Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Outamba-Kilimi National Park is situated in the north of Sierra Leone, close to the border with the Republic of Guinea. It is located within the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome, but isolated patches of forest occur within the park. The park is split into two areas, Outamba (74,100 ha) and Kilimi (36,800 ha), between which lies an unprotected strip of land 25 km long by 40 km wide. The predominant vegetation is a mosaic of grassland, closed woodland and gallery forest. Outamba supports mainly tall-grass savanna and moist woodland with small areas of closed-canopy forest, while a more open savanna woodland with shorter grasses occurs in Kilimi, together with patches of boliland. Small areas of raphia palm swamp-forest and riverine grassland are found in both. The terrain is mostly flat with few hills. A number of large rivers flow south-west through the park; the Mongo and Little Scarcies across Outamba and the Great Scarcies through Kilimi. The land is generally unsuitable for agriculture. Parts of the park may be inaccessible at the height of the wet season (July–August) due to flooding of the Little Scarcies river.
See Box and Table 3 for key species. A total of 256 species have been recorded from the park, including three species of global conservation concern, one of which,
Circus macrourus, is only a rare migrant through the area. The other two,
Ceratogymna elata and
Laniarius turatii, are among 25 species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome that have been recorded (see Table 3). Notable among the species of the Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome is
Coccycolius iris. Seasonally, the park supports many waterbirds, often including thousands of
Bubulcus ibis.
Non-bird biodiversity: The site is an important refuge for the following primate species: Pan troglodytes verus (EN), Procolobus badius (LR/nt), Colobus polykomus (LR/nt) and Cercocebus atys (LR/nt). Other mammals include Loxodonta africana cyclotis (EN), Hexaprotodon liberensis (VU), Hyemoschus aquaticus (LR/nt) and Cephalophus maxwelli (LR/nt).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Outamba-Kilimi is both the only National Park and the only non-forest protected area in the country. A management plan has been developed, but remains unimplemented. The main threat is heavy hunting pressure, especially in Kilimi, of elephants, chimpanzees and monkeys. Local fishing methods, which employ small-mesh-size nets and poisonous herbs, may pollute or degrade the aquatic systems and render the water unfit for consumption. Honey-gathering takes place destructively, by cutting down and burning trees. Bush fires periodically result from this and from subsistence farming. Emergency funding in the 1990s alleviated some of the logistical problems faced by the park’s management and enhanced surveillance and law enforcement, but the lingering effects of the long-running civil war have retarded or halted progress.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Outamba-Kilimi National Park (Sierra Leone). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/outamba-kilimi-national-park-iba-sierra-leone on 22/11/2024.
