The Pico Basilé National Park () is a protected area with the status of

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 ...

on the island of

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, near the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

, in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The park is named after the Pico Basilé, the highest mountain in Equatorial Guinea, with 3011 m (9878 feet). Administratively it is included within the jurisdiction of the Equatorial Guinean province of

Bioko Norte Bioko Norte () is the second-most populated of the eight provinces of Equatorial Guinea, after the Litoral province. It contained 300,374 of the island's 335,048 inhabitants in 2015, sub-divided into 2 districts - Malabo (271,008) and Baney (27,3 ...

History

In 2007 the government of Equatorial Guinea prohibited the hunting of diverse species, international organizations have shown concern for the noncompliance of the decree. The government is taking action to promote sustainable hunting in the park, which would encourage the development of the local rural community.

Geography and environment

The park covers an area of 30,000 ha and was formally established in 2000. It is known for its diversity of landscapes and vegetation and especially for its primates, which are threatened by

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 ...

. It contains populations of Preuss's monkey, red-eared guenon, black colobus, western red colobus, and

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless b ...

—as well as of Ogilby's duiker. The park 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 Cameroon olive-pigeons, green longtails, white-tailed warblers, mountain saw-wings, western mountain greenbuls, Cameroon olive greenbuls, black-capped woodland-warblers, Bioko speirops, Cameroon sunbirds, Ursula's sunbirds and Shelley's olivebacks.

References

National parks of Equatorial Guinea Important Bird Areas of Equatorial Guinea Protected areas established in 2000 {{Africa-protected-area-stub