Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park

Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park IUCN Category II - National Park
Image wanted
location	Bamingui-Bangoran Province , Central African Republic
surface	17400 km²
WDPA ID	2256
Geographical location	9 ° 0 ′  N , 21 ° 30 ′  E Coordinates: 9 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 21 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  E
Setup date	17th May 1979
administration	Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fisheries

The Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park (also: Manovo-Gounda-St.-Floris National Park ) is a national park in the Bamingui-Bangoran Province of the Central African Republic .

Flora and fauna

The park is significant because of its diverse flora and fauna. With an annual precipitation of 1000 to 1700 mm, the predominant form of vegetation is the tree savannah. This can be divided into five types: Terminalia laxiflora tree savannah, Isoberlinia doka and Monotes kerstingii forest, Pseudocedrela kotschyi and Terminalia macroptera forest, lowland forest or tree savannah as well as Anogeissus leiocarpa and Khaya senegalensis . Even outside of the rainy season, large swamp areas remain; in the dry season large crowds of animals can be observed.

There is black rhinos , lions , leopards , African wild dogs , gazelles , duiker , waterbuck , hartebeest , Oribi , Leier antelope , reedbuck , warthogs , African buffalo , giraffes , hippos , crocodiles , and occasional sightings of cheetahs . The African golden cat , red flank duiker and yellow bridge duiker are rare . The elephant population is said to have been between 80,000 and 100,000 animals in 1976; in 1985 it was estimated at 10,000 to 15,000. But since then the populations of all the species examined at the time have fallen sharply, so that when an inventory was taken from the air in May and June 2005, fewer than 500 elephants were accepted. Kob and Defassa waterbuck are almost extinct , while the stocks of reedbuck , giant eland , African buffalo, hartebeest and roan antelope have declined in the national park itself, but have remained stable or increased in the hunting areas.

The northern floodplains are home to numerous waterfowl, which are divided into around 320 species, including at least 25 species of birds of prey such as the fish eagle . The shoebill also occurs. Depending on the season, there are large populations of pelicans and marabou .

Hazards and protective measures

Since 1988, the area is part of the UNESCO - World Heritage and since 1997 it is continuously on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger since been destroyed by illegal grazing and heavily armed poaching estimated 80% of the wild population.

In 1997, 4 park employees were shot dead. Due to the lack of security, all development and tourism projects were then discontinued.

Since then, with the participation of the European Union, attempts have been made to limit poaching by setting up hunting zones in the vicinity of the park. However, this failed because these areas are inland, while the majority of poachers come across the border from Chad and Sudan . These are often equipped with automatic weapons and organize real hunting caravans along the national road that runs through the park. A survey from the air in 2005 revealed that sometimes more game lives in the hunting zones than in the national park itself.

Size and history

As early as December 10, 1933, part of the area was designated as the Oubangui-Chari National Park and in 1935 it was renamed the Matoumara National Park. The Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park covers 17400 km², since then the St. Floris National Park, which has existed since July 27, 1940 and was enlarged in 1960 and 1974, which forms the northern part of today's national park, with the 1700 km² André-Felix- National Park and other, partially protected areas was merged.

UNESCO criteria for designation as World Heritage

The Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park meets two of the criteria for recognition as a UNESCO natural heritage site:

• (ix): The Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris National Park has extraordinary natural formations. The park extends over the Sudano-Sahelian and Sudano-Guinean biogeographical zones . This results in a variety of habitats, ranging from grassy plains in the north to savannahs with gallery forests in the south. The area encompasses the entire watershed of three major rivers ( Manovo , Koumbala and Gounda ) with grass-covered floodplains and wetlands. The plains are interspersed with small granite island mountains and in the south with the rugged sandstone massif of the Bongos .
  This spacious park, with a functional corridor to the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park and surrounded by hunting areas, protects the largest savannah in Central Africa . It represents a unique example of this ecosystem and is home to viable populations of various species typical of this part of Africa and other parts of East and West Africa.

• (x): The wildlife of the park reflects the transition between East and West Africa, the Sahel zone and the rainforests. It includes the most biodiverse fauna in the country with around 57 mammal species that have been well protected in the past. In this respect it resembles the lush savannahs of East Africa.
  With a view to conservation, several important large mammal species live in the park, such as black rhino , elephant , hippopotamus , red-fronted gazelle (here on the southern border of their range), lion , leopard , cheetah and wild dog . There are large concentrations of herbivores such as buffalo , Senegalese antelope , waterbuck and South African hartebeest . About 320 species of birds have been counted in the park, of which at least 25 are birds of prey. Floodplains in the north of the park are mostly suitable for waterfowl, and the shoebill has also been seen in the park.

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 . P. 254.

Web links

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Status report 2006 of the World Heritage Committee , p. 3–6. (PDF, English; 725 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park. Retrieved on August 24, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).