Northern Liberia Research Articles

A phylogeny for AfricanPipistrellusspecies with the description of a new species from West Africa (Mammalia: Chiroptera)

AbstractPipistrelloid bats are among the most poorly known bats in Africa, a status no doubt exacerbated by their small size, drab brown fur and general similarity in external morphology. The systematic relationships of these bats have been a matter of debate for decades, and despite some recent molecular studies, much confusion remains. Adding to the confusion has been the recent discovery of numerous new species. Using two mitochondrial genes, we present a phylogeny for this group that supports the existence of three main clades in Africa: Pipistrellus, Neoromicia and the recently described Parahypsugo. However, the basal branches of the tree are poorly supported. Using an integrative taxonomic approach, we describe a new species of Pipistrellus sp. nov. from West Africa, which has been cited as Pipistrellus cf. grandidieri in the literature. We demonstrate that it is not closely related to Pipistrellus grandidieri from East Africa, but instead is sister to Pipistrellus hesperidus. Furthermore, the species Pi. grandidieri appears to be embedded in the newly described genus Parahypsugo, and is therefore better placed in that genus than in Pipistrellus. This has important taxonomic implications, because a new subgenus (Afropipistrellus) described for Pi. grandidieri predates Parahypsugo and should therefore be used for the entire “Parahypsugo” clade. The Upper Guinea rainforest zone, and particularly the upland areas in the south-eastern Guinea—northern Liberia border region may represent a global hotspot for pipistrelloid bats and should receive increased conservation focus as a result.

At the end of the feeder road: Upgrading rural footpaths to motorcycle taxi-accessible tracks in Liberia

Access to transport is essential for agrarian development in isolated rural areas. Over the last 20 years, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have seen a dramatic change in farm-to-market transport following the introduction and spread of motorcycle taxis. So far, this has been a spontaneous and market-driven phenomenon. What kind of infrastructure development is needed to further support this local revolution in farm transport? Our study uses a technographic frame to describe and assess the socio-economic and technical impact of upgrading inter-village footpaths to render them usable by motorcycle taxis in off-road rural northern Liberia. We gathered pre-intervention baseline data and post-intervention impact data over a three-year period in villages benefitting from the intervention and in control villages. The quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data gathered prior, during and after the intervention. We found that upgrading rural footpaths to motorcycle taxi-accessible tracks promotes market integration, improves access to education and health facilities, and creates jobs for rural youth, with few negative consequences. Since most motorised transport in deep rural areas takes place by motorcycle taxi in any case, track construction can complement or serve as an alternative to expensive feeder road improvement or construction.

Using remotely sensed and climate data to predict the current and potential future geographic distribution of a bird at multiple scales: the case of Agelastes meleagrides, a western African forest endemic

BackgroundUnderstanding geographic distributions of species is a crucial step in spatial planning for biodiversity conservation, particularly as regards changes in response to global climate change. This information is especially important for species of global conservation concern that are susceptible to the effects of habitat loss and climate change. In this study, we used ecological niche modeling to assess the current and future geographic distributional potential of White-breasted Guineafowl (Agelastes meleagrides) (Vulnerable) across West Africa.MethodsWe used primary occurrence data obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and national parks in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and two independent environmental datasets (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer normalized difference vegetation index at 250 m spatial resolution, and Worldclim climate data at 2.5′ spatial resolution for two representative concentration pathway emissions scenarios and 27 general circulation models for 2050) to build ecological niche models in Maxent.ResultsFrom the projections, White-breasted Guineafowl showed a broader potential distribution across the region compared to the current IUCN range estimate for the species. Suitable areas were concentrated in the Gola rainforests in northwestern Liberia and southeastern Sierra Leone, the Tai-Sapo corridor in southeastern Liberia and southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, and the Nimba Mountains in northern Liberia, southeastern Guinea, and northwestern Côte d’Ivoire. Future climate-driven projections anticipated minimal range shifts in response to climate change.ConclusionsBy combining remotely sensed data and climatic data, our results suggest that forest cover, rather than climate is the major driver of the species’ current distribution. Thus, conservation efforts should prioritize forest protection and mitigation of other anthropogenic threats (e.g. hunting pressure) affecting the species.

