Salonga National Park
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Salonga National Park
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 The Luilaka River in Salonga National Park, 2005 |
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| location | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| surface | 33,346 km² |
| WDPA ID | 555697863 1078, 555697863 |
| Geographical location | 2 ° 0 ′ N , 21 ° 0 ′ E |
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| Setup date | 1970 |
| administration | Congolais Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) |
The Salonga National Park (French. Parc national de la Salonga ) in the regions Tshuapa , Mai-Ndombe , Kasaï and Sankuru the Democratic Republic of Congo was established in 1970 and is since 1984 part of the UNESCO - World Heritage Site . The park in the center of the Congo Basin is the largest reserve in the tropical rainforest of Africa and can only be reached by boat.
Location and climate
The Salonga National Park is 350 to 700 m above sea level. With a total size of 36,500 km², divided into a north and a south part by an approximately 40 km wide corridor, it is the largest tropical forest national park in the world. Its borders are mainly formed by rivers. On average, over 2000 mm of rain falls each year.
Landscape and vegetation
The northern part of the park is covered in grassy areas known as botoka-djoku (elephant bath ). Overall, grassland takes up less than 0.5% of the park area. In the southern Salonga National Park you will find equatorial rainforest , swamp and gallery forests . The evergreen rainforest is dominated by Gilbertiodendron dewevrei . Partly deciduous forest covers almost all areas between rivers, pioneer or transition societies grow along the river banks .
Wildlife
Salonga National Park is home to many endangered species such as bonobo (not in the northern part), Congo peacock , forest elephant , Central African armored crocodile and the endemic dryas monkey . Due to the dense forest and the inaccessibility of the area, population census and protection as well as poaching are difficult. Moreover here live black and white colobus monkeys , including the King Colobus and the West African colobus , Langschwanz- , Weißbauch- and giant pangolins , hippos , leopards , African golden cats , Angola crossarchus , Wasserzivetten , bush pigs , yellow-backed duiker , okapi , African mouse deer , bongos , Bushbuck , sitatungas and forest buffalo . Cattle egrets , black storks (as migratory birds) and the very hungry are also found among bird species .
Danger
From 1984 to 1992 and again since 1999, the park has been on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger . The cause is the general collapse of law and order in the region and the resulting looting and desertion of some of the park guards. Known issues include poaching, deforestation, honey picking, commercial bushmeat trafficking, and water pollution from poisons used in illegal fishing.
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. 251.
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Status report 2006 (PDF file; 725 kB), p. 18ff (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b UNESCO World Heritage Center: Salonga National Park. Retrieved August 20, 2017 .
Natural heritage: Virunga National Park (1979, R ) | Garamba National Park (1980, R ) | Kahuzi-Biéga National Park (1980, R ) | Salonga National Park (1984, R ) | Okapi Game Reserve (1996, R )