Creation of the Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park in Guinea

One of the world’s largest iron mines is being developed in southeastern Guinea, with a 100-mile railway being built to connect the mine with the coastal port, straight through pristine Guinean rainforest. This is resulting in habitat fragmentation, degradation and destruction and risking the survival of species already facing extinction.

With support from the Jacobs Futura Foundation, Rainforest Trust is working with The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and the Guinean Government, to create the 560,512-acre Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park. Designating this area as a new National Park will allow for closer oversight to monitor and mitigate the impact of the iron mine, the railway and the maintenance road. 

The new park will connect the Outamba-Kilimi National Parks (to the south in Sierra Leone) to create a vast wildlife corridor which is important for wide-roaming species like the elephant.

The project involves extensive consultation with local communities on the specifics of the Park’s design, future management plans, and the development of appropriate community benefits such as jobs as rangers, and support for alternative livelihoods such as bee keeping (see photo).

Protection of this dense rainforest also benefits the climate. The new national park will lock up nearly 29 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents, preventing emissions comparable to 6.2 million petrol vehicles driven for one year.