Conflict-Related Violence Against Women: Transforming Transition by Aisling Swaine

Reviewed by: Conflict-Related Violence Against Women: Transforming Transition by Aisling Swaine Jennifer Moore (bio) Aisling Swaine, Conflict-Related Violence Against Women: Transforming Transition ( Cambridge University Press, 2018), ISBN 9781107514195, 321 Pages. In 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on the subject of women, peace and security, calling "on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict."1 The phenomenon of the mass rape of women in wartime has become a subject of increasingly intensified concern over the past two decades, expressed in diplomatic initiatives and judicial developments, notably war crimes and crimes against humanity convictions for rape and forced marriage handed down by international criminal tribunals.2 The [End Page 763] understanding that the systematic rape of women is a core methodology of contemporary armed conflict has become part of the popular imagination, reflected in journalistic portrayals of sexual violence in wartime, reinforced in reporting by humanitarian organizations, and buttressed in academic analysis.3 Acknowledging that rape is sometimes utilized as a "weapon of war"—where one militant organization seeks to terrorize an ethnic or sociopolitical community associated with another warring faction through a pattern of sexual violations of numerous women of that community—represents an important development in humanitarian action and scholarly inquiry. The phenomenon of mass rape in conflict has been witnessed, analyzed, investigated, and prosecuted in recent conflicts from the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Colombia, among others.4 However, as Aisling Swaine instructs in her important book Conflict-Related Violence Against Women,5 "tactical" or "strategic rape" is but one important facet of the range of harms women experience in time of war, not to mention in peacetime. She cautions that the international community's concerted efforts to profile, prevent, and punish "conflict-time tactical sexualized violence"6 has had the unintended consequence of constructing a "monolithic rape identity"7 for women in wartime, with the result that "systemic public rape has been given more attention and credence than the violence that appears in women's everyday lives."8 Alongside her rejection of an impoverished encapsulation of women's wartime [End Page 764] identity as rape victims, Swaine points out a worrisome tendency among academics, the media, and others to promote "the 'othering' of violence in cultures which are perceived to have 'worse' or extraordinary violence," particularly in African countries, and including Liberia, a country she studies.9 Swaine points out that "the perception that one war is more barbaric than another may … have more to do with how wars are reported on and labeled than is readily admitted."10 With reference to her field research into recent conflicts in Europe, Africa, and Asia, Swaine highlights the connections between patriarchy, misogyny, the fear of women's power, and the multiple forms of violence that women experience across a great variety of cultures and societies. It is important, she notes, to address the more insidious forms of gender subordination that operate in a society, so that "despite the veneer of equality in a western democratic setting such as Northern Ireland, its patriarchy too is acknowledged."11 Swaine's treatment of "conflict-related violence against women" represents an important contribution to the canon of feminist scholarship on gender-based violence. Her insights emerge from qualitative research she conducted in three post-conflict countries encompassing Northern Ireland, Liberia, and TimorLeste. Wading into the fierce analytic currents of "public" versus "private" harms, she emphasizes the amorphous nature of the public and private realms through insights shared by the women she interviewed in her three field settings. Most significantly, she rejects the notion that so-called public violence against women in wartime should be our exclusive concern. Her research highlights that not all women who were sexually or otherwise assaulted in the conflicts she studies were attacked by unknown militants who used their vulnerable bodies as convenient mediums through which to repress their communities. Many women she interviewed were individually targeted and brutalized in intimate spaces by people they were related...

