Lag Badana National Park (Bushbush National Park) is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. It is located on the far southern coast.

Overview

Lag Badana was the first national park to be established in the country. During the second half of the 1980s, the Ministry of Tourism under the

Siad Barre Mohamed Siad Barre ( so, Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Osmanya script: ; ar, محمد سياد بري; c. 1910 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali head of state and general who served as the 3rd president of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 199 ...

administration sought to center the tourist industry in the vicinity of the park, with nearby coral reefs and offshore islands likewise envisioned as part of the development. By 1989, newer legislation was drafted governing the establishment of national parks, game reserves and special reserves. The conservation of wildlife resources was at this time overseen by the Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range's National Range Agency. Its Department of Wildlife also operated an independent law-enforcement unit, which had been created through presidential decree. Following the outbreak of the civil war in 1991, development of the national park came to a halt. In August 2014, President

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ( so, Xasan Sheekh Maxamuud, ar, حسن شيخ محمود; born 29 November 1955) is a Somali politician who has served as the president of Somalia since May 2022. He is the founder and current chairman of the Union for P ...

announced a number of new development projects aimed at Somalia's youth. Among these was an initiative to assign leadership of the national park to young managers so as to strengthen environmental preservation and potential tourism opportunities. Since 2005, the protected area is considered a

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

Conservation Unit.

Wildlife

The Lag Badana area contains over 200 vascular plant species and is home to rare animals like the

lesser kudu The lesser kudu (''Tragelaphus imberbis'') is a bushland antelope found in East Africa. It is placed in the genus ''Tragelaphus'' and family Bovidae. It was first scientifically described by the English zoologist Edward Blyth in 1869. The head- ...

. Of the plants, around 20 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

References

National parks of Somalia {{Somalia-geo-stub