ArcelorMittal Nimba Biodiversity Offset — East Nimba Nature Reserve Co-Management (Liberia)

ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) mines iron ore in the Nimba mountain range in northern Liberia, part of a globally significant biodiversity hotspot shared with Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. The company's biodiversity offset centres on the East Nimba Nature Reserve (ENNR), an 11,533-hectare protected area gazetted by the Liberian government in 2003 adjoining AML's concession.

In 2013 AML proposed funding a specialist conservation organisation to professionalise the reserve's management. Fauna & Flora International was recruited and, together with Conservation International and the Forestry Development Authority, produced a Management Plan validated in March 2014 after consultation with 25 surrounding communities — described by FFI as a first-of-its-kind participatory co-management process in Liberia. A Co-Management Committee of six community and six government representatives, established in 2010, continues to oversee the reserve, with further support from USAID/PROSPER.

The reserve protects several range-restricted species, including the Critically Endangered Nimba toad (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis liberiensis), the Nimba otter shrew (Micropotamogale lamottei) and the Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), alongside numerous endemic snakes and dragonflies. AML funds ongoing forest-cover monitoring, wildlife surveys and ranger patrols as part of its wider Biodiversity Conservation Programme.

A 2026 Mongabay feature on the documentary "Overburden" highlights the structural tension at the heart of the arrangement: the same company responsible for mountaintop removal at nearby Mount Tokadeh is also the reserve's principal funder and most visible conservation spokesperson. No published, quantified reconciliation of forest or species loss at the mine site against gains at ENNR is available to confirm a genuine net biodiversity benefit.

Read the full analysis: https://www.aist.org/arcelormittal-celebrates-groundbreaking-plan-for-east-nimba-nature-reserve