The Cross River National Park is a national park in Nigeria, located in Cross River State. It has two separate sections: Okwangwo (established in 1991) and Oban (established in 1988). The park covers about 4,000 km. Most of the area has primary moist tropical rainforests in the North and Central parts, and mangrove swamps along the coast. Some parts of the park are part of the Guinea-Congolian region, where trees grow closely together, and some trees reach 40 or 50 meters tall.
The park shares a border with Korup National Park in Cameroon and is the largest rainforest area in Nigeria. It is a hotspot for biodiversity and contains one of the oldest rainforests in Africa. Sixteen primate species live in the park. Rare primates include common chimpanzees, drills, and Cross River gorillas in Okwangwo. Another primate, the gray-cheeked mangabey, has recently gone extinct in the area.
Both sections of the park face threats such as illegal logging, slash-and-burn farming, and poaching. Eco-tourism might help protect the park’s wildlife. Supporting nearby villages to use forests in a sustainable way could also help.
The Okwangwo and Oban sections are part of the Central Riverine National Park (CRNP), one of eight national parks in Nigeria. The Nigerian National Park Service (NNPS), which reports to the Federal Ministry of the Environment and is led by a Conservator General, manages the CRNP. Each national park in Nigeria is overseen by a Conservator of Parks.
The Guinean Forests of West Africa include the CRNP. The park has two seasons: a dry season (November to March) and a rainy season (March to November). Its vegetation is mostly moist lowland rainforest. Daily temperatures range from 14°C to 25°C, and yearly rainfall is between 2,000 and 3,000 mm. Many species found in the CRNP are endangered, such as the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), which lives in the Okwangwo section. The park is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and is listed as one of the world’s 25 Biodiversity Hotspots by the UN.
History
The park was first suggested in 1965, but serious planning began in 1988. The World Wide Fund for Nature – UK helped create a plan to establish the park in two areas separated by farmland and the Cross River valley. The plan included a budget of $49.9 million and aimed to involve nearby villagers in managing the park and providing them with development support.
The Cross River National Park (CRNP) was created in 1991 by a government decree from the Federal Ministry. The Cross River gorilla was chosen as the park’s focus animal. However, the original plan was not fully carried out, and the 1991 park only included existing forest reserves. After some initial funding, money for the project stopped, and local people became upset with the park’s management. A new decree in 1999 changed the Nigerian National Park Service, which manages the park, into a group with military-like powers. The park was created in 1991 and shares borders with Takamanda and Korup national parks in Cameroon. It also covers five local government areas: Obanliku, Boki, Etung, Ikom, and Akampka. Because of its closeness to protected areas in Cameroon, the CRNP could be part of a larger shared protected area across borders. When the park was created, about 105 settlements were formed in the buffer zone, some of which were towns located entirely within the park.
When the CRNP and its boundaries were created in 1991, local people lost the legal right to use forest resources. Because programs to help relocate people and provide new ways to earn a living were not successful, local residents had no other choice but to continue using the park’s resources illegally. This led to the local population becoming a major cause of forest fragmentation.
Organisation
The Nigeria National Park Service is part of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing & Urban Development. The Cross River National Park is managed by a Director who works with a Park Management Committee. The park has a station at Kanyang to support primate research and eco-tourism activities. The Butatong Divisional Head Office, created with help from the European Union and the World Wildlife Fund, serves as a base for rangers who patrol the Okwa and Okwangwo areas of the Okwangwo division.
The park includes four departments: Park Protection and Conservation, Ecotourism, Park Engineering and Maintenance, and Finance and Administration. In 2010, 250 out of 320 workers were employed in Park Protection and Conservation, mostly male because the job is physically demanding. These workers were based at twelve ranger stations. However, this number is too small to cover the large area that needs protection. Many rangers lack proper training and are unhappy with their pay, tools, motivation, and chances for career growth.
Oban Hills Division
The Oban Hills Division covers an area of 2,800 square kilometers and is centered around the coordinates 5°25′0″N 8°35′0″E. It shares a long border with Korup National Park in Cameroon, forming one large protected area for wildlife and nature.
