Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is a
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
in the
Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
. Established in 1993, in the northern provinces of Congo, it is home to forest
elephants Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...
, great
apes Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans are found glo ...
, including
western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...
s and the eastern sub-species of
chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...
s and bongo. The forests have a rich biodiversity of 300 bird species, plus 1,000 plant and tree species which include endangered mahoganies.


Administration

The Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is managed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement, signed in 2013 between the RoC Government and the WCS. The agreement creates the Fondation Nouabalé-Ndoki (FNN), of which WCS has been delegated as the Park Management Unit until 2038.


History

The concept of creating reserved parks emerged in the 1980s with the realization that wild roaming elephants which moved freely in the entire region of the three parks needed to be protected from poachers and the logging industry. Plans to establish the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park were initiated in 1991 by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Government of Congo with support from
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...
as a transboundary collaborative project. It also involved a progression of interaction with local, regional and national authorities. The park was finally established in September 1993 covering an area of between the north-eastern Sangha Department and the north-western
Likouala Department Likouala is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the northern part of the country. It borders the departments of Cuvette and Sangha, and internationally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The region ha ...
of Congo. In 1999, the timber company CIB (Congolaise Industrielle du Bois) and the local community joined hands with WCS and the Government of Congo to create an entity that would minimise the negative impacts of logging on the national park. In 2001, the park area was extended with part of a neighbouring logging concession known as the Gouloago triangle getting annexed to this park. The German logging firm surrendered its rights over of the Goualougo Triangle under its lease hold to be merged with the national park, and also resolved to ban hunting. While logging operations (particularly of two species of the African mahogany for high-grade timber) have taken place in many forest regions in the northern Congo to a limited scale, this park has been free of any such operations. This has resulted in the fact that it has been beneficial to effective preservation and growth of population of the wildlife and natural habitat of the forests in the park. In a conference of the Ministers of Forests of
Central African Forest Commission The Central African Forest Commission ( French: ''Commission des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale'', or COMIFAC) is an intergovernmental organisation in Central Africa. Its goal is to manage the forests of Central Africa in a sustainable manner and is s ...
(COMIFAC), it had been resolved to establish within the
Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...
, the Sangha River Tri-National Protected Area (TNS) with a total area of encompassing the Dzanga Sangha Special Reserve and the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the
Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...
, the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the
Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
, and the
Lobéké National Park Lobéké National Park (alternate: Lake Lobake National Park) is a national park of southeastern Cameroon within the Moloundou Arrondissement of East Province. Located in the Congo Basin, it is bounded on the east by the Sangha River which serv ...
in
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. In 2012, all three national parks were awarded
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
-status as the
Sangha Trinational Sangha Trinational () is a forest divided between the nations of Central African Republic, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 because of its outstanding biodiversity and unique biological communi ...
.


Geography

The protected area, which is part of the Sangha River Tri-National Protected Area (STN) is drained mainly by the
Sangha River The Sangha River (, , ), a tributary of the Congo River, is located in Central Africa. Geography The Sangha River is formed at the confluence of the Mambéré River and the Kadéï River at Nola in the western Central African Republic (). The ...
, a tributary of the
Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
. It is of pristine
tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...
with no human habitation within it and with human population densities in its periphery that are comparatively low for the sub-region. Part of the forest is still inaccessible and remains unexplored. It is a swampy tropical forest in lowlands that are part of the Congo River drainage basin. This park, along with the other two reserved parks within the larger Sangha Reserve, is secluded from all economic activity involving roads and human interference, which has resulted in its maintenance as a pristine rainforest. The park lies within the forest area of Congo which forms 11% of the total area of the country. It has been further demarcated into protected areas, cleared areas known as Bai and Yanga, two seasonal zones for use by nomadic people, hunting areas reserved for employees, protected zones that act as prey zones for hunting, hunting zones for local community, and sacred sites.


Climate

The park has a humid climate with an average of
rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
a year. The
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...
is August to November and the dry season December to February.


Wildlife


Flora

Nouable-Ndoki National Park is a lush
rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
with 24 distinct types of vegetation. The plants include a collection of different types of mahoganies."Incognita: Nouabale-Ndoki National Park."
Travel Africa: 16 Oct. 2009.
However, the dominant trees are ''
Gilbertiodendron dewevrei ''Gilbertiodendron dewevrei'' is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical rain forests in Central Africa. It is often the dominant tree species of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. The timber is traded as ''limbali'', and is us ...
'' in the upland region and away from water courses in large areas. Mixed and swamp forests are also a feature. The forest has many “bais”, or cleared areas. Over 1000 different
plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
and
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
species have been identified. ''G. dewevevri'' produces a supra-annual seed crop and it is “thought that mast fruiting may have occurred to combat seed predation through predator satiation.” These seeds are destroyed by beetles. However, they form the major food source for a large number of mammals such as
rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
,
duiker A duiker is a small to medium-sized brown antelope native to sub-Saharan Africa, found in heavily wooded areas. The 22 extant species, including three sometimes considered to be subspecies of the other species, form the subfamily Cephalophinae ...
s, red river and
giant forest hog The giant forest hog (''Hylochoerus meinertzhageni''), the only member of its genus (''Hylochoerus''), is native to wooded habitats in Africa and is one of the largest wild members of the pig family, Suidae, along with a few subspecies of the wi ...
s, buffaloes, elephants and, particularly, gorillas.


