Photo: Ivindo National Park
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has granted world heritage status to Gabon’s Ivindo National Park, as the UN agency recognizes the country’s efforts in defending biodiversity and challenging climate change.
It is the second natural reserve – after Lope Park in 2007 – to be listed in the central African country, 90% of which is covered by forest and known for its efforts to preserve its natural heritage.
“A great day,” President Ali Bongo Ondimba tweeted in reply to the UNESCO announcement. He further said that the inclusion “rewards Gabon’s efforts to protect its forests, which play a key role in the fight against global warming”.
Ivindo National Park is located at the border of the Gabon provinces of Ogooué-Ivindo and Ogooué-Lolo, covering 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) of land that serve as a habitat to a variety of endangered mammals including elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, leopards, as well as three species pangolin.
UNESCO further announced that there are parts of the reserve that remain unexplored.
Gabon, with 13 national parks covering 11 percent of its territory, and 20 marine protected areas, is home to nearly 60 percent of Africa’s remaining forest elephants, recently listed as critically endangered.