The land area of the Oban Division is 300,000 hectares. It was separated from the Oban Group Forest Reserve in 1991. It is located in the southeastern part of Cross River State, in Akamkpa Local Government Area. It is about 42 kilometers from Calabar, the state capital, and borders Korup National Park to the east.
The Oban Division and Korup National Park are next to each other. The southern parts of the division are drained by the Kwa, Korup, and Calabar Rivers, while the northern parts are drained by the Cross River and its smaller rivers. The area has rough, hilly land, with elevations rising from 100 meters in river valleys to over 1,000 meters in mountain areas. January temperatures usually range from 25 to 27 degrees Celsius, but they rise to just over 30 degrees in July. In January, humidity is between 75% and 95%, but it decreases as the year progresses due to the harmattan wind. The region has lowland rainforest vegetation. In less accessible areas, the forest has not been greatly affected by people, but in other areas, human activity has harmed the vegetation.
The division has rough terrain, with elevations from 100 meters in river valleys to over 1,000 meters in mountains. The soil is easily washed away by water and eroded when plants are removed. The rainy season lasts from March to November, with more than 3,500 mm of rain each year. The northern part is drained by the Cross River and its tributaries, while the southern part is drained by the Calabar, Kwa, and Korup Rivers.
The division is mostly covered by lowland rainforest. Common tree species include Musanga cecropioides, Irvingia gabonensis, Berlinia confusa, Coula edulis, Hannoa klaineana, Klainedoxa gabonensis, African mahogany, and red ironwood. Scientists have identified about 1,568 plant species, 77 of which are found only in Nigeria. These include 1,303 flowering plants, 141 lichens, and 56 moss species. In 1995, a scientist named Torben Larsen found nearly 600 butterfly species in the area and estimated there may be up to 950 species in total.
Although the area has not been well studied, over 350 bird species have been recorded. It is one of only two places in Nigeria where Xavier's greenbul lives. Other rare species include bat hawk, Cassin's hawk-eagle, crested guineafowl, grey-throated rail, olive long-tailed cuckoo, bare-cheeked trogon, lyre-tailed honeyguide, green-backed bulbul, grey-throated tit-flycatcher, and Rachel's malimbe. Scientists have counted 42 snake species and identified at least 75 mammal species, including African buffalo, endangered African forest elephants, common chimpanzee, Preuss's red colobus, Sclater's guenon, and the highly endangered drill. The division may have about 400 chimpanzees, though no surveys have been done.
The forest in hard-to-reach areas has remained mostly untouched, but areas near the edges have been damaged by human activity. In some places, new plants have grown after trees were cut down, but other areas have oil-palm and rubber plantations. Illegal logging is a serious problem and has been increasing. Villages near the forest are growing, and farmers are moving into the area. Hunting, fishing, and farming are increasing and harming the ecosystem. Chemicals used for fishing have hurt fish populations.
An effort to involve local communities in managing the forest has been tested in the old and new Ekuri villages in the northwest part of the Oban Division. These villagers have rights to about 250 kilometers of forest land and used to rely on farming and selling forest products, including meat from endangered species like chimpanzee and drill. With help from park officials and foreign donors, the Ekuri Community Forestry Project was created to improve forest management and access to markets. With training and financial support, the villagers learned ways to use the forest sustainably and now have a strong interest in protecting it. This is different from the harm usually caused when outside logging or plantation companies take over an area like this.
Okwangwo Division
The Okwangwo division is located at coordinates 6°17′00″N 9°14′00″E / 6.28333°N 9.23333°E / 6.28333; 9.23333. It includes the former Boshi, Okwangwo, and Boshi Extension Forest Reserves. The division covers an area of about 920 km and has an altitude ranging from 150 to 1,700 meters above sea level. It is separated from the Oban division to the south by about 50 km of disturbed rainforest. The Okwangwo division lies southwest of the Obudu Plateau and directly east of the Afi River Forest Reserve, separated from this reserve by the Mbe Mountains Community Forest.
The Takamanda Forest Reserve in Cameroon borders the Okwangwo division to the east. In November 2008, Takamanda became a National Park through a joint project with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the government of Cameroon. A major goal of the park is to protect the endangered Cross River gorilla. The 676 km² park also helps conserve forest elephants, chimpanzees, and drills.