The conservation status of a poorly known range-restricted mammal, the Nimba otter-shrewMicropotamogale lamottei

AbstractWe have a poor understanding of the ecology of many African small mammals due to a lack of basic research. This has important conservation implications, particularly for range-restricted species in tropical regions. In this study, we provide new insight into the distribution and ecology of one such species, the Nimba otter-shrew (Micropotamogale lamotteiHeim de Balsac 1954). We apply niche and occupancy modeling to inform on the range and habitat use of this semi-aquatic species. We estimate that its global range [extent of occurrence (EOO)] is 14,725 km2. Using occupancy modeling, we show that mining has a direct impact on the occurrence of this species. We also provide preliminary observations of its movements through radio-tracking. Using maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling, we identify the North Lorma National Forest and the Wonegizi range (northern Liberia) that appear suitable for this species, but where it has not yet been recorded. We suggest that the Nimba otter-shrew has a global distribution centered on the Mount Nimba region, straddling the borders of Liberia, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, and that it requires urgent conservation attention to ensure its long-term persistence. Finally, we provide evidence to support an uplisting of its IUCN Red List conservation status to Vulnerable.

Modelling the spatial baseline for amphibian conservation in West Africa

To answer questions such as whether the existing network of protected areas is sufficient, conservation needs data covering complete taxonomic groups and large geographic areas. However, most distributional data sets are either coarse, patchy and/or based solely on expert opinion which is often hard to verify. In addition, not all regions are equally well studied. For example sub-Saharan Africa remains comparatively under-sampled for most taxa, especially Central and Western Africa. However, these regions contain many threatened species, including a high diversity of highly threatened vertebrates - amphibians. To fill this knowledge gap, we extrapolated species occurrence records (n = 15,944) on a 30 arc-seconds grid for most known West African amphibian taxa (92%), using environmental niche modelling and employing relevant environmental parameters (climate, vegetation, elevation & distance to rivers).We provide, for the first time, a fine scale distribution map of amphibian alpha diversity for the entire West African region. Already known centres of high biodiversity were confirmed (e.g. south-western Ghana and south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire) and new ones were identified (e.g. northern Liberia and the borders of Liberia with Guinea and Sierra Leone). Diversity analyses focusing on unique amphibians, i.e. threatened, endemic and evolutionary distinct species', revealed that areas of high diversity also contained many high conservation-priority species. Herewith, we offer a comprehensive baseline for identifying those areas which are important for amphibian conservation for one of the most periled regions on the continent. Those areas of high diversity were only partly in accordance with previous analyses such as the hotspot definitions, the ecoregion analyses, or analyses of other taxa, highlighting the added new value of our approach. The most outstanding areas of amphibian diversity were only partly covered by the existing network of protected areas. Thus there is an urgent need to devise a regional conservation concept to protect West African amphibians from extinction.

Resolving Disputes and Improving Security in Post-Conflict Settings: An Example from Liberia

Countries emerging from civil conflict in the developing world face numerous challenges that hinder reconstruction and peace building. These hurdles, many of which existed before the war and may have contributed to the civil strife, include poverty, unequal distribution of political and economic power, land disputes and exploitation or exclusion of groups on social, cultural, tribal or religious bases. Liberia emerged from 14 years of conflict in 2003 urgently needing to address many of these concerns, in particular the burgeoning number of land disputes and the looming threat they posed to peace, security and national reconstruction. A joint effort by the Government of Liberia and the US Government led to the formulation of the Mitigating Land Disputes in Liberia Project (MLDL) funded by the US State Department. The project was launched in late 2011 with the goal of developing innovative solutions to reduce conflict, address security concerns and improve crime prevention in two rural counties (Nimba and Lofa) in northern and northwestern Liberia, respectively. Largely because of crucial participation by local communities and because the programme was designed with a keen awareness of customary norms and practices, the project has had measurable impacts and offers a model for effective dispute and conflict resolution in a rural post-war setting. This article first examines the role of land underpinning disputes in post-conflict settings and then outlines the origins of the MLDL project. Next, the article provides a snapshot of the system and examines the methodology and factors that led to the success of the dispute resolution and conflict early warning/early response system established and supported by MLDL. After reviewing selected disputes resolved and security issues addressed during the life of the project, the article concludes by suggesting the features of MLDL’s dispute resolution and early warning model that could be replicated in other post-conflict regions.

