Lobéké National Park

Lobéké National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Location in Cameroon
Location	Cameroon
Coordinates	2°15′N 15°45′E / 2.250°N 15.750°E / 2.250; 15.750Coordinates: 2°15′N 15°45′E / 2.250°N 15.750°E / 2.250; 15.750
Area	2178 km2
Established	October 1999
Governing body	Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC)

Lobéké National Park (alternate: Lake Lobake National Park) is a national park of southeastern Cameroon within the Moloundou Arrondissement of East Province. Located in the Congo Basin, it is bounded on the east by the Sangha River which serves as Cameroon's international border with Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo. It is adjacent to two other reserves in the CAR and Congo. To the northwest is Boumba Bek National Park, another national park in Cameroon's East Province.

In a conference of the Ministers of Forests of Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), it had been resolved to establish within the Congo basin, the Sangha River Tri-national Protected area (STN) encompassing the Dzanga Sangha Special Reserve in the Central African Republic, which incorporates the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and the Lobéké National Park in Cameroon.

Already in 1991, the WWF had conducted a biological assessment of the area and recommended that the Lobéké area be protected, recommending that the unexploited 40,000 hectares be expanded to encompass over 400,000 hectares. In October 1999, the park was declared a National Park. In the same year the so-called Yaoundé Declaration was signed, forming a tri-national park agreement of cooperation with Dzanga-Sangha Forest Reserve in the Central African Republic and the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. This tri-park area is operated by the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), and is overlooked and funded by international wildlife groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, the German Cooperation of Technical Collaboration (GTZ) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Since 18 April 2006, the Lobéké National Park has been on the list of suggestions for a UNESCO World Heritage site. Since 2006, it has been on the proposal list as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.