed forest tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Arthroleptidae. It is found in the rainforests of Sierra Leone, southern Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and southern Ghana. Notice that similar common name "big-eyed tree frog" is sometimes used for Leptopelis vermiculatus from Tanzania and for Litoria exophthalmia from New Guinea.
The Gola malimbe or Ballmann's malimbe is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae.
Western Area Peninsula National Park is a protected area in Sierra Leone. It covers an area of 183.37 km².
Sapo National Park is a national park in Sinoe County, Liberia. It is the country's largest protected area of rainforest, was the first national park established in the country, and contains the second-largest area of primary tropical rainforest in West Africa after Taï National Park in neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire. Agriculture, construction, fishing, hunting, human settlement, and logging are prohibited in the park.
The Bagla Hills are located in eastern Sierra Leone within Gola Rainforest National Park, created in 2010, near the border with Liberia. The site has been the subject of controversy between developers and conservationists, as it contains a large iron ore deposit. The Bagla Hills are one of the habitats of the endangered Jentink's duiker.
The Lofa-Mano National Park is a proposed national park in Liberia. It was proposed in 1979. This site is 2,300 square kilometres (890 sq mi). The park was proposed to protect an area of unexploited forest in the north-west of the country, bordering Sierra Leone, an area described ecologically at the time as "certainly the most abundant in Liberia". The national park area would complement the adjoining Gola Forest area of Sierra Leone.
The Guinean montane forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa.
