Boumba Bek National Park | |
---|---|
IUCN category II (
national park) | |
Location | Cameroon |
Coordinates | 02°13′0″N 15°42′0″E / 2.21667°N 15.70000°E |
Area | 2,382 km2 (920 sq mi) |
Established | 17 October 2005 |
Governing body | World Wildlife Fund |
Boumba Bek National Park is a national park in extreme southeastern Cameroon, located in its East Province.
The park was never logged; according to the World Wildlife Fund's scientific advisor in the region, Paul Robinson Ngnegueu, " poaching is the biggest threat to Boumba Bek." [1] This is a result of the late 1980s economic depression in Cameroon. [2] The indigenous people followed the poachers, attracted by the financial opportunities. [2] They would sell their product through "intermediaries" for money and more hunting supplies. [2]
In 1995, the park was named an Essential Protection Zone, its first official status. [2] It was not formally established as a national park, however, until the Cameroonian government decreed the creation of Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks on 17 October 2005. [1] Its establishment is a result of a summit held by seven central African leaders in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, in February 2005. [1]
Cameroon and Gabon are currently working on the TRIDOM project, a conservation initiative leading to a land management plan which will oversee access to and use of forests. [3] It will create a tri-national "interzone" bordered by the Minkebe, Boumba-Bek, Nki, and Odzala National Parks and the Dja Wildlife Reserve. [3] This project is part of a conservation movement toward the zoning and designation of new protected areas. [3]
Boumba Bek is located between the Boumba and Bek Rivers in southeast Cameroon, from which it derives its name. [1] The site is accessible only by pirogue and several hunting trails. [1] It is sandwiched between the towns of Yokadouma and Moloundou in the Boumba et Ngoko department in Cameroon's East Province. [4] The park is situated from latitude 2˚09 to 2˚20 N and longitude 15˚35 to 15˚50 E. [4]
Sixteen bais, or forest clearings, have been discovered in Boumba Bek National Park. [4] Of these, four are currently being monitored for large mammalian activities. [4]
The park has a tropical climate with temperature ranging from 23.1 to 25˚C with an average annual temperature of 24˚C. Its relative humidity varies between 60 and 90% while annual rainfall is 1500 mm per year. [2] According to the Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture, Moloundou has a rainy season from September to November, a dry season from November to March, a rainy season from March to June, and a dry season from July to August. [2]
The area around the park, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund, has a population of 33,169 people, mostly comprising ethnic Bantus [4] and, despite being named a minority in Cameroon's constitution of 18 January 1996, Baka Pygmies. [2] These include the Kounabembe, Bangando, Bakwele, Mbomam, Essel, Mbimo, and Mpong-Mpong tribes. [4] Non-indigenous employees of logging companies and Muslim merchants from northern Cameroon make up a sizeable amount of the total population. [4]
A majority of the park is semi-evergreen lowland rainforest, along with several patches of closed-canopy evergreen forest. [1] Small areas of seasonally flooded forest, swamp-forest, and grassy savannas also exist within its boundaries. [1]
Boumba Bek, according to the Environmental News Service, "encompass[es] a biodiverse group of plants and animals." [1] Chimpanzees, forest antelope, crocodiles and bongos are all found in Boumba Bek National Park. [1] In addition, roughly 300 fish species, three of which are not named, swim in the park's rivers. [1]
The forests of Cameroon contain some of the highest population density of African forest elephants of any nation, and Boumba Bek is no different, [1] with an elephant density of roughly 2.5 for Boumba Bek and Nki combined. [5]
Boumba Bek was designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. [1]
Boumba Bek National Park | |
---|---|
IUCN category II (
national park) | |
Location | Cameroon |
Coordinates | 02°13′0″N 15°42′0″E / 2.21667°N 15.70000°E |
Area | 2,382 km2 (920 sq mi) |
Established | 17 October 2005 |
Governing body | World Wildlife Fund |
Boumba Bek National Park is a national park in extreme southeastern Cameroon, located in its East Province.
The park was never logged; according to the World Wildlife Fund's scientific advisor in the region, Paul Robinson Ngnegueu, " poaching is the biggest threat to Boumba Bek." [1] This is a result of the late 1980s economic depression in Cameroon. [2] The indigenous people followed the poachers, attracted by the financial opportunities. [2] They would sell their product through "intermediaries" for money and more hunting supplies. [2]
In 1995, the park was named an Essential Protection Zone, its first official status. [2] It was not formally established as a national park, however, until the Cameroonian government decreed the creation of Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks on 17 October 2005. [1] Its establishment is a result of a summit held by seven central African leaders in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, in February 2005. [1]
Cameroon and Gabon are currently working on the TRIDOM project, a conservation initiative leading to a land management plan which will oversee access to and use of forests. [3] It will create a tri-national "interzone" bordered by the Minkebe, Boumba-Bek, Nki, and Odzala National Parks and the Dja Wildlife Reserve. [3] This project is part of a conservation movement toward the zoning and designation of new protected areas. [3]
Boumba Bek is located between the Boumba and Bek Rivers in southeast Cameroon, from which it derives its name. [1] The site is accessible only by pirogue and several hunting trails. [1] It is sandwiched between the towns of Yokadouma and Moloundou in the Boumba et Ngoko department in Cameroon's East Province. [4] The park is situated from latitude 2˚09 to 2˚20 N and longitude 15˚35 to 15˚50 E. [4]
Sixteen bais, or forest clearings, have been discovered in Boumba Bek National Park. [4] Of these, four are currently being monitored for large mammalian activities. [4]
The park has a tropical climate with temperature ranging from 23.1 to 25˚C with an average annual temperature of 24˚C. Its relative humidity varies between 60 and 90% while annual rainfall is 1500 mm per year. [2] According to the Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture, Moloundou has a rainy season from September to November, a dry season from November to March, a rainy season from March to June, and a dry season from July to August. [2]
The area around the park, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund, has a population of 33,169 people, mostly comprising ethnic Bantus [4] and, despite being named a minority in Cameroon's constitution of 18 January 1996, Baka Pygmies. [2] These include the Kounabembe, Bangando, Bakwele, Mbomam, Essel, Mbimo, and Mpong-Mpong tribes. [4] Non-indigenous employees of logging companies and Muslim merchants from northern Cameroon make up a sizeable amount of the total population. [4]
A majority of the park is semi-evergreen lowland rainforest, along with several patches of closed-canopy evergreen forest. [1] Small areas of seasonally flooded forest, swamp-forest, and grassy savannas also exist within its boundaries. [1]
Boumba Bek, according to the Environmental News Service, "encompass[es] a biodiverse group of plants and animals." [1] Chimpanzees, forest antelope, crocodiles and bongos are all found in Boumba Bek National Park. [1] In addition, roughly 300 fish species, three of which are not named, swim in the park's rivers. [1]
The forests of Cameroon contain some of the highest population density of African forest elephants of any nation, and Boumba Bek is no different, [1] with an elephant density of roughly 2.5 for Boumba Bek and Nki combined. [5]
Boumba Bek was designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. [1]