The Working Group noted that intense pressure on protected areas in the region threatens the biological integrity, if not the physical existence, of many of West Africa's remaining forest fragments. Mining, agriculture, and hunting occur at wide-ranging scales, from subsistence and household levels to commercial operations. At the root of many of the threats is persistent poverty, complicated in Sierra Leone and Liberia by recent conflict and post-conflict economies in disarray, which limit production and distribution of goods. Throughout the region, bushmeat, medicines, building materials, and other non-timber forest products continue to be harvested wherever forest patches exist. Along the coastline, aquatic and marine environments have been degraded as urbanization has expanded, and pollution has increased.

Institutional barriers to successful conservation of protected areas include inadequate funding, lack of trained personnel, and poor infrastructure. Weak legislative and judicial structures provide little framework for effective conservation, and limit enforcement efforts. Language and other barriers challenge management of the many priority areas that straddle national boundaries. Universities are equally ill equipped to mobilize field teams and generate funds to carry out baseline surveys and monitoring in protected areas.

The map below depicts parks and managed forests (réserves forestières et forêts classées). Recent initiatives such as the establishment of Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas and strictly protected zones within Ghana's Forest Reserves, present innovative models for protecting the region's priority areas