Taxonomic notes: We follow Perret (1985) and Rödel et al. (2002) in considering Kassina arboricola to be separate from K. cochranae.

This West African species is known from the Upper Guinea Forest Block and is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, southern Guinea (in the upper Niger River region & Pic de Fon Classified Forest(N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012)), and extreme western Côte d’Ivoire (where it occurs in the Mount Nimba area and the Danané region (N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012)). Earlier records of this species from further to the east are now separated as Kassina arboricola and K. schioetzi.
Using the range as a proxy, the extent of occurrence (EOO) is estimated to be 176,876 km². 

Has the 2009 record (Hillers et al) from Ghana been confirmed? Is there any information available information on the elevation range, number of threat-defined locations or AOO of this species? EJM

It is an arboreal, forest-dwelling species, which can exist in secondary forest. There are also records from moist savannah and montane savannah areas as well as montane grassland. It seems able to survive in habitat fragments and gallery forests, but is unlikely to tolerate complete opening up of its habitat. It presumably breeds in both large temporary and permanent bodies of water, favouring large, well-vegetated pools, like other members of its genus. The tadpoles need large water bodies to develop (N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012), if the water bodies are too small the water will evaporate before the tadpoles have finished developing.

There is no information on its population status, but it is probably not rare. It was recorded in Guinea in 2011 (N.G. Kouamé pers. comm. May 2012). In the Danané region in Côte d'Ivoire, local people create large clearings in the forest to create rice fields, which is a reason why this species is thought to be declining. But it has also been recorded in secondary forest (N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012).

There are no reports of this species being utilized.

Certain populations are probably suffering as a result of severe deforestation taking place due to agricultural expansion, such as clearing of forest for rice fields, logging (wood export ) and expanding human settlements (N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012).

• 5.3.3 Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]
• 5.3.1 Intentional use: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]
• 2.1.2 Small-holder farming
• 2.1.1 Shifting agriculture
• 1.1 Housing & urban areas

It occurs in the Mount Nimba World Heritage Site (Guinea and Liberia), in the protected area at Pic de Fon (Guinea), and Yaya Classified Forest (N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012). Research needed on its population (population survey needed) and life history and how the threats impact on this species. Furthermore, areas around the Mount Nimba World Heritage Site should also be protected to prevent it being destroyed (N.G. Kouame pers. comm. June 2012).

• 2.1 Site/area management
• 1.1 Site/area protection

Listed as Near Threatened since although this species is still relatively widely distributed, it depends on forest and moist savanna wooded habitat, and so its Area of Occupancy is probably not much greater than 2,000 km2, and the extent and quality of its habitat is declining, thus making the species close to qualifying for Vulnerable.

According to our records this species may not have been formally reassessed. The current assessment relies on an estimate of the AOO; it would make this a more robust assessment if this could be confirmed with reasoning. To qualify for the VU category, an estimate of the number of threat-defined locations or evidence that the population is severely fragmented (according to the Red List guidelines) is needed. EJM

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• Hillers, A., Boateng, C.O., Segniagbeto, G.H., Agyei, A.C. & Rӧdel, M.-O. 2009. Assessment of the amphibians in the forests of southern Ghana and western Togo. Zoosystematics and Evolution. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin 85(1): 127-141.
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