Cameroon has over 20 national parks distributed across all ecological zones.
Bénoué National Park in the river Bénoué National Park was first established as a faunal reserve in 1932. It was upgraded to national park status in 1968, and in 1981, it became a biosphere reserve. Its habitat is in the Bénoué savanna belt, a humid savannah woodland area. The park encompasses an area of in size and has a wide frontage to the
Bénoué River. The main river flowing through the park is the
Bénoué River, which stretches for over , forming the eastern boundary. The park's altitude ranges from
above sea level. The higher elevations are characterized by large rocky massifs, while the undulating plain and forest characterizes the lower sections. Access to the park from the north is from Ngaoundéré. Wildlife reported from the park consists of elephants,
spotted hyena, water buck, warthog, monkeys, large ungulates such as
antelope, the
Derby eland (Africa's largest antelope),
kob,
western hartebeest,
Lord Derby's eland and
waterbuck and
buffalo. The
African wild dog is also present here. The
hippopotamus colonies and
crocodile are common in the rivers. The park is categorized under IUCN II. The
painted hunting dog (
Lycaon pictus) considered critically endangered by
IUCN has a count of 60 within Cameroon and they are reported from this park apart from two other national parks in the country. A total of 23 antelope species occur in the park. A serious problem of elephant poaching by Sudanese from across the border through Chad has been reported in February 2012 to the extent of nearly 450 elephants killed out of a total population of about 600 in the park. To combat this problem, Cameroon has deployed helicopters and 600 soldiers to control elephant poaching in its parks.
Boumba Bek National Park . Boumba Bek National Park encompasses an area of 210,000 hectares (520,000 acres). The Campo Wildlife Reserve established in 1932 and the Ma’an Production Reserve set up in 1980 were combined to form this park in the year 2000 as a compensation for the damage caused to the ecosystem due laying of the oil pipe line in Cameroon. The park area includes four logging concessions, an agro-forestry zone, and an agro-industrial zone known for rubber and palms. The biodiversity of the area has wide range of plants and animals species including several taxonomic endemics. The mammal species reported are 87 including elephants,
lowland gorillas,
chimpanzees, hippos,
giant pangolins,
black colobus,
mandrills and
leopards. Reptile species reported are 127, and fish species are 250. It is also one of the 33
Bird Identified Areas (BIAs) in the south western corner of Cameroon, bordering with Equatorial Guinea on the south and the Atlantic Ocean to its west and has 302 bird species. The park is subject to many threats to its ecosystem mainly due to logging, poaching, agricultural activities and coastal development
Douala Edéa National Park ''.
Douala Edéa National Park is located in the Littoral Region of Cameroon, on either side of the mouth of the Sanaga River on the shore of the Bight of Biafra, opposite the island of Bioko. The reserve was established in 1932. As of 2000, it covered 160,000 hectares (400,000 acres). Cameroon designated the reserve as a wildlife park for scientific purposes in 1971, Lake Tissongo, a lagoon connected to the south bank of the Sanaga river by a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) tidal channel, is included in the park. 80% of the reserve is covered by tropical lowland equatorial forest, and 15% by Atlantic mangrove forests. Fauna include forest elephants, primates (chimpanzees, monkey species such as black colobus), antelopes (sitatunga, blue duiker, etc.), West African manatees, sea turtles, dolphins, crocodiles, alligator, many fish species, terrestrial and water bird species. The red-capped mangabey was reported to be common in the reserve in 1972. The endangered red-eared nose-spotted guenon was reported in the Lombé part of the park in densities of 2-3 groups per square kilometers, but populations had dropped elsewhere due to hunting.
Faro National Park (
Taurotragus derbianus derbianus) Faro National Park covers an area of 330,000 hectares (820,000 acres). Initially it was established as a reserve in 1947. It was upgraded to level of park in 1968. Plant species reported are 243 species with more of Sudan–Guinea Savanna biome species. It used to house the last representatives of the western subspecies of the black rhinoceros, but this species is now considered extirpated from the area, and extinct. Mammals also reported by IUCN include
Taurotragus derbianus and
Damaliscus lunatus korrigum (VU), and a few
Loxodonta africana (EN). It is rich in biodiversity of plants, animals and fungi. Plants reported are 400 tree species, which includes
ectomycorrhizal and
ceaesalpinaceous legumes. Undergrowth is not dense in the canopy forest areas. The park survey has revealed 76
poroid basidiomycetes of
fungi. Plant species reported include 480 species of herbs. The park has a unique record of more than 400 species of birds, 82 reptiles, 92 amphibians, and about 1000 species of butterflies. Aquafauna consists of 130 different fish species and mammal species are over 160.
