Garamba National Park

Garamba National Park
The Garamba National Park from the air
location	Haut-Uele , Democratic Republic of the Congo
surface	5000 km²
WDPA ID	1083
Geographical location	4 ° 0 ′  N , 29 ° 15 ′  E Coordinates: 4 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 29 ° 15 ′ 0 ″  E
Setup date	1938
administration	African parks

Garamba National Park
UNESCO world heritage
National territory:	Democratic Republic of Congo
Type:	nature
Criteria :	(vii) (x)
Surface:	500,000 ha
Reference No .:	136
UNESCO region :	Africa
History of enrollment
Enrollment:	1980  ( session 4 )
Red list :	1984–1992, since 1996

The Garamba National Park (also Garamba National Park , French Parc national de la Garamba ) is located in the province of Haut-Uele in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the border with South Sudan .

landscape

The landscape of the park consists of a 5000 km² high plateau , which lies at an altitude of 710 to 1060 m and is covered by (tree) savannah , grassland and trees, on the river banks and in swampy lowlands also by gallery forest . In the northern area there are papyrus swamps and grass savannas with over 5 m high grass species. The plane is granitic and gneiss - inselbergs interrupted. The area is rich in water. The annual precipitation from December to March amounts to 1500 mm. The main rivers are Dungu , Aka and Garamba.

fauna

Many large mammals live in the area, such as the African elephant , whose population was 7742 animals in 1982 and had very good chances of survival, (Congo) giraffe , hippopotamus , buffalo , Uganda grass antelope , cow , horse and other antelope species and possibly white rhinos . The national park is the last place the northern white rhinoceros lived in the wild. After a population of around 20 specimens had been stated in 1989, only 3 individuals could be observed in 2006, although there is reason to hope that more rhinos were just not found. According to other reports, it was wiped out in 2008. In 2006, an inventory showed 3839 elephants, 8145 buffalo, 2292 hippos and 70 Congo giraffes. There are also numerous species of monkeys, including chimpanzees , and predatory animals such as lion , leopard , African wild dog , golden cat and black cat in Garamba National Park .

poaching

In Garamba National Park there are fatal exchanges of fire between rangers and the military on the one hand and poachers on the other.

history

The National Park was established on 17 March 1938 and is since 1980 part of the UNESCO - World Heritage Site . In 1984 the park was put on the Red List of Endangered Parks because the white rhinoceros population has declined alarmingly.

After the park was removed from the Red List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992 , it has been reopened in 1996, particularly because of poaching of the park's white rhinos. According to the World Heritage Committee, the unclear politico-military situation prevents the park from being removed from the list anytime soon.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “Parc national de la Garamba. Site du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO ”. Echelle 1: 200000
2. ↑ Der Spiegel 22/2008, p. 142
3. ^ Spiegel Online: National Park in Congo: Elephant hunters kill elephant conservationists , accessed on October 12, 2015.
4. ↑ ^{a b} UNESCO World Heritage Center: Garamba National Park. Retrieved August 20, 2017 . 
5. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage List: Parc national de la Garamba

Web links

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Rationale for the readmission to the Red List (English)
• Status report 2006 (PDF; 742 kB), p. 12ff (English)

literature

• Wally and Horst Hagen: The African national parks as habitats for elephants . In: Vitus B. Dröscher : Save the elephants of Africa . 1st edition. Goldmann Verlag , Munich 1992, ISBN 3-442-12322-4 . Pp. 249-250.