Garamba National Park
Garamba National Park aims to protect the world's last known wild population of the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros.
It comprises an area of savannah, marshland and forests in the far northeast of the DR of Congo, on the border with South Sudan.
The park was established in 1938, making it one of Africa's oldest national parks. It covers 492,000 ha. At an altitude of 700-1,000 m, Garamba is much flatter and has a different vegetation than the more mountaineous other Congolese WHS.
Since inscription in 1980, the park has been declared ‘In Danger’ twice. The northern white rhino population dwindled as a result of poaching from 1,000 in 1960 to 21 at the moment of WH inscription. It suffered further from 1996 on, due to the influx of South Sudanese refugees and rebels. In 2005 there were only four remaining northern white rhinos in Garamba National Park. However, they have not been seen since 2006 and it is feared they have been killed and the species has become extinct in the wild.
Map of Garamba National Park
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Barbara Boudreau
I did the field work portion of my Master's degree at Garamba in 1993 and 1995. Then, in December 1995, my husband and I got married at the Hippo Pool on the Dungu River right outside the park. We have wonderful memories from Garamba, and I understand now that the wildlife there is in grave danger and poaching has become rampant and constant. There were still lots of animals left when we were there, around 11,000 elephants and 35 rhinoceros. Now the number of elephants is down to around one thousand. Very sad, but the reality of a political system like the Congo's.
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Site Info
- Full Name
- Garamba National Park
- Unesco ID
- 136
- Country
- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Inscribed
-
1980 - In Danger
- Type
- Natural
- Criteria
-
7 10
- Categories
- Wildlife habitat - Fauna
- Link
- By ID
Site History
2007 Reinforced Monitoring
1996 In Danger
impact of the war and civil conflicts in the Great Lakes region.
1992 Removed from Danger list
1984 In Danger
very critical situation of the white rhinoceros population, now estimated to total less than 15 specimens
1980 Inscribed
Site Links
Unesco Website
Official Website
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