Lobéké National Park ''. Lobéké National Park established in 2000 covers an area of . is in the
Congo Basin. It is bordered on the east by the
Sangha River forming Cameroon's international border with
Central African Republic and the
Republic of the Congo. Forests in the park have never been logged. Semi-evergreen dominate the area. The natural savannas found here are a few saline swamps only and they are bordered normally by palm thickets (
Phoenix or
Raphia on wetter ground) with large areas of
sedge marshes (Rhynchospora corymbosa). The dominant species reported are
Sterculiaceae (
Triplochiton,
Pterygota),
Ceiba pentandra and
Terminalia superba. The canopy is mostly open with understorey consisting of thick
Marantaceae–
Zingiberaceae thicket or a closed 6–8 m tall layer of Ebenaceae and Annonaceae trees. The streams have some small patches of closed, evergreen
Gilbertiodendron dewevrei forest on its banks. The sandbars on the Sangha River are habitats for
waders and
pratincoles during the dry months. Birds reported by IBS total 305 species;
Bradypterus grandis is the most important and is found in
Rhynchospora marsh and has a density of 1 pair per ha area of the park. The park has remained an untouched part of the Congo basin forest and a visitor to the park had called it "the last true wilderness". The flat and grass-covered terrain of the park is extensively inhabited by herds of buffalo, elephants, bongos and sitatungas. Other mammal species reported are:
Myosciurus pumilio (VU) (a Lower Guinea endemic),
Hylochoerus meinertzhageni,
Loxodonta africana,
Gorilla gorilla,
Pan troglodytes (all EN), forest elephants, chimpanzees, and antelopes. Avifauna species reported by IBA are 265 species which include
Bradypterus grandis (in
Rhynchospora marsh),
Glaucidium sjostedti,
Glaucidium capense,
Caprimulgus batesi,
binotatus and yellow-bellied form of the forest robin
Stiphrornis erythrothorax. UNESCO inscribed it as a biosphere in 1982 and for its preservation and conservation a Management Master Plan was drawn up in 1997. The park's habitat is mainly in the "Chad depression" with average elevation in the range of a 300 to 320 m (highest ground goes up to 500m) in arid climatic conditions with average annual precipitation of 700mm and mean annual temperature of 28 °C. With this setting the vegetation types which cover the park are categorized under five broad types of open
combretaceous shrub savanna,
Anogeissus leiocarpus woodland,
Lannea humilis open grass savanna,
Acacia seyal tree savanna and
Yaéré floodplains with perennial grasses. In the desert conditions with now streams flowing through the park area there are no perennial grasses in the park. The faunal species reported from the park are giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis, elephant
Loxodonta africana, aardvark
Orycteropus afer, warthog
Phacochoerus aethiopicus, hyena
Hyaena hyaena, lion
Panthera leo, red-fronted gazelle
Gazella rufifrons, waterbuck
Kobus ellipsiprymnus, kob
Kobus kob, topi
Damaliscus lunatus, roan antelope
Hippotragus equinus, impala
Aepyceros melampus, vervet monkey
Cercopithecus aethiops, patas monkey
Erythrocebus patas, olive baboon
Papio anubis, leopard
Panthera pardus, and cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus. Avifauna reported are also substantial and some of the important species are: areostrich
Struthio camelus, ground hornbill
Bucorvus abyssinicus, bateleur
Terathopius ecaudatus, white-faced tree duck
Dendrocygna arborea, Abyssinian roller
Coracias abyssinica, standard-winged nightjar
Macrodipteryx longipennis and guinea fowl
Numida meleagris.
Proposed national parks Eight national parks have been proposed but not yet established: •
Ebo National Park (1,417 km2) •
Ma Mbed Mbed National Park (142 km2), proposed 2004 •
Kalamaloué National Park (67 km2) •
Kom National Park (678.39 km2) •
Manyange na Elombo-Campo National Park (1,103 km2), proposed 2007 •
Mefou National Park (11 km2), proposed 2000 •
Mozogo Gokoro National Park (17 km2), proposed 1968 •
Ndongere National Park (2,344 km2), proposed 2005 ==Wildlife sanctuaries==