Executive Summary
This Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) has been prepared for the Buchanan–Cestos City Junction Road Project (60.9 km), including the 5.3 km Port of Buchanan link, under the Mano River Union (MRU) Transport and Trade Facilitation Programme. The project will upgrade the existing earth and gravel road to paved standard along the current alignment, with associated drainage structures, culverts, bridge works, slope stabilization, pavement construction, and use of approved borrow areas. All works are confined to the existing right-of-way (ROW) and defined engineering construction footprint.
The BAP operationalizes biodiversity commitments established in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and has been prepared in accordance with the African Development Bank (AfDB) Operational Safeguard 3 (OS3) on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Liberia’s Environmental Protection and Management Law (2003), and national priorities defined in Liberia’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). The Plan translates ESIA findings into location-specific mitigation, monitoring, and restoration measures, with clearly defined responsibilities and budget allocations integrated into the Contractor’s Construction Environmental and Social Management Plan (CESMP).

For biodiversity assessment and management purposes, the project adopts a 250-meter Direct Area of Influence (AoI) defined as approximately 125 meters on each side of the road centerline, consistent with the ESIA. The AoI represents the spatial boundary within which ecological conditions were assessed and biodiversity management measures apply. Actual physical disturbance remains confined to the approved ROW and defined engineering work areas such as river crossings, culverts, slopes, and borrow sites. Because the project follows an existing transport corridor, most vegetation disturbance represents re-clearance within an already modified right-of- way, and no new alignment or widening beyond approved limits is proposed.
Baseline ecological conditions were established through the ESIA and refined through targeted field verification conducted between 12–20 February 2026, supported by community consultations and precautionary literature review. Species referenced in this BAP are derived from ESIA baseline surveys, February 2026 field verification observations, community consultation inputs, and precautionary literature-based screening where suitable habitat conditions exist. The assessment confirms that the corridor is predominantly a modified agro-mosaic landscape characterized by agricultural fields, settlements, and regenerating secondary vegetation.