Reframing Nationalisms and Addressing Gender-based Violence in Societies in Transition

This article examines the transformation potential of international mechanisms for reframing nationalisms based on images of the nation supporting unequal gender structures and gender-based violence during periods of ethnonational conflict and conflict settlement processes. It explores opportunities and challenges for changing nationalisms informed by male hopes, aspirations and privileges by engaging with United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and subsequent resolutions on women, peace and security. Analysing different experiences with implementing this international framework shows that engagement with UNSCR 1325 permits the boundaries of citizenship and nationality to be bridged by exploring different gender perspectives and experiences at the national level. Limitations in the transformative potential of this international mechanism are highlighted, in particular its top-down dynamic, which centres the framework at the national level of political decision-making; this provides less space for experiences and perspectives from the regional and local level to inform the implementation process. The analysis draws on findings from focus groups the author conducted with women activists from Northern Ireland, Liberia and Colombia.

Youth agency in the ‘violent life-worlds’ of Kono District (Sierra Leone), Voinjama (Liberia) and Northern Mali: ‘tactics’ and imaginaries

Rather than moving in a seamlessly globalised world, the majority of West African youth is confined mostly to geographical as opposed to social mobility. This is illustrated by the cases of youth agency in Kono District (Sierra Leone), Voinjama (Northern Liberia) and Northern Mali. The key question asked in this article is not only about attempted survival, but more importantly how the youth struggle to make some meaning out of an existence that is a life with severe limitations. Thus, in order to discuss, not only the strategies applied and coping mechanisms utilised, but also attempt to flesh out the contradictions of agency, this paper analyses the three cases of diamond mining (Sierra Leone), demobilisation and remobilisation (Liberia) and migration (Northern Mali). These are strategies utilised to attempt to gain a nominal control of one's life-world and to give meaning to it. This suggests that even if this is a tactical form of agency it must nonetheless be taken seriously, since the very acting of it, even if it mostly leads to geographical and not social mobility, may have important consequences.

Intimate Partner Violence and Belief Systems in Liberia

Intimate partner violence is endemic in parts of the African continent. A small scale survey (n = 229) was conducted in 2009 in Northern Liberia, West Africa, to determine the prevalence and nature of intimate partner violence, and the cultural beliefs and gender norms that underpin respondent experiences and views towards intimate partner violence. Results show widespread experience of intimate partner violence among the respondent group, including physical abuse, sexual and verbal, and economic abuse. Acceptance of the situation was identified by most respondents as a way of responding to violence, and arises from the lack of financial and legal supports for women within the community. Despite the range of abuses experienced, beliefs about the power position of men in Liberian society provide evidence to reflect the predominance of certain cultural beliefs in framing respondents' perceptions of gender relations. The article concludes with a discussion on the possible impact of Liberia's recent conflict in contributing to the perpetuation and normalization of intimate partner violence. Further large scale research in this area is required.

Peacebuilding and Critical Forms of Agency

The dominant paradigm of liberal peacebuilding is often applied in developing states even where such processes of mobilization are practically implausible and intellectually or culturally alien. Inevitably, each peace intervention is contested, resisted, re-shaped/shaped and responded to—hybridized—by local actors and forms of agency that are unique to each setting. This article explores these processes in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Mozambique, Namibia, and Liberia, in order to assess how far “subsistence peacebuilding” agency is able to affect the liberal peacebuilding framework.

