A veritable « water tower » with about fifty springs between the Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve is dominated by a chain of mountains that culminate at 1,752 m altitude at Mount Nimba. Criterion (ix): Part of the rare mountainous chains of West Africa, Mount Nimba rises abruptly to an altitude of 1,752 m above a rolling panorama and giving way to forested plains at the lower altitudes. The viviparous toad of Mount Nimba (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis), critically threatened with extinction due to its very reduced breeding area, only lives in high altitude habitats. Another endemic species in danger of extinction is the micropotamogale of Mount Nimba (Micropotamogale lamottei), a small semi-aquatic insectivore. Since 1944, Mount Nimba enjoys the status of strict protection in its northern part – today shared between Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.