Qualla: Lobeke National Park

Lobeke National Park: Introduction

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Contributers to OpenStreetMap, CC BY-SA 2.0. Every year, thousands of African grey parrots are caught within and around this park and smuggled out of the country. That illegal trade, alongside poaching for ivory and bushmeat, defines the contradiction at the heart of Lobeke National Park: a place of extraordinary biological richness that exists under constant threat. Located on the South Cameroon Plateau, Lobeke forms one-third of the Sangha Trinational, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of the Congo and Dzanga Sangha National Reserve in the Central African Republic. Together, these three protected areas constitute one of the largest intact forest landscapes in Central Africa.

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Image: Contributers to OpenStreetMap | CC BY-SA 2.0

Lobeke National Park: Where Three Nations Meet

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Allard Blom, Yolande Munzimi, Jeffry Oonk and Marlene Azink of CARPE/US AID., Public domain. Lobeke belongs to the Moloundou arrondissement, a district described as one of the richest rubber-producing areas in Africa. The park was declared a National Park in October 1999, and that same year the Yaounde Declaration established a framework of cooperation among the three co...

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Image: Allard Blom, Yolande Munzimi, Jeffry Oonk and Marlene Azink of CARPE/US AID. | Public domain

Lobeke National Park: Saline Swamps and Unlogged Canopy

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit mintour.gov.cm, CC BY-SA 3.0. The park covers 1,839 square kilometers, with elevations ranging from 300 to 750 meters above sea level. More than twelve natural savannas punctuate the forest, characterized as saline swamps that draw animals from the surrounding woods. Sandbars line the Sangha River along the p...

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Image: mintour.gov.cm | CC BY-SA 3.0

Lobeke National Park: Density Beyond Expectation

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit mintour.gov.cm, CC BY-SA 3.0. Some of the highest densities of African forest elephants and western lowland gorillas anywhere in Africa occur within Lobeke. Chimpanzees, leopards, and ten species of forest ungulates share the canopy and the clearings. The park's faunal inventory extends far beyond mammals: 21...

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Image: mintour.gov.cm | CC BY-SA 3.0

Lobeke National Park: Baka Drums and Forest Lookouts

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit mintour.gov.cm, CC BY-SA 3.0. Lobeke has received significant investment to develop eco-tourism infrastructure, an effort that reflects both conservation strategy and economic pragmatism. Furnished bungalows at campsites, trained guides who lead walks through the forest, and even internet and mobile phone cov...

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Image: mintour.gov.cm | CC BY-SA 3.0

Lobeke National Park: The Parrot Problem

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit mintour.gov.cm, CC BY-SA 3.0. For all its protections and international recognition, Lobeke faces threats that are as persistent as the forest itself. Timber exploitation continues in the surrounding region. Safari hunting, while regulated, places pressure on wildlife populations. Poaching for bushmeat, exoti...

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Image: mintour.gov.cm | CC BY-SA 3.0