Destination Africa.......Visit calabar Today vol2

Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary

Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary is under the management of the Cross River State Forestry Commission and it homes rare chimpanzees, gorillas and drill monkeys.

On Afi Mountain wild drill still survive, with other endangered primates including the most endangered gorilla subspecies, the Cross River gorilla. The rugged massif (1400m) is a critical watershed for dozens of communities.

Afi Mountain is listed as an IBA (Important Bird Area) for Nigeria and hosts one of the largest migratory swallow roosts in Africa.

The forests on Afi are a barrier against the encroaching derived savannah from the west and north. In 1993, Pandrillus started community protection patrols using local hunters to discourage shooting and trapping, an education programme in the 17 villages surrounding the mountain, and brought the communities together as a common interest group for the first time.

The mountain was then part of the Afi River Forest Reserve (383 sq km), a production forest reserve for which logging concessions had been issued

Pandrillus community protection programme prevailed and made great strides in controlling hunting, in particular developing popular support for protection of “The Big Three” – gorilla, drill and chimpanzee.

Destination Africa......Visit Calabar Today vol1

Cross River National Park, Cross River State

Cross River National Park is an integral part of the Cross River State rainforest conservation area, located in Boki LGA and spans from Kanyan to the foot of the Obudu plateau with a total land area of 720sqkm of rugged mountain scenery and rolling hills. The park is divided into two sections.

The smaller area to the north-east, Okwangwo Division, is separated by about 50 km of disturbed forest from the larger Oban Division. Oban Division is contiguous with Korup National Park in Cameroon. The Cross river and its tributaries drain northern parts of Oban Division, while southern parts are drained by the Calabar, Kwa and Korup rivers.

The terrain is rough and elevation rises from the river valleys to over 1,000 m in mountainous areas. Soils are ferralitic and sandy, and steadily become shallower with increasing elevation.

Cross River National Park is one of the richest areas of tropical rainforest in West Africa. Currently, the WWF, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and the Federal Parks Service are carrying out an integrated conservation and development project in the northern part of the park.

The project has created a proper boundary for the park, and programs are being implemented against illegal hunting, logging and land clearance.

The Park is home to many localised species of plants and animals which, include gorilla, drill, chimpanzee, a gwantibo or golden potto forest elephant, saleginella specie. Baboons, Leopards, Red Foxes, Drill Monkeys, Buffaloes and Elephants are also found there. It also harbours a rich collection of flora and fauna.