Fauna

There are many animal
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
living in the park.Berg, Maria
"Congo Republic Nouabal-Ndoki National Park."
16 Oct. 2009.
The
National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...
has observed that the park may have the largest concentration of wildlife in Africa. The most prominent species are
primates Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians ( monkeys and apes). Primates arose 74–63  ...
, including
western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...
s and
chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...
s.
Mbeli Bai Mbeli Bai is a 12.9 hectare protected freshwater swamp forest, part of the Sangha Trinational Forest and the Western Congolian swamp forests ecoregion, in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of the Congo. The area is commonly used ...
is a specific area within the park which is particularly rich in gorillas, with 180 western lowland gorillas reported here. It also contains many monkey species, nine of which have a population density of 50 per . Monkeys include
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
and
red colobus Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Piliocolobus''. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus '' Procolobus'', which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus mon ...
, moustached and crowned guenons,
grey-cheeked mangabey The grey-cheeked mangabey (''Lophocebus albigena''), also known as the white-cheeked mangabey, is an Old World monkey found in the forests of Central Africa. It ranges from Cameroon down to Gabon. The grey-cheeked mangabey is a dark monkey, looki ...
s as well as many others. There are also the rare
forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living species of African elephant, along with the African bush elephant. It is native to humid tropical forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the ...
, forest buffalo,
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
, bongo, and
blue duiker The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest species of duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspe ...
. Forest elephants create space by clearing the forest for other animals to move. Horned antelopes with tops number 100 per . According to an African Pygmy legend, a Congo-based long-necked reptile, known as
Mokele-mbembe In several Bantu mythologies, mokele-mbembe (also written as "mokèlé-mbèmbé") is a mythical water-dwelling entity that is believed to exist in the Congo River Basin. It is variously described as a reptilian creature, a spirit, or a member ...
killed
elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
s with its huge frontal horn. The park plays host to over 300 different kinds of
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, including
eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
s,
hawks Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and othe ...
,
owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vis ...
,
vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
,
herons Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus '' Botaurus'' are referred to as ...
and parrots. It has been designated an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
because it supports significant populations of many bird species.
Crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...
s and blood-sucking
insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s are also part of the forest fauna. Herpetofaunal studies have been conducted in four areas, recording 20 amphibian and 14 reptile species in the southern edge of the park; of these, the frogs include ''
Aubria masako ''Aubria masako'' is a species of frog in the family Pyxicephalidae. It is found in southeastern Cameroon, eastern Gabon, southwestern Central African Republic, northern Republic of the Congo, and eastward to the central Democratic Republic of the ...
,'' ''
Amietophrynus regularis ''Sclerophrys regularis'', commonly known as the African common toad, square-marked toad, African toad, Egyptian toad, African bouncing toad (due to the bouncing motion) and Reuss's toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found ...
'', '' Cryptothylax greshoffii'', '' Hyperolius balfouri'', '' H. brachiofasciatus'', '' Leptopelis brevirostris'' and '' L. calcaratus meridionalis''.


Conservation

Conservation efforts undertaken are not limited to the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park alone but also to the two other parks of the tri region, and also the entire Sangha River Tri-national Protected Area that encompasses more than 96% of the land area. The countries who have formed the tri-national organization under a trans-boundary program through the efforts of the
World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...
(WWF) are the Central African Republic, the Congo and Cameroon. This organizational effort has ensured appropriate actions being implemented related to anti-poaching, research and the promotion of tourism to the rain forests. A regular feature of this effort is the meetings that are held at regular intervals of the three park-administrations, as well as the prefects of the three countries. Patrolling of the parks is carried out by regular joint patrols to ensure that poaching, smuggling of
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
and unauthorized fishing and carriage fire arms do not happen in the reserve park. Visitors can visit the park only in a group as part of an organized tour arranged by professional wild life tour operators. Numerous providers run safaris into the park in order to fund conservation efforts and raise awareness about the wildlife. Conservation measures are supported by the German Cooperation of Technical Collaboration (GTC) in Central African Republic and Cameroon, and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and
Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...
(WCS - New York) in the Congo. A trust fund, flush with funds, has also been created for the purpose of conservation of the parks. The national park has also its several research projects that are financially supported by
USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...
-
CARPE Lee Jae-hyeok (), better known as Carpe, is a South Korean professional ''Valorant'' player for T1. He was professional ''Overwatch'' player formerly. He began his esports career playing ''Overwatch'' for teams such as BK Stars, Selfless Gam ...
, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbus Zoo, and the
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...
. Consequent to extensive international support, the park is now considered not only nationally important, but also an internationally recognised conservation area of immense importance, with a very well established infrastructure, skilled personnel, and substantial economic backing.


Protection

In the past, protection technology had been limited for
rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
. However, now, they have been using detectors to catch criminals hurting the park. The rangers of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park have a group known as 'eco-guards'. The 'eco-guards' are under the supervision of the MFEE (Ministry of Forestry Economy and the Environment). With the MFEE/eco-guards, it has been ensured that no illegal human activities take place in the park such as
poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...
. Apart from the rangers, the local community of the Ba’Aka also provide their local knowledge base inputs to promote sustainable preservation and conservation of the forests in the park.


See also

* African Wildlife *
Guyvanho Mobanza Mobembo Gérard, (born ), known as Guyvanho, nicknamed the Butcher of Nouabalé Ndoki, is a Congolese convicted ivory trafficker and poacher. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison for poaching and attempted murder of park rangers, the ...
, poacher who killed over 500 African forest elephants in the park *
Rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nouabale-Ndoki National Park National parks of the Republic of the Congo Important Bird Areas of the Republic of the Congo Protected areas established in 1993 Ramsar sites in the Republic of the Congo