Nimba Landscape: two missions and a call for proposals

The formulation of the NaturAfrica West Africa programme in the Nimba Mountains landscape has made significant progress in recent months. First, the Regional Coordinator conducted a field mission to the East Nimba Nature Reserve (Liberia) and the Guinean part of the landscape (Bossou, Nimba Integral Nature Reserve and Diecke Classified Forest) last November. In addition to supporting the closure activities of the PAPFor programme and facilitating the transition from PAPFor to NAAO, this mission identified the priorities to be included in the future NAAO programme. 

Following this mission, the Regional Coordination launched a study to support the formulation of the NAAO programme in the Guinean section of the Nimba Mountains landscape in January-February 2025. This study clarified the institutional framework (mandates of the various state agencies and research centres), mapped stakeholders, documented land use and encroachment into the Reserve, and identified threats and opportunities for the implementation of NAAO in this part of the landscape. 

The results of this mission and study enabled the EU Delegation to Guinea to finalise the documents for the launch of the Call for Proposals (EuropeAid/183750/DD/ACT/GN) for the implementation of the programme in this landscape. This call was published at the end of April 2025 with a deadline for submission of proposals set for 31 July 2025. The first field activities in this landscape are therefore expected by the end of the year.

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Above: Images from PAPFor and NaturAfrica West Africa missions to the Guinean and Liberian areas of the Nimba mountains transboundary landscape in late 2024 and early 2025: meeting community representatives, mining company staff; visiting the forests and mountains and viewing encroachment and potential connectivity between the forest zones.