Liberia Tourist Essay

Project for Social Studies: Be given a country and pretend that you are a tourist writer.

Liberia

Our first stop in Liberia is Sapo National Park. It is a national park in the Sinoe County of Liberia. It is the only national park in Liberia and the countries largest protected area of rain forest. It is the second-largest area of tropical rain forest in West Africa. Many actions are prohibited in the park. Out of seven other protected areas in Liberia, including three national parks, was the only area that was formally designated in 1983. It is named after the local Sapo tribe.For twenty years, it covered east of the Sinoe River and south of the Putu Mountains. Throughout the parks history, the park has been threatened by many actions. However, the World Conservation Monitoring Center minimized potential conflicts.

The next stop on the tourist bus is, the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve. It is a protected area by the UNESCO World Heritage Site in both Guinea Côte d’Ivoire. There currently has been a proposal on the  extension of the reserve to include areas in Liberia. Mount Nimba is an area with more than 200 plant and animal species, like big cats, chimpanzees and several types of toads. It was first established by Côte d’Ivoire, then Guinea. The mountains contain many African species and contain species of rich tropical forests. There have been more than 2000 species of “vascular plants”.

 

The last stop of our tour is, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC. It is a company held by a larger company, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. The larger company is headquartered in Indianapolis. The company operates the largest neighboring rubber plantation in the world in Liberia, which first opened in 1926. The company started in 1926 when the Liberian government granted the larger company, in Indianapolis, a 99-year lease for 1 million acres when in the 1920’s, the U.S. access to rubber was restricted by the Britain and the Netherlands, who owned the exclusive possession in rubber production. Then Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover (before becoming President) considered rubber to be a vital resource for the United States because of its usage for car tires. Part of the Department of Commerce supported a worldwide search for a place that could house a rubber plantation. A man named Harvey Samuel Firestone sent specialists to Liberia in December of 1923 to do a soil survey. After granted the 1 million acres, which could be chosen by the company for wherever in Liberia they desired, at 6 cents an acre. Which allowed Firestone to create the world’s largest rubber plantation. The price of rubber fell during the Great Depression, therefore Firestone stopped the development of the plantation by using only 50,000 acres and cutting wages in half. This stripped the Liberian government of tax incomes, which caused the government to miss a payment of the loans to the company. Firestone then asked the US government to send a warship. But, the current president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt rejected the idea. The loans to the company were finally paid in 1952. In 2005, the Liberian government and the Firestone Company signed a new 37-year deal raising the lease to 50 cents per acre. That was the last stop on this week’s tour bus everyone! Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your vacation!