Minkébé National Park (French: Parc National de Minkébé) is a national park located in the far northeast of Gabon. It spans an area of 7,570 km². The WWF noted the area needed protection as early as 1989 and worked to protect the forest since 1997. The park was created as a temporary reserve in 2000 but was officially established by the Gabonese government in August 2002. It is considered an important place for protecting wildlife by the IUCN and has been suggested as a World Heritage Site.
History and management
The Fang people once lived in the Minkébé area. However, after the region became a protected area, no people live there permanently now. The name Minkébé comes from the Fang word minkegbe, which means "valleys" or "ditches." In the 1920s, the park was controlled by the French army.
In 1997, the WWF started a program to manage the park and created two main forest management centers: one in Oyem and the other in Makokou. A central camp was also built near the mouth of the Nouna River to help manage the protected area.
Since 1997, the park has received money from DGIS (Netherlands Development Cooperation) and CARPE (USAID). The WWF has worked with other groups to develop ways to protect the park's biodiversity. The park has also received support from the European Union, CARPE, UNESCO, and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM).
The WWF has tried to create a network of protected areas in the region where Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon meet. Minkébé was meant to be part of a larger conservation effort in this area. This region is one of the most biologically rich forests in Africa and is part of the Northwest Congolian Lowland Forest ecoregion, which is one of the WWF's key global ecoregions. The joint conservation effort in this area is called the Dja-Odzala-Minkébé Tri-National (TRIDOM). In this effort, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon have agreed to work together to protect the area and promote sustainable development. The TRIDOM zone covers 140,000 square kilometers, which is about 7.5% of the Congo Basin's forests.
Most of the protected area remains untouched by humans. However, logging of Gabonese redwood trees has increased in recent years, especially near roads. Two logging areas in the region could threaten the park in the future. Other threats include small-scale gold mining and hunting for crocodile skin, ivory, or meat to sell in Gabonese cities. These threats are relatively small. Hunting management is being handled through a protocol signed by the Gabonese Ministry of Forestry Economy, the Woleu-Ntem Province Governorate, Bordamur, and local villages. This agreement considers the needs of conservationists, loggers, and local communities regarding hunting and fishing. There is also a management plan for hunting activities in the park's northeastern area, involving the Ministry of Forestry Economy, the Ministry of Mines, and local representatives.
In 2007, a Chinese company applied to mine the second-largest iron ore deposit in the world, located near Minkébé National Park. To prepare for mining, a large area of the surrounding forest would need to be cleared, along with 560 kilometers (350 miles) of railway, 40,000 Chinese workers, and a hydroelectric dam. This could harm the park's conservation goals. The WWF is working with Chinese and other mining companies in Gabon to find a solution.
Geography
The Minkebe forest covers an area of 30,000 square kilometers in the larger region. It has many different types of habitats, including inselberg forest, herbaceous swamps, flooded river forest, and secondary forest. The park’s landscape is marked by large, isolated rock domes that rise above the surrounding forest, and many trees in the area are hundreds of years old. Marshy areas are common and create breaks in the forest cover. The Minkébé forest includes four major rivers and has grassland areas where elephant tracks can be seen. Access to the park is very limited in many places because there is little infrastructure, which has helped keep the area protected and largely untouched by human activity.
Wildlife
The forest elephant is very important to the park. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says this park has one of the largest groups of forest elephants in Africa. The lesser forest in the park is home to elephants, gorillas, and many small animals, including porcupines, squirrels, African golden cats, leopards, giant pangolins, duikers, and red river hogs. The primary forest is home to animals such as mandrills, black colobus monkeys, and chimpanzees. The western lowland gorilla, chimpanzee, black colobus, mandrill, and golden potto are all listed on the IUCN Red List, which shows they are at risk of disappearing.
The riparian areas of the Minkébé forest support animals that need water, such as dwarf crocodiles, spotted-necked otters, crested mangabeys, sitatungas, and water chevrotains. The swampy areas with plants also provide homes for parrots and pythons. The park has animals that are rare in Gabon, including the bongo and the giant forest hog.
Many birds live in the park, including the spot-breasted ibis and Rachel's malimbe (Malimbus racheliae). The park is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports large numbers of bird species.
Although the park is not permanently home to humans, people from the Baka pygmy, Fang, Kota, and Kwèl ethnic groups live in the forest region. These groups have a rich cultural heritage with traditions and beliefs. Cultural items such as the Kota mask, the forest spirit, the Baka Edzengui, and the Kwèl Deke dance are important in the area.