Lake Ossa is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

that lies west of Edéa in the Littoral Province of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. Lake Ossa, together with the smaller lakes Mevia to the northeast and Mwembe to the southwest, form the Lake Ossa complex. The lake complex covers an area of 39.27 km², and is Cameroon's largest natural lake.Olson, David & Ormeno Garcia, Santiago. (2017). Participatory Freshwater Conservation: Management guidelines for the Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve in Cameroon.

Geography

The lakes have a dissected shape, with numerous inlets and islands. Lake Ossa is wide at its widest point. The lakes are in the lower basin of the

Sanaga River The Sanaga River (formerly german: Zannaga) is the largest river in Cameroon located in East Region, Centre Region and Littoral Region. Its length is about from the confluence of Djérem and Lom River. The total length of Sanaga-Djérem Rive ...

, and are linked to the river by a narrow channel in length. The lake complex was created by

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

movements of the Earth's crust. The lake shores are often steep, sloping 70 to 80 meters above the surface of the lake.

Ecology

The lake complex is home to the African manatee (''Trichechus senegalensis''), dwarf crocodile (''Osteolaemus tetraspis''),

African softshell turtle The African softshell turtle or Nile softshell turtle (''Trionyx triunguis'') is a large species of turtle from fresh-water and brackish habitats in Africa (larger parts of East, West and Middle Africa) and the Near East (Israel, Lebanon, Syria ...

(''Trionyx triunguis''). The lakes have 36 species of fish, in 21 families – eight species of

cichlids Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted th ...

, six species of

Mormyridae The Mormyridae, sometimes called "elephantfish" (more properly freshwater elephantfish), are a family of weakly electric freshwater fish in the order Osteoglossiformes native to Africa. It is by far the largest family in the order with around 2 ...

, three of

Alestidae African tetras (family Alestidae, formerly spelled Alestiidae) are a group of characiform fish exclusively found in Africa. This family contains about 18 genera and 119 species. Among the best known members are the Congo tetra, and African tige ...

, and two of

Claroteidae The Claroteidae are a family of catfish (order Siluriformes) found in Africa. This family was separated from Bagridae. However, the monophyly of the family is sometimes contested. The 12 genera contain 86 known species of claroteids in two subfa ...

. Lake Ossa's shores are forested with lowland rain forest, part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion. Common trees include azobe ('' Lophira alata''), ndo’o ('' Irvingia gabonensis''), African corkwood (''

Musanga cecropioides ''Musanga cecropioides'', the African corkwood tree or umbrella tree, is found in tropical Africa from Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is border ...

''), afara (''

Terminalia superba ''Terminalia superba'', the superb terminalia, limba, or afara (UK), korina (US), frake (Africa), African limba wood, ofram (Ghana), is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa. It grows up to 60 m tall, with a ...

'') and iroko (''

Milicia excelsa ''Milicia excelsa'' is a tree species from the genus '' Milicia'' of the family ''Moraceae''. Distributed across tropical Central Africa, it is one of two species (the other being ''Milicia regia'') yielding timber commonly known as African teak ...

''). There is a freshwater swamp forest at the southeastern end of the lake around the outflow channel, with the trees '' Pandanus, Raphia, Mitragyna'', and '' Uapaca''.

People and economy

The largest town is

Beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

, southeast of the lake. There are several small villages around the lake shore. The lake is an important source of fish, and supports a community of small-scale fish catchers and fish sellers who supply fish to Dizanguè and Edéa. Lake Ossa is a popular site for recreational fishing, boating, and

watersports Water sports or aquatic sports are sport activities conducted on waterbodies, and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * Boatin ...

Lake Ossa Faunal Reserve

Lake Ossa Faunal Reserve (''Réserve de Faune du Lac Ossa'') covers an area of 45.39 km²."Lac Ossa". ''Protected Planet'', Accessed 15 June 2020

/ref> The reserve was created on 2 December 1948 by Order No. 538 of the colonial government. The reserve's boundaries were clarified by Order No. 14-2 of 6 July 1974. The reserve is in IUCN protected area category, IUCN category IV.

References

{{reflist Ossa Littoral Region (Cameroon)