Introduction:
The Gambia has 7 national parks & nature reserves,
1 community wildlife reserve
(Bolong Fenyo), 66 forest parks & 1 Ramsar site.
In total they represent about 3.5 per cent of the country's
total land area which is roughly 38,000 ha. [read
on...  ]
The protected areas and their
dates of designation in alphabetical order are :- Abuko
Nature Reserve (105 ha) 1916, Baobolon Wetland Reserve
(1996) 22,000 ha., Kiang West National Park (1987) 11,000
ha., Niumi National Park (1986) 4,940 ha., River
Gambia National Park (1978) 570 ha., and the Tanji
Karinti Bird Reserve (1993) 612 ha. In order to protect
the biodiversity in these areas only some selected reserves
are open to the public at large. Enquire with your hotel
or tour guide..
There is also an increasing movement for community or
privately managed eco nature reserves such as the Brufut
Woods Community Project which is basically a bird sanctuary,
Kunkilling Forest Park, Makasutu
Culture Forest, Tumani Tenda, Kahlenge &
Bama Kuno, and Pirang Forest National Park with its
large population of monkeys such as Green vervets, Hussard,
Guinea baboons and the Colobus Badius.
Background:
The protected area policy dates back to 1916 when Abuko
was given government protection as a water catchment
location.
The new forestry policy, under the Department
of Parks, was developed between 1995 to 2005, aims
to increase the total land area of managed forests to
30% of the total land area of The Gambia and that 75%.
It also aims to develop 17,000 hectares of forest park
and put 200,000ha of land under community forest management.
Part of the strategy is to ensure that 75% of forests
are protected and managed in line with forest management
principles.
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