Flora and fauna of Gola

Much of the most interesting and spectacular wildlife to be found in Sierra Leone and indeed west Africa can be found in the Gola Forest. The Gola Programme partners have been carefully studying the Forest for over 5 years now and we continue to add to the impressive diversity of this forest all the time.

The Birds

White-necked picathartes - Guy Shorrock/RSPB

A key highlight, and certainly something that you stand the greatest chance of succeeding with seeing are some of the threatened birds of Gola. Gola is home to over 330 species of birds, 18 of which are rare or threatened. A full species list of the Gola birds can be downloaded here.

The key species to highlight is the White-necked Picathartes, which can be easily seen during the breeding season as it nests in colonies on huge overhanging rocks and cliffs in the forest.

Visitors should also strive to see the White-breasted Guineafowl, which moves around in flocks of up to 15 on the forest floor, and the Gola Malimbe a weaver-like species that moves around in mixed flocks in the mid-canopy of the forests. The Malimbe has only been seen twice in 2007 since the last sightings in the 1970s.

Descriptions and images of the key threatened species found in Gola.

The mammals

There are 50 species of mammal in Gola. 10 of these are primates, including the Chimpanzee, an endangered species.  Recent surveys by the project have shown that its distribution is patchy in Gola, indicating that it may be a pupulation under stress, heightening the need for increased conservation eforts. The Forest is also home to the Diana Monkey a vulnerable species and the Western Red Colobus Monkey an endangered species.

According to visits to the Gola area 100 years ago it was noted that Forest Elephants were plentiful and that the trade in ivory generated a large income for the chiefdoms. Now sadly, 100 years later, the numbers of elephant are very critically low. The Pygmy Hippo, despite being very elusive is widespread along the small rivers of Gola, particularly in the less accessible eastern part of Gola.

Invertebrates

Butterfly - Jim Wardell/RSPB

This is a poorly studied group in Gola and indeed West Africa. However, experts on butterflies who recently surveyed Gola have noted the extremely high diversity of the forest. They estimate there to be around 600 species of butterfly alone. They have also discovered 3 new species in the Gola Forest!

Plants

There are just under 1000 plant species known from Gola. Over 770 of these are flowering plants and 200 are tree species.