The ground in the Okwangwo division is rugged, with rocky ridges and outcrops. The highest points are in the Sankwala Mountains in the north (1,700 m) and the Mbe Mountains in the southwest (1,000 m). Annual rainfall can reach up to 4,280 mm, mostly during the wet season from March to November. The division is drained by the Oyi, Bemi, and Okon rivers, which are tributaries of the Cross River. High ridge-tops have montane grasslands, while valleys have relict forests. Lower areas are covered by lowland rainforests, with some savanna where forests have been destroyed by humans. Soils in both highland and lowland areas are vulnerable to erosion and leaching when plant cover is removed.
The Okwangwo Division has a rich variety of plant life, with about 1,545 species from 98 plant families recorded. Some species are found only in this area, and others were discovered recently. Over 280 bird species have been recorded, including the vulnerable grey-necked rockfowl, which nests in the Mbe Mountains, and the golden greenbul, which is rare in Nigeria. The grey parrot is near threatened.
The park is home to about 78% of the primate species found in Nigeria, including the vulnerable common chimpanzee and western gorilla, and the endangered Sclater's guenon, Preuss's monkey, and drill, which live in the same areas. Other large mammals include the endangered African forest elephant and the more common African buffalo. The division may have 200 chimpanzees, though no survey has been conducted.
Gorilla habitats include semi-deciduous, montane, and derived savannah environments in a complex of hilly escarpments with steep valleys, with peaks reaching up to 2,000 meters. The main gorilla base is Mbe Mountain, where 30–40 individuals live, though this area is not yet part of the park. In 2003, it was estimated that the Boshi Extension Forest in the north and the Okwa and Ononyi Hills in the south were home to 50–60 gorillas, living in isolated groups at risk of genetic inbreeding. Gorillas are also vulnerable to hunting, though the Boki people in the region typically prefer smaller game. Between 1990 and 1998, about two gorillas were killed annually by hunters.
There are about 66 villages in the buffer zone around the park, where residents rely on the park for their livelihoods. As the human population grows, the forest is being lost to slash-and-burn agriculture and illegal logging. Some fishermen use chemicals like gamalin 20, a herbicide, to kill fish. It is believed that three primate species have been extirpated. Logging, both legal and illegal, in the buffer zone and the park has caused habitat loss, and logging trails have opened the forest to poachers. Snares used to trap small animals harm larger species. Fulani herdsmen have moved into the reserve to graze their cattle along the Bushi-Ranch axis. Poaching of elephants across the Nigeria-Cameroon border continues. The main targets for illegal logging are Carpolobia, Garcinia, and ebony, which are rare outside the park. Police have tried to stop these activities but lack funding.
Land ownership in the region belongs to the native authority, which requires community approval for land transfers. Local people are skeptical of government promises of long-term economic support in exchange for giving up their land and instead demand large cash payments. This has made it difficult to include the Afi River Forest Reserve and the Mbe Mountains Community Forest in the park, limiting conservation efforts.
Programs to raise backyard farming of bushmeat species have worked in other parts of the state, with villagers raising rabbits, poultry, duikers, porcupines, cane rats, giant rats, pythons, crocodiles, and snails. In these areas, hunting and poaching of wild bushmeat have dropped significantly. This approach could help protect the area around the park. Other ways to protect endangered species include creating wildlife corridors or eco-ducts, changing highway routes, and improving law enforcement. These efforts would be costly and require committed government officials at the state and federal levels.
Tourism potential
The federal government is trying to attract investors to help develop eco-tourism in this and other national parks. The park has the motto "The Pride Of Nigeria." The Kanyang tourist village, located about one hour from Calabar, provides a place for visitors to stay, with a lodge, restaurant, and wildlife museum. Activities available include watching wildlife, bird watching, tracking gorillas, hiking, fishing, boat rides, and visiting the Botanical garden and Herbarium in Butatong.
Attractions include Kwa Falls, which is located in a narrow, steep gorge near the source of the Kwa River. The deep pool at the bottom of the waterfall was hidden by the thick canopy of the tropical rainforest before trees were cut down. The Agbokim Falls on the Cross River fall in seven steps over a cliff in the tropical rainforest. There is a small zoo that is home to animals not often found in Nigeria, which has helped protect some rare species from disappearing.