Odzala-Kokoua National Park, also known as Odzala National Park, is located in the Republic of the Congo. The park was first protected in 1935, became a biosphere reserve in 1977, and received its official name through a presidential decree in 2001. The park is home to about 100 mammal species and one of Africa's most diverse groups of primates. In 2010, the nonprofit conservation group African Parks began working with the Ministry of Forest Economy, Sustainable Development, and Environment of the Republic of the Congo to manage the park.

Description

Odzala-Kokoua is a national park and biosphere reserve in northwestern Republic of the Congo. It was created in 1935 and covers about 13,500 square kilometers (5,200 square miles). The park protects ancient rainforest and includes many different types of land, such as hills up to 350 meters (1,150 feet) tall, thick jungle, and many open areas. The park has dry forest, savanna, and rainforest environments. African Parks works with the government of the Republic of the Congo to manage the area.

History and tourism

Odzala-Kokoua is one of Africa's oldest national parks. It was first protected in 1935. In 2001, President Denis Sassou Nguesso officially named it a national park. The park was named a biosphere reserve in 1977. Since 1992, it has been managed with help from ECOFAC, a European Union-sponsored program that helps protect rainforests in the region. Conservation efforts were limited during the Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997–99). The park was neglected during the Ebola outbreaks and faced heavy poaching. Few tourists visited the park until recently, with only 50 tourists in 2011.

African Parks started managing the park in 2010 as part of a 25-year agreement with the Republic of the Congo’s Ministry of Forest and Sustainable Development. In 2013, African Parks, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the World Wide Fund for Nature signed a five-year, $10 million agreement to work together to protect Odzala-Kokoua and the Sangha Trinational. WCS has supported the government’s management and preservation of Odzala-Kokoua and other national parks since the early 1990s. In 2013, African Parks began Congo’s first firearm amnesty program, offering poachers jobs as park rangers in exchange for weapons and information.

In early 2014, 76 guards were patrolling the park. In 2014, two Malinois dogs were trained to find ivory and animal meat to help stop poaching. Despite its protected status, which prevents mining, Mongabay reported in 2016 that some government-issued mining permits allowed mineral extraction in parts of the park.

Odzala-Kokoua opened to tourists in August 2012. Wilderness Safaris improved the park’s infrastructure, built two luxury lodges, and trained guides and rangers. The lodges took six years to become fully operational and were funded by Sabine Plattner, wife of German businessman Hasso Plattner. Wilderness Safaris’ contract ended in 2015, and the lodges are now managed directly by the Congo Conservation Company, which Sabine Plattner founded and funds.

In 2023, the Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua, which includes the national park, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List because of its rich biodiversity and importance as a home to forest elephants.

In 2025, the park’s administration admitted that its guards had committed human rights abuses, including torture, rape, and forced displacement against indigenous people who were displaced during the park’s construction. This was found during an internal investigation by African Parks, the wildlife parks consortium managing the park.

Flora and fauna

Odzala-Kokoua National Park is home to about 4,500 types of plants and trees. Most of the park's forest is covered by open-canopy Marantaceae, a type of plant.

The park has about 100 species of mammals, including one of the most diverse groups of primates on the continent. In the past, the park had nearly 20,000 gorillas. However, between 2002 and 2005, several outbreaks of the Ebola virus killed 70–95% of the gorilla population. In 2005, Ebola killed about 5,000 gorillas in an area covering 1,042 square miles (2,700 square kilometers), according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then, the number of gorillas has increased due to efforts by conservation groups and one tourism company to protect and restore the park.

A survey of primates active during the day, conducted in the mid-1990s, found large numbers of monkeys in the Republic of the Congo's forest region. Species sighted included western lowland gorillas, central chimpanzees, and eight types of monkeys: Angolan talapoin, black crested mangabey, crested mona monkey, De Brazza's monkey, greater spot-nosed monkey, mantled guereza, moustached guenon, and Tana River mangabey. Gorilla nests were most common in the park's open-canopy Marantaceae forest, while chimpanzee nests were most common in closed-canopy primary and Marantaceae forests. All monkey species were found in the densest forest areas, but only four were present in the terra firma forest. Odzala-Kokoua had the highest recorded numbers of western lowland gorillas and chimpanzees in Central Africa. High forest productivity and reduced poaching are believed to have helped these populations grow.

A survey in clearings within the northern part of the park, published in 1998, found 13 large mammal species. The most common were bongo, buffalo, African elephant, forest hog, giant forest hog, gorilla, and sitatunga. Other recorded mammals included African civet, African forest elephant, black-and-white colobus, and common chimpanzee. Poaching is thought to have caused the decline in the park's elephant population. Surveys estimated the African forest elephant population at about 18,200 in 2000 and 13,500 in 2005. By 2014, the number had dropped to about 9,600.

Spotted hyenas were common in the park's savanna area in 2007. By 2013, lions were considered locally extinct, as they had not been seen for 15 years. A 2014 survey found no lions but recorded at least 46 hyenas in the savanna. Other recorded mammals included African golden cat, leopard, and serval. The decline of lion and hyena populations is believed to be due to overhunting. Antelope species found in the park include bay duiker, black-fronted duiker, Peters' duiker, and white-bellied duiker.

Several studies have shown that forest clearings are important for supporting the park's mammal populations.

Approximately 440 bird species have been recorded in the park. These include African fish eagle, black-backed cisticola, black-throated apalis, black-winged pratincole, eastern wattled cuckooshrike, forest robin, forest wood hoopoe, great snipe, green pigeon, grey parrot, grey-headed broadbill, lesser kestrel, Pel's fishing owl, pied kingfisher, red-capped crombec, red-throated cliff swallow, Uganda woodland warbler, and yellow-capped weaver. Herons, hornbills, and kingfishers are also present, including goliath heron, black dwarf hornbill, and giant kingfisher. The park is designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports large numbers of many bird species.

Crocodiles, lizards, and frogs live in Odzala-Kokoua. A 2010 study in Zootaxa reported the presence of 11 species of Petrocephalus. A fish species called Hemigrammocharax rubensteini, described in 2013, has also been recorded in the park. The park is home to many insect species, including ants, bees, butterflies, and termites.