Lake Piso

BW

Nature Reserves

The Piso Lake ( in older cards also Fishermens Lake ) is on the location of a coastal waters of the Atlantic and is considered the largest freshwater lake in the West African Republic of Liberia. It is located in Grand Cape Mount County, near the border with Sierra Leone.

Description

The lake has an area of ​​18 km in the east-west direction and 12 km in the north-south direction, while the water is from the changes in the tide dependent, and at low tide, about 110,000 ha The most marshy lake shore is and reed beds the mangrove lined.

The main tributary of Lake Piso, the Marfi River represents the Johnny Creek is a second important tributary on the east bank. The west side of the lake has a direct connection to the sea, this outflow is characterized by numerous sandbanks and shoals. Some of these sand banks is already densely forested and is referred to as an island. This western part of the lake is most strongly influenced by the tide, the mangrove forest located here differs significantly from the landward areas.

An alternative, sand dunes and small lakes, three to four kilometers wide and no more than ten meters high dunes separated for thousands of years the Lake Piso in the south from the open sea. In this now wooded grounds are further separated by the silting up of Lake Piso freshwater lakes: the largest of these lakes are Lake Mono Lake Makasa, Lake Jaa, Jukano Lake and Lake Danu.

Another special feature of the lake is the extremely high rainfall, which fall during the year on the water, measured by the meteorological service in Robert sport annual mean values ​​are 5210 mm / m²

The Lake Piso is one of the richest fishing waters in Liberia, for centuries, these assets are used by the indigenous people for self-supply and trading. The area is remarkable also for its biodiversity and the designation as a Nature Reserve by UNESCO was requested.