Salonga National Park - DR Congo

In Danger 1984-92 and 1999 to present

Area: 36,560km²

Inscribed: 1984

Criteria: (vii) aesthetic; (ix) ecological processes

Values:  Salonga is the world's second largest tropical rainforest national park and the largest in Africa. It is extremely isolated in the centre of the Congo River basin, accessible only by water or air. It is the habitat of many endemic endangered species, notably the bonobo (pygmy chimpanzee), the Zaire peafowl, the forest elephant and the African slender-snouted crocodile. Tall equatorial forest trees cover most of the area, the forest varying in composition according to geomorphology. Most of the area is low-lying, swampy ground below 500 m, but drier forest communities occur on terraces and plateau with occasional grassy clearings.  Recent invasion by militias has brought heavy poaching for bushmeat and ivory. With the four other World Heritage Sites in the D.R.C., Salonga now benefits from a UNESCO project financed largely by the United Nations Foundation, to provide for the training and equipment of staff as well as for protection of the country's bio-diversity.

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