Salonga National Park

Salonga National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Salonga National Park
Location	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Coordinates	2°0′0″S 21°00′0″E
Area	36,000 km²
Established	1970
Governing body	l'Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type:	Natural
Criteria:	vii, x
Designated:	1984 (8th session)
Reference #:	280
State Party:	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Region:	Africa
Endangered:	1999–present

Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km². Animals in the park include bonobos, Salonga monkeys, Tshuapa red colobus, Congo Peafowl, forest elephants, and African slender-snouted crocodiles. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Due to the civil war in the eastern half of the country, it was added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1999.

Most of the park is accessible only via river. The southern region inhabited by the Iyaelima people is accessible via the Lokoro, which flows through the center, the Lokolo in the northern part and Lula in the south. This region has been the location for studies of Bonobos in the wild. There are much higher populations of bonobos near the Iyaelima settlements than elsewhere in the park, apparently because the Iyaelima are playing a strong role in conservation.

Sources

• Falk, John (February 7, 2008). "Why the Bonobos Need a Radio and Other (Unlikely) Lessons From Deepest Congo". National Geographic. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/john-falk/bonobos-congo.html. Retrieved 2012-02-04. 
• Furuichi, Takeshi; Thompson, Jo Myers (2008). The bonobos: behavior, ecology, and conservation. Springer. ISBN 0387747850. http://books.google.ca/books?id=3fL1P0DpFlsC&pg=PA230. 
• INCEF - Conservation and Health in Salonga
• Wildlife Conservation Society
• UNESCO Salonga National Park Site
• WCMC Site Data Sheet