| Marahoué National Park | |
|---|---|
 Marahoué River | |
  | |
| Location | Côte d'Ivoire |
| Coordinates | 7°06′00″N6°01′30″W / 7.10000°N 6.02500°W /7.10000; -6.02500 |
| Area | 1,000 km2 |
| Established | 1968 |
Marahoué National Park is anational park inIvory Coast. It was established in 1968, and covers 1,010 km2 (390 sq mi). However, it has lost nearly all itsforest cover in the first two decades of the 21st century. Over the years, the park has been damaged and occupied by people and no longer provides suitable habitat for chimpanzees or many other large animals.[1]
The park was established in 1968, having previously been a wildlife reserve, and covers 1,010 km2 (390 sq mi). It had a great diversity of habitats including 60% dense forest, 15% secondary forest, 5% gallery forest and 17% ofsavannas interspersed by patches of woodland. By 1975, about 3% of the area had been taken over by cacao plantations and crops. Over the next few decades there has been muchillegal logging and settling within the borders of the park, with the conversion of forest into agricultural land. No effective measures were taken to prevent these encroachments. By 2014, the primary forest was entirely gone and only a few remnants of the secondary forest (12%) and gallery forest (4%) remained. Of the remaining area, 15% was agricultural land and plantations, and the remainder was savanna with patches of trees.[2]
Marahoué National Park is located inSassandra-Marahoué District in central Ivory Coast, to the west of the town ofBouaflé. Part of the eastern boundary is formed by theMarahoué River, a tributary of theBandama River. The terrain consists of low hills and intervening valleys. The park is on the boundary between forested areas and woodedsavanna and the habitats in the park include gallery forests, forest remnant patches, savannas with scattered trees, and wetlands around pools and watercourses.[3]
In the gallery forests and the forest remnants trees such asTriplochiton scleroxylon,Celtis spp.,Khaya grandifoliola,Erythrophleum ivorense andTerminalia superba are to be found. In the savanna woodland,Diospyros mespiliformis,Afzelia africana,Lophira lanceolata andDaniellia oliveri are more common.[3]
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This area used to be heavily forested but by 2009, it was reported that 93% of the forest had been lost in the previous six years. With the reduction in forest cover has gone a reduction in forest-dwelling mammals with the numbers ofWest African chimpanzee being reduced greatly.[4] A 2007 survey indicated that there were fewer than 50 chimpanzees in the park,[5] and by 2018, there were reported to be none.[1] Other mammals recorded in the park are thewestern red colobus, theAfrican bush elephant, theAfrican buffalo, thebongo, theMaxwell's duiker, thered-flanked duiker, theyellow-backed duiker, thebay duiker, thekob, thewaterbuck and thewestern hartebeest.[3] Wildfires and poaching are serious issues such that the number of antelopes and primates are greatly reduced.[3]
Some 287 species of bird have been recorded in the park, some rarities being theemerald starling, theblack-headed bee-eater and theyellow-footed honeyguide. A record for thewhite-breasted guineafowl awaits confirmation.[3] The park has been designated anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International because it supports significant populations of many bird species.[6]
