Dja Faunal Reserve

Dja Faunal Reserve
(c) Peter Howard, africannaturalheritage.org.

The Dja Faunal Reserve covers one of the largest and best protected rainforests in Africa.

It is a wilderness barely disturbed by man, with rich and often rare fauna. This includes over 107 mammals and more than 320 bird species. It is a habitat for the vulnerable western lowland gorilla and endangered western chimpanzee.

The reserve is almost completely surrounded by the Dja River, a contributary to the Congo River. It covers 5,260 square kilometres. The landscape within the enclosed area consists of a fairly flat plateau.

Dja Faunal Reserve is also recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA), a globally important habitat for the conservation of birds populations. The globally threatened Grey-necked Picathartes and the endemic Rachel's Malimbe and Forest Swallow are among the most notable birds found here.

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Peter Howard

Kenya - 16-Nov-10 -

Dja Faunal Reserve by Peter Howard

I recently visited Dja to photograph and carry out research for a forthcoming book about Africa's natural world heritage sites. If you are interested in my comments on this visit or would like to see a slideshow of my photographs of Dja please visit:

http://www.africannaturalheritage.org/Dja-Faunal-Reserve-Cameroon.html

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Site Info

Full Name
Dja Faunal Reserve
Unesco ID
407
Country
Cameroon
Inscribed
1987
Type
Natural
Criteria
9 10
Categories
Natural landscape - Forest Wildlife habitat - Fauna
Link
By ID

Site History

1987 Inscribed

Site Links

Unesco Website
Dja Faunal Reserve
Related

Conservation of Great Apes on the Periphery of the Dja Reserve

In the News

Cameroon panic as elephants escape Dja Faunal Reserve (16.05.10)

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Dja Faunal Reserve

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Damaged
'Threatened' by Dams: Mekin Dam
Poaching: There are reports of large scale commercial hunting of elephants, buffalos and various antelopes. Again the extent of the reserve is such that it is unlikely that hunting could pose a significant threat to wildlife populations. The notable exception is elephant hunting which needs to be brought under control.
Ecology
Gorilla habitat: Western lowland gorilla
Chimpanzee habitat
Elephants: African elephant (forest elephant)
Rainforests
Endemic Bird Species: Cameroon and Gabon lowlands EBA, Dja Faunal Reserve IBA: Grey-necked Picathartes (Picathartes oreas), Forest Swallow (Hirundo fuliginosa), Rachel's Malimbe (Malimbus racheliae)
Crocodiles: two species of crocodile, one being the African long-snouted crocodile (unep)
Strepsirrhini: southern needle-clawed bushbaby, Gabon bushbaby, dwarf bushbaby, potto, golden angwantibo
High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area: Congo Basin
Geography
Congo River Basin: Dja River is a contributary to the Congo River.
Individual Rivers: Dja
Human Activity
Natural sites with indigenous human population: "Two small populations of Baka pygmies live within the Reserve in small encampments, maintaining an essentially traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle"
Coffee: coffee plantations within the park abandoned in 1946
Traditional Hunting: "A population of pygmies live within the reserve in small sporadic encampments, and are free to hunt within the reserve using traditional methods." (AB)
Pygmy Peoples: "A population of pygmies lives within the reserve, in small sporadic encampments, maintaining an essentially traditional lifestyle." (UNESCO). This link is to a study of 2001 into the lives of the Baka pygmies:
Timeline
Holocene: "There is strong evidence that forest cover was reduced during the last Ice Age, lasting from 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago. While forested areas in the Congo River Basin are known to have persisted in some areas called refugia..........About 10,000 years ago, as the last Ice Age ended, glaciers receded and rainfall increased. The changing climate allowed savannas to be reclaimed by trees, and the forest grew to reach its current size."
Trivia
Cryptozoology: Mokole-Mbembe
Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures
WHS on Other Lists
World Biosphere Reserves: Dja (1981)
World Heritage Forest Programme
IUCN Conservation Outlook Assessment Critical
World Heritage Process
First inscriptions: Cameroon 1987

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