Population Preferences for Health Care in Liberia: Insights for Rebuilding a Health System

OBJECTIVE. To quantify the influence of health system attributes, particularly quality of care, on preferences for health clinics in Liberia, a country with a high burden of disease that is rebuilding its health system after 14 years of civil war. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING. Informed by focus group discussions, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was designed to assess preferences for structure and process of care at health clinics. The DCE was fielded in rural, northern Liberia as part of a 2008 population-based survey on health care utilization. DATA COLLECTION. The survey response rate was 98 percent with DCE data available for 1,431 respondents. Mixed logit models were used to estimate the influence of six attributes on choice of hypothetical clinics for a future illness. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. Participants' choice of clinic was most influenced by provision of a thorough physical exam and consistent availability of medicines. Respectful treatment and government (versus NGO) management marginally increased utility, whereas waiting time was not significant. CONCLUSIONS. Liberians value technical quality of care over convenience, courtesy, and public management in selecting clinics for curative care. This suggests that investments in improved competence of providers and availability of medicines may increase population utilization of essential services as well as promote better clinical outcomes.

Availability of essential health services in post-conflict Liberia.

To assess the availability of essential health services in northern Liberia in 2008, five years after the end of the civil war. We carried out a population-based household survey in rural Nimba county and a health facility survey in clinics and hospitals nearest to study villages. We evaluated access to facilities that provide index essential services: artemisinin combination therapy for malaria, integrated management of childhood illness, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counselling and testing, basic emergency obstetric care and treatment of mental illness. Data were obtained from 1405 individuals (98% response rate) selected with a three-stage population-representative sampling method, and from 43 of Nimba county's 49 health facilities selected because of proximity to the study villages. Respondents travelled an average of 136 minutes to reach a health facility. All respondents could access malaria treatment at the nearest facility and 55.9% could access HIV testing. Only 26.8%, 14.5%, and 12.1% could access emergency obstetric care, integrated management of child illness and mental health services, respectively. Although there has been progress in providing basic services, rural Liberians still have limited access to life-saving health care. The reasons for the disparities in the services available to the population are technical and political. More frequently available services (HIV testing, malaria treatment) were less complex to implement and represented diseases favoured by bilateral and multilateral health sector donors. Systematic investments in the health system are required to ensure that health services respond to current and future health priorities.

Development Assistance, Institution Building, and Social Cohesion after Civil War: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Liberia

Can brief, foreign-funded efforts to build local institutions have positive effects on local patterns of governance, cooperation, and well-being? Prior research suggests that such small-scale, externally driven interventions are unlikely to substantially alter patterns of social interaction in a community, and that the ability of a community to act collectively is the result of a slow and necessarily indigenous process. We address this question using a randomized field experiment to assess the effects of a community-driven reconstruction (CDR) project carried out by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in northern Liberia. The project attempted to build democratic, community-level institutions for making and implementing decisions about local public goods. We find powerful evidence that the program was successful in increasing social cohesion, some evidence that it reinforced democratic political attitudes and increased confidence in local decision-making procedures, but only weak evidence that material well-being was positively affected. There is essentially no evidence of adverse effects.

Isotopic ecology and dietary profiles of Liberian chimpanzees

An extensive suite of isotopic data (δ 13C, δ 15N, and δ 18O) from enamel apatite and bone collagen of adult male and female wild chimpanzees establishes baseline values for Pan troglodytes verus in a primary rainforest setting. The Ganta chimpanzee sample derives from a restricted region in northern Liberia. Diet is examined using stable light isotopes at three life stages—infant, young juvenile, and adult—and developmental differences are investigated within and between individual males and females. The isotopic data are very homogeneous with few exceptions. Juvenile females show consistent enrichment in 13C relative to infants, while juvenile males do not. These data suggest that age at weaning may be more variable for male offspring who survive to adulthood than for female offspring. Alternatively, or additionally, the weaning diet of males and females may differ, with greater consumption of technologically extracted insects and/or nuts by young females. Metabolic differences, including growth and hormone-mediated responses, may also contribute to the observed variation. The Ganta chimpanzee data offer an independent and objective line of evidence to primatologists interested in the dietary strategies of the great apes and to paleoanthropologists seeking comparative models for reconstructing early hominin subsistence patterns. Despite the high diversity of dietary items consumed by chimpanzees, isotopic signatures of chimpanzees from a primary rainforest setting exhibit narrow ranges of variation similar to chimpanzees in more open habitats.

