# Talk:Sapo National Park

Quite a bit of interesting information on Sapo can be found in William Powers' Blue Clay People. It is about his time during the inter-war period in Liberia with Catholic Relief Services. Someone with the book should try to add to the article concerning this slice of information. In case you were wondering, it is a unique tale and a worthy read.--Thomas.macmillan (talk) 22:14, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip. If it's available in any nearby libraries, I'll try to obtain it; if it isn't, I'll either try to purchase it or find someone who owns a copy. Cheers, Black Falcon (Talk) 18:57, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I've read the book, and it was fascinating! Thank you for suggesting it. :)
The book contains a relatively little description of Sapo Park itself (pp. 146-149, 241-245), although the description contained is very emotive. However, it does include substantial information about environmental conditions in Liberia (including illegal logging, preservation efforts, and so on), which could be extremely useful for a background section. Thanks again, Black Falcon (Talk) 16:01, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

I noticed this article on the good article nominations page. It is a very good article and I was going to review it. However I felt that it needed some information about the park's geography so I added a geography section instead of reviewing it. I hope the new section is OK! Bláthnaid 15:09, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

I think it's great! I had tried including various bits of information about the park's size and location in the history section, but an article about a park and rainforest really does need a distinct section devoted to geography and climate. Since the section also includes information on seasons and temperatures, I have added "and climate" to the section title. What do you think? –Black Falcon (Talk) 18:36, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
The section is much better now. Articles about African protected areas are really underdeveloped in comparison to the US and UK ones, so I really liked reading this article. Bláthnaid 12:10, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Sapo National Park/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
I applaud for writing a decent article on Africa and trying to combat systemic bias.
I am putting this article on hold primarily for one reason: the sections about the park (biodiversity and geography) do not seem to do justice. They are about what makes this land piece worthy to be a park, and I think it should be expanded before this article passes GA. Geography section especially needs expansion. There is a mountain and a river, what's in between? any geological monuments? geological history? is that temperature year-round? how much rain does it get? effect of the seasons to animal and plant life? is there migration? if yes, where to? Biodiversity section lacks any kind of mention of plants. Surely there must be something worthy growing there. 
Couple other minor things / optional requests:

...according to the World Wide Fund for Nature's ecoregions classification scheme.' - please provide ref.
Reference added. Bláthnaid 19:23, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
A map would be super helpful. Is there any chance of getting it? If there is a map on the net, you might try WP:GL/IMPROVE for help creating a free version.
Moved the map that was in the history section up to the infobox & added a locater dot. Bláthnaid 20:28, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Until the 1990s, poaching was limited due to various initiatives, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, that made local villagers stakeholders to the park's preservation. - does the source explains the initiatives? It would be good to add a bit more. How were the villagers turned into stakeholders?
Couple times you use moreover - it's not a college essay. I think that word should be removed.
Done. Bláthnaid 20:28, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
There should be some sort of clarification about Second Liberian Civil War. In ==Civil war in Liberia== it seems that the war ended in 1996 and everything after the (including corruption scandal) should belong to ==Post-war developments==.
Added the years (1999-2003) that the 2nd war lasted to the section; hope this makes things clearer. Bláthnaid 20:28, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Today's section of history could benefit from comments about reconstruction after the war. did they rebuilt the infrastructure and animal shelters? Are they part of any  international programs? research projects? is their funding ok?
Added info about funding & a research programme. Bláthnaid 20:28, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
I would think that infrastructure section could be incorporated into either lead of history section.
Moved into the "Post-war developments" section. Bláthnaid 20:28, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Renata (talk) 09:14, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

