NEW OGOOUE-LEKETI NATIONAL PARK CREATES TRANSBOUNDARY CONSERVATION AREA OF OVER 5.500 SQUARE KILOMETRES
(Posted 15th November 2018)
Stung by recent accusations from Greenpeace over greenwashing has the Republic of Congo now announced the creation of a new national park, Ogooué-Leketi National Park which covers 3,500 square kilometersand borders the Batéké Plateau National Park in neighboring Gabon.
Together, the two national parks form a transboundary protected area covering more than 5,500 square kilometers.
Ogooué-Leketi is part of the Batéké Plateau, a complex ecosystem of savannas intersected by dense forests and valleys through which clear water rivers flow. This savanna-forest complex is home to several endangered species, some found nowhere else in Congo, according to a press release from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Congo programme.In sections of the park are found forest elephant, lowland gorillas and chimpanzees while in the savanna it is the unique flora and presence of otherwise rarely seen game.
The formation of the park became possible after several logging concessions were not renewed, also thought to be a contributor to the illegal game meat trade which prospered while logging was going on.
