Boumba Bek National Park
| Boumba Bek National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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| Location | Cameroon |
| Coordinates | 02°13′0″N 15°42′0″E / 2.21667°N 15.70000°ECoordinates: 02°13′0″N 15°42′0″E / 2.21667°N 15.70000°E |
| Area | 2,382 km2 (920 sq mi) |
| Established | 17 October 2005 |
| Governing body | World Wildlife Fund |
Boumba Bek National Park is a national park in extreme southeastern Cameroon, located in its East Province.
The park was never logged; according to the World Wildlife Fund's scientific advisor in the region, Paul Robinson Ngnegueu, "poaching is the biggest threat to Boumba Bek." This is a result of the late 1980s economic depression in Cameroon. The indigenous people followed the poachers, attracted by the financial opportunities. They would sell their product through "intermediaries" for money and more hunting supplies.
In 1995, the park was named an Essential Protection Zone, its first official status. It was not formally established as a national park, however, until the Cameroonian government decreed the creation of Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks on 17 October 2005. Its establishment is a result of a summit held by seven central African leaders in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, in February 2005.
Cameroon and Gabon are currently working on the TRIDOM project, a conservation initiative leading to a land management plan which will oversee access to and use of forests. It will create a tri-national "interzone" bordered by the Minkebe, Boumba-Bek, Nki, and Odzala National Parks and the Dja Wildlife Reserve. This project is part of a conservation movement toward the zoning and designation of new protected areas.
Boumba Bek is located between the Boumba and Bek Rivers in southeast Cameroon, from which it derives its name. The site is accessible only by pirogue and several hunting trails. It is sandwiched between the towns of Yokadouma and Moloundou in the Boumba et Ngoko department in Cameroon's East Province. The park is situated from latitude 2˚09 to 2˚20 N and longitude 15˚35 to 15˚50 E.
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