Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 12254411

The Togo slippery frog (Conraua derooi) was recently re-discovered in Ghana after 30 years. It is listed as Critically Endangered due to its restricted geographic range (less than 10km2), severely fragmented distribution and rapidly declining forest habitat. Two subpopulations are currently known; inhabiting the Atewa hills in eastern Ghana and along the Ghana-Togo border. Among these sites, the Atewa hills harbours ~95% of the last remaining population of about 100-240 individuals. Unfortunately, this population is threatened by planned mountain-top removal for bauxite mining which will cause an irreparable damage to the forest and totally destroy the species and its habitat

This project proposes to save the last remaining population of the Critically Endangered Togo slippery frog from extinction. Specifically, different site based actions including increasing national awareness among strategic stakeholders in relation to the threats of mining in the area; developing local capacity to effectively promote and manage conservation of the target species; and monitoring population trends of the Togo slippery frog in the Atewa forest.

Although only 240 Togo slippery frogs are estimated to exist (95% in a single location), the population assessment exceeds initial estimates of only 100 individuals. Unfortunately, while the focus has been to reduce harvesting of species for food by local people, the species now faces a real threat from commercial bauxite exploitation, and mining of this site for its mineral wealth seems inevitable. Thus the researcher has refocused the educational campaign efforts to target government officials and is currently working with national wildlife authorities to increase the protection status of the study site to a level that will exclude any direct human interference.