Giant Squeaker Frog sanctuary in the Sui River Forest Reserve, Ghana

The Sui River Forest Reserve supports at least 83 globally threatened species including the critically endangered Giant Squeaker Frog (Arthroleptis krokosua). Our long term vision is that the forest landscape becomes a fully protected ecological stronghold for the species, secured through formal sanctuary protection and sustained by active community stewardship. The primary barrier to accelerating conservation action for the species is the persistent pressure of habitat destruction within its last remaining refuge through both legal and illegal logging, agricultural encroachment, wildlife, invasive weeds, and illegal mining . With fewer than 50 individuals of the species recorded, the margin for error is non-existent as any further degradation of the species habitat could lead to global extinction. The specific “unlock” this funding provides is the transition from advanced protection planning to the formal establishment and active management of a 5,000-7,000- hectare ecological core sanctuary.

While Save Ghana Frogs has successfully established four Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) covering 35,000 hectare to improve community governance, the species’ most critical habitat requires this dedicated sanctuary to permanently exclude extractive pressures. Securing this core sanctuary will bridge the gap between broad community-led conservation and the rigorous, long-term habitat security necessary for the species to recover. This funding will ensure that restoration milestones are protected within a formalized sanctuary, preventing encroachment that currently threatens to undermine these conservation gains. Ultimately, this “unlock” transforms a high-risk landscape into a secure stronghold for the last population of the critically endangered Giant Squeaker Frog.