Dinder National Park

Location of Dinder National Park in Sudan

The Dinder National Park is located in eastern Sudan on the border with Ethiopia . It was founded in 1935, still under Egyptian-British colonial rule . Its area was expanded in 1983 to approx. 10,000 km² and is thus distributed over three federal states: Sannar , al-Qadarif and an-Nil al-azraq . In 1979 it was declared a biosphere reserve, and it is also included as an important wetland in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands .

The park takes its name from the river Dinder of the same name , which rises in Ethiopia and only has seasonal water. Another important river is the Rahad , which is the northern limit of the park.

The park is divided into different ecological zones. The dominant variants are savannah and tree savannah areas, river ecosystems and the so-called Mayas. These are i. d. R. sinks or former river loops that hold water well into the dry season. They are of paramount importance in providing wild animals with water and fresh grass.

Despite many problems, there is still a rich flora and fauna . Particularly noteworthy are the large mammals such as baboons, various types of gazelle, buffalo and lions, and the many species of birds. Giraffes and elephants have become extinct due to poaching and lack of habitats. In 2005 elephants were spotted again for the first time, immigrating from neighboring Ethiopia.

Dinder National Park is currently the only national park in Sudan for which there is a management plan, which is largely being implemented. However, the park faces some problems. The pressure from the people around the park is great. The pastures for the animals and the areas for the fields are scarce and the park seems to offer an almost inexhaustible source of these urgently needed resources. The socio-economic situation of large parts of the population is very weak and the park offers a relatively simple way to supplement the income and thus to ensure the nutrition of the family. Because the park is too big to be monitored extensively by the rangers. If illegal activities are discovered, severe penalties are imposed. A shepherd has to give up half of his flock, which is roughly equivalent to halving his income.

See also

• National parks in Sudan

literature

• Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCENR); Wildlife Conservation General Administration (WCGA): Management Plan for Dinder National Park Sudan. Khartoum 2004

Web links

• Sven Oehm: National parks in Sudan. Integration of socio-economic development and nature conservation as a challenge for protected area management. The examples of Dinder National Park and Wadi Howar National Park. Dissertation at the geographical institute of the FU-Berlin, 2008
• Management Plan for Dinder National Park Sudan. Higher Council for Environment and National Resources. Wildlife Conservation General Administration, Khartoum 2004 (PDF file; 3 MB)
• Adil Mohamed Ali and Mutasim Bashir Nimir: Putting People First. Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in the Dinder National Park (Biosphere Reserve). Dinder National Park Project approx. 2003 (PDF file; 404 kB)
• W. van Hoven and MB Nimir: Recovering from Conflict: The case of Dinder and other National Parks in Sudan. Parks 14 (1), 2004.
• WDPA, World Database on Protected Areas, Dinder National Park page

Coordinates: 12 ° 17 ′ 0 ″  N , 35 ° 29 ′ 0 ″  E