Guinea

África

223

Documented species

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Guinea is known as the water tower of West Africa because three of the region's great rivers rise in its highlands: the Niger, the Senegal and the Gambia. The Fouta Djallon massif, a sandstone plateau cut by canyons and waterfalls, holds back the monsoon moisture and feeds those courses. Towards the southeast, Forest Guinea keeps remnants of the Guinean rainforest at Ziama and Diécké, with forest elephants, chimpanzees and a flora of equatorial affinity. At the far south rises Mount Nimba, an isolated massif shared with Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire that combines high-altitude grassland over iron ore with forest on its slopes, and that concentrates a very uncommon density of species found nowhere else. The coast contributes extensive mangroves and rich estuaries.

The nature of Guinea

National animal: The elephant, present in the country's historic symbolism

Did you know?

In the high grasslands of Mount Nimba lives a tiny toad that breaks every rule of its group: it lays no eggs and has no tadpole stage, but gestates its young for some nine months and gives birth to fully formed little toads. It is one of the very few truly viviparous amphibians in the world and exists only in a few square kilometres of that mountain, threatened by iron mining.

Biodiversity profile

Africa OccidentalDato no disponible con precision agregada nacional en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en el interior
•Tropical humedo (Am) en la costa y las tierras altas de Fouta Djallon

Main biomes

•Remanentes del Bosque Alto de Guinea (7.000 km2 remanentes, frente a los 140.000 km2 historicos)
•Manglares costeros
•Sabana guineana en el interior
•Bosque húmedo guineano
•Meseta de arenisca del Futa Yalón
•Pradera de altitud sobre hierro
•Manglar atlántico
•Bosque de galería
•Sabana sudanesa
•Cascada y cañón

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Manglares costeros, habitat del manati de Africa Occidental amenazado

Flagship wildlife

•Elefante de bosque africano
•Chimpance de Africa Occidental
•Antilopes forestales raros
•Manati de Africa Occidental
•Chimpancé occidental
•Hipopótamo pigmeo
•Manatí africano
•Colobo rojo occidental
•Cefalofo cebrado
•Cocodrilo enano
•Buitre palmero
•Pangolín gigante
•Cercopiteco de Campbell

Notable endemic species

•El hotspot de los Bosques de Guinea de Africa Occidental alberga aprox. 9.000 especies de plantas vasculares, 20% endemicas, y 416 especies de mamiferos (casi un cuarto de los mamiferos continentales africanos)
•Guinea concentra el 32% de especies amenazadas evaluadas dentro del hotspot, la segunda proporcion mas alta tras Camerun
•Sapo vivíparo del Nimba
•Musaraña del Nimba
•Ratón de las praderas del Nimba

Notable threatened species

•Chimpance de Africa Occidental (En Peligro Critico)
•Elefante de bosque africano (En Peligro Critico)
•32% de las especies del hotspot evaluadas en Guinea catalogadas como amenazadas

Notable protected areas

•Zona fronteriza del Bosque Alto de Guinea, compartida con Liberia (foco de esfuerzos de conservacion internacional)
•Reserva Natural Integral del Monte Nimba
•Bosque clasificado de Ziama
•Bosque clasificado de Diécké
•Parque Nacional del Alto Níger
•Parque Nacional de Badiar
•Cascadas de Ditinn

Main conservation threats

•Expansion agricola descontrolada
•Mineria
•Caza furtiva impulsada por pobreza y crecimiento demografico rapido
•Solo 5% del bosque original de Guinea permanece en su estado primario

Conservation

Nimba is a World Heritage Site and at the same time one of the largest iron deposits on the planet, a conflict that has shaped its management for decades. The country's chimpanzees are among the most important populations in West Africa.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Nimba in the dry season for high-altitude flora and fauna. Ziama and Diécké for primates and forest birds. The Upper Niger between December and April for savannah wildlife.

Sources: Fauna & Flora - Guinea | CEPF - Ecosystem Profile Guinean Forests of West Africa | CEPF - Guinean Forests species

Savanna Ocean