Fazao Malfakassa National Park is the largest of three national parks in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, the others being Kéran and Fosse aux Lions. It is situated between the

Kara Region Kara is one of Togo's five regions. Kara is the regional capital. Other major cities in the Kara region include Bafilo, Bassar, and Niamtougou. Kara is divided into the prefectures of Assoli, Bassar, Bimah, Dankpen, Doufelgou, Kéran, and ...

and Centrale Region in semi-mountainous wetland, and forms part of the border with

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. The Fondation Franz Weber was authorized by the government to manage the park for 25 years, beginning in 1990 and ending in 2015. It was established in 1975 by the merger of two reserve forests created in 1951: Fazao () and Malfakassa (). The Forest Classée Du Fazao contains most of the

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of the forest, while visitors go hiking in the rocky hills of the Malfacassa Zone de Chasse. The terrain consists of "

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

woodland ... good stands of

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

... ,

submontane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

and grass-covered hilltops." The site is currently being considered for inclusion in the

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

list of sites with "outstanding universal value" to the world. This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Tentative List on January 8, 2002, in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural) category.

Fauna

In 1990, elephants were common in northeastern Togo. With the country in a state of upheaval in the early 1990s, poaching became a major problem. By 2007, the population had been reduced to a remnant in the park. The number of elephants in the park was estimated to be around 50 in 2003. The park is one of two sites in Togo in the

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants Program. The total number of known bird species is 244, as of 2008, but there are likely many more.

Antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

species in the park, based on 1984 aerial surveys, include the: *

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...

Maxwell's duiker The Maxwell's duiker (''Philantomba maxwellii'') is a small antelope found in western Africa. Taxonomy The scientific name of Maxwell's duiker is ''Philantomba maxwelli''. It is classified in the genus ''Philantomba'' along with the blue duiker ...

red-flanked duiker The red-flanked duiker (''Cephalophus rufilatus'') is a species of small antelope found in western and central Africa in countries as far apart as Senegal and Sudan. Red-flanked duikers grow to almost 15 in (35 cm) in height and weigh up to ...

(est. 450) *

bay duiker The bay duiker (''Cephalophus dorsalis''), also known as the black-striped duiker and the black-backed duiker, is a forest-dwelling duiker native to western and southern Africa. It was first described by British zoologist John Edward Gray in 18 ...

yellow-backed duiker The yellow-backed duiker (''Cephalophus silvicultor'') is a forest dwelling antelope in the order Artiodactyla from the family Bovidae. Yellow-backed duikers are the most widely distributed of all duikers. They are found mainly in Central and West ...

grey duiker The common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), also known as the grey or bush duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus ''Sylvicapra''. This species is found everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of Afric ...

(est. 450) *

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...

(est. 450) * Buffon's

kob The kob (''Kobus kob'') is an antelope found across Central Africa and parts of West Africa and East Africa. Together with the closely related reedbucks, waterbucks, lechwe, Nile lechwe, and puku, it forms the Reduncinae tribe. Found along the ...

(''Kobus kob kob'') (est. 3200) * roan antelope (est. 200) *

western hartebeest The western hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus major'') is an antelope native to the medium to tall grassland plains of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, ...

(est. 100) *

oribi The oribi (; ''Ourebia ourebi'') is a small antelope found in eastern, southern and western Africa. The sole member of its genus, it was described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1783. While this is the only m ...

References

{{authority control National parks of Togo Environment of Togo