Can Development Aid Contribute to Social Cohesion after Civil War? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Post-Conflict Liberia

Civil war is very common in the develop-ing world, with harmful welfare effects when it occurs. Many fear that the devastation wrought by violent conflict destroys social capital, impedes economic development, and leads to the recur-rence of violence (Paul Collier et al. 2003).In response, donors are injecting large amounts of aid into post-conflict countries. A significant share of this assistance is spent on “community-driven reconstruction” (CDR) programs, which support the establishment of new local institu -tions in order to promote social reconciliation. Whether this assistance has this effect is, how -ever, largely unknown. Can brief, foreign-funded efforts to build local institutions in fact have posi -tive effects on local patterns of cooperation?We address this question using a randomized field experiment to evaluate the impact of a CDR project in northern Liberia. The project was funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and imple-mented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The project attempted to build demo-cratic, community-level institutions for making and implementing decisions about local public goods. This model of support for participatory processes to enhance local public goods provi-

A reassessment of the distribution of the rare Genetta johnstoni (Viverridae, Carnivora) with some newly discovered specimens

ABSTRACTThe rare Johnston’s Genet (Genetta johnstoni) is one of the least known small carnivores inhabiting the West African rain forest. Some newly discovered specimens collected from the field (Guinea and Ivory Coast) and several rediscovered specimens resulting from reinvestigating collections, have permitted us to reconsider the distribution of the species. Coupled with a bibliographic review and a census of specimens kept in public collections, a reassessed distribution map is proposed, extending the previous estimated range 400 km to the West (Kolenté Plates, Guinea) and more than 600 km to the East (Tarkwa, Ghana). The majority of collected specimens have come from the inland forests of northern Liberia and south‐eastern Guinea, while the surroundings of Mt. Nimba also support numbers of this species. We suggest that the supposed restriction of G. johnstoni to rain forest be re‐evaluated because a specimen was collected in a region of moist woodlands and savannah (Kolenté Plateau). With regard to these new distributional data, conservation implications for the whole Upper Guinean block population are discussed.

Reducing maternal and infant mortality in Northern Liberia

Reducing maternal and infant mortality in Northern Liberia

Susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine in Liberia, West Africa: in vitro tests for 24 and 48 hours.

In vitro tests of Plasmodium falciparum susceptibility to chloroquine were performed in May 1982 in Yekepa area, northern Liberia where several previous in vivo investigations had shown full susceptibility. The isolates from 19 subjects were studied. 18 Rieckmann 24-h micro tests were successful. Effective chloroquine concentrations by probit analysis were 0.3 microM for 50% inhibition (EC50) and 1.2 microM for 99% inhibition (EC99). 18 of the 48-h tests were successful. 10 isolates were inhibited by 0.75 microM chloroquine and another 8 by 2.5 microM.

In vitro susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to amodiaquine, mefloquine, quinine and chloroquine in Liberia, West Africa

The in vitro susceptibility of seven Plasmodium falciparum isolates to four schizonticidal drugs was studied in Yekepa area, northern Liberia, by the Rieckmann 24-hour micro method. The seven patients were successfully treated with the standard chloroquine regimen. The results of the individual in vitro tests all indicated full susceptibility to the four drugs. By probit analysis, the drug concentrations achieving 50% (EC 50) and 99% (EC 99) inhibition, respectively, were 0·2 and 0·7 μM chloroquine, 0·04 and 0·2 μM amodiaquine, O·01 and 0·07 μM mefloquine and 1·4 and 3·0 μM quinine.