Salonga National Park

Salonga National Park
Photo in the Public Domain.

Salonga National Park is Africa's biggest tropical rainforest reserve. It consists of two locations: a northern and a southern sector, separated by a 40km wide settlement zone.

It is a very isolated park, located at the central basin of the Congo river and crossected by many rivers. The park can only be reached via water transport, and in parts is considered to be completely virgin and never accessed by man. It covers an area of 3,656,000 ha.

The park is also home to many endangered fauna species notably the bonobo. The bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee is only found in the wild here and in surrounding reserves. The bonobo diverges about 0.4 % from the common chimpanzee genome. It is possible that the formation of the Congo river led to the speciation of this particular chimpanzee species (they're not great swimmers). They're now an endangered species, with 29,500 - 50,000 individuals left.

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Site Info

Full Name
Salonga National Park
Unesco ID
280
Country
Congo (Democratic Republic)
Inscribed
1984
Type
Natural
Criteria
7 9
Categories
Natural landscape - Forest
Link
By ID

Site History

2021 Removed from Danger list

Unanimously after amendment by Mali due to positive progress including oil rights that have become null and void.

2007 Reinforced Monitoring

1999 In Danger

Poaching and illegal encroachments

1984 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Salonga National Park
Official Website

Congo Autrement

Related

African World Heritage Sites

In the News

Democratic Republic of Congo plans to allow oil exploration in national parks home to endangered mountain gorillas (2018.05.05)

Locations

The site has 2 locations

Salonga National Park: Parc national de la Salonga Nord
Salonga National Park: Parc national de la Salonga Sud

Connections

The site has

Damaged
Poaching: Poaching for ivory and bushmeat commerce (involving the majority of vertebrate species) has been very intense in past years
Ecology
Chimpanzee habitat
Rainforests
Crocodiles
Elephants: African elephant (forest elephant)
Strepsirrhini: brown greter galago, Mohol bushbaby
High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area: Congo Basin
Swamps and Marshes: "it comprises vast marshland areas" (OUV)
Geography
Congo River Basin: Located at the central basin of the Congo river
Human Activity
Natural sites with indigenous human population: "A group of less than 1,000 Ediki lives in Yaelima, Dekese zone, in the centre of the park" (AB ev)
Timeline
Early Pleistocene: "Along with the common chimpanzee, the bonobo is the closest extant relative to humans. Because the two species are not proficient swimmers, the formation of the Congo River 1.5–2 million years ago possibly led to the speciation of the bonobo. Bonobos live south of the river, and thereby were separated from the ancestors of the common chimpanzee, which live north of the river" and (also Wiki) "DNA evidence suggests the bonobo and common chimpanzee species effectively separated from each other fewer than one million years ago".
Visiting conditions
No road access: "the park is very isolated and accessible only by water"
One thousand visitors or fewer: DD: “There are currently no tourism activities in Salonga National Park.” (IUCN Outlook 2020”
WHS on Other Lists
World Heritage Forest Programme
IUCN Conservation Outlook Assessment Critical
WWF Global 200: Central Congolian lowland forests
World Heritage Process
Former In Danger List sites

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