I've expanded the geography and climate section, since I'm the one who added it to the article. As the park has a tropical climate, the temperature is year-round. I've added more detail about rainfall in the dry and wet seasons seasons and the effect the seasons have on the park's landscape. Regarding rainfall totals: a source from 1989 says that rainfall data was not collected in the park, but was collected at a location 4 km away. Due to the instability in Liberia, I'm not sure if this data ever has been collected in the park. If you wish, I could add the rainfall amount from the place 4 km away.
Regarding the park's geology, I can't find any sources with information about the geology in the park or even the wider area. From geologic and topographic maps of Liberia, I don't think that there is anything special about the park's geology or topography; it's mostly just quite flat with a lot of trees on top :-) I can add some information about the park's flora if that's OK with User:Black Falcon; since this article is his/her baby he/she probably has access to more sources than I do. Regards, Bláthnaid 19:19, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
Will look at additions later, but go ahead per WP:BOLD and WP:OWN :) Renata (talk) 19:24, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
I'll see what I can do; hopefully Black Falcon can also add information from actual dead-tree books. :-) Bláthnaid 19:52, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
Seems that rainfall from 4km is ok - it's really not that far. I asked all those questions just for brainstorming - to see what you can fish out from various sources. So it's ok if you did not find anything about geology, I was making it up on the spot. Another thingie if to think about - it says it is the only national park in Liberia. Are there any other reservations? regional parks? etc? or is it the only protected are in the whole country?
I like the additions - keep them coming :) Renata (talk) 05:59, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Flora section, rainfall data, and some more information about Liberia's only other protected area have been added to the article. Bláthnaid 20:28, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Quite possibly I am totally blind, but... I don't see rainfall data. History sections looks very good. Renata (talk) 23:01, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
Thanks. The rainfall information is here. I'm afraid I can't address your #3 suggestion above, because the source isn't online. Is there anything else that the article needs to pass the review? Bláthnaid 13:27, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
Congrats! I passed it. Thank you for you hard work and putting up with my demands. Please create more articles on Africa :) Renata (talk) 10:26, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Your suggestions were a great help. Thank you for reviewing the article. I'm working on a few Africa-related articles offline, I might get around to posting them on Wikipedia sometime before the end of the decade :-) Bláthnaid 15:52, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Some notes I may not have time to add.  As the article is about a park founded for its native species and plant endemics, these species deserved some discussion in the article, rather than just a passing mention.  This is a suggestion for expansion rather than a criticism of the article's current state which is just fine.  
The Rufous Fishing-owl is an owl species that is somewhat known for preferring virgin rain forests with large rivers for fishing, making its decimation in West Africa almost predestined.  This species is known to be present in Sapo National Park and should be included in the article.  
Also, let's get some help with an article about Alexander Louis Peal, the Liberian conservationist.  I started it.  
We need an article on the Sinoe River, also.  
Other suggestions?
--Blechnic (talk) 23:51, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm currently trying to gather information for an article on the Sinoe River, and I can suggest this website as a source for biographical information about Peal. –Black Falcon (Talk) 00:41, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
Blechnic, thanks for fixing this, I should have been clearer about the rainforest when I added that information to the article. Regarding suggestions, as the GA reviewer mentioned above a little information about the geology of the area would be good. National park featured articles tend to have quite a bit of geology information in them, so some mention of Sapo NP's geology might be needed if you want to push the article towards FA status. More recent temperature and precipitation numbers would be good too, since the numbers in the article are from the 1980s. Bláthnaid talk 17:14, 2 August 2008 (UTC)
I'll see what I can dig up about the geology.  I believe this area of Liberia is composed of truly ancient rocks and lateritic soils, which means I've read something about the geology, so there should be a good article or two in print.  I'd still like to tweak the rainforest comment a bit so that readers understand what is and isn't standing primary rain forest in West Africa.  Most of Sapo has been clear cut, burned, made into roads, over the western historic past, like most of the tropical African rain forest, however this area and parts of Cote D'Ivoire have large remaining tracts within the national parks of what Westerners generally call virgin rain forest.  I would like first, though, to find a good source that explains this and any source on Sapo that elaborates on this point.  --Blechnic (talk) 18:07, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

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I just want to comment on this line in the article: "Due to its remote location and the near-complete absence of tangible amenities, such as visitor housing or recreational facilities, there are few visitors to Sapo National Park."
I just watched a travel video on youtube that showed the existence of facilities, including huts with electricity and showers in the middle of the jungle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9E7M3RRoI
So it is not as bleak as the article makes it out as. 84.210.20.34 (talk) 16:37, 12 July 2023 (UTC)