Lobéké National Park

History

In 1991, the WWF conducted a biological assessment of the Lobéké area and recommended its protection, suggesting the unexploited 40,000 hectares be expanded to over 400,000 hectares. The park was declared a national park in October 1999. That same year, the Yaoundé Declaration established a tri-national park agreement with Dzanga-Sangha Forest Reserve in the Central African Republic and Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. In 2012, the entire Sangha Trinational became a World Heritage Site.

Geography

Lobéké National Park lies in the Moloundou arrondissement, near Boumba-et-Ngoko. During the colonial period, the Moloundou area was a principal rubber-producing region, where Germans established a rubber plant. The park is close to the borders of the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, leading to the tri-national initiative.

It covers 1838.55 km2, with altitudes from 300 m to 750 m. Over twelve natural savannas, characterized as saline swamps, occur within the park, along with sandbars on the Sangha. Annual rainfall averages 1400 mm, with a dry season from December through February.

Large forest clearings called bais have mineral-rich soils that attract mega fauna. The park is home to ethnic groups including the Baka, the Bantu, and the Bangando. Some of the highest densities of African forest elephants and western lowland gorillas in Africa are found here, along with chimpanzees, gorillas, leopards, and ten species of forest ungulates.

Conservation

Lobéké National Park is managed by the Government of Cameroon within the Sangha Trinational conservation landscape, in collaboration with partners such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC). Management includes wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching patrols, ecological research, and community programmes. Since 2000, the park has been part of the Sangha Trinational, linking it with Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park.

This landscape was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 for its biodiversity and protection of Congo Basin rainforest. Despite protected status, the park faces pressure from elephant poaching, illegal hunting, and logging in surrounding areas. Outside the park, the landscape is a mosaic of protected forests, logging concessions, and community hunting zones, aiming to reconcile conservation with sustainable resource use and maintain ecological connectivity.