User:Jensbn/KNLP
Kainji Lake National Park is a national park in the Niger and Kwara states of Nigeria. The park covers an area of about 5340 km2. The park's most important landmark is Kainji Lake. Adjoining the western side of the lake is the 4000 km2 Borgu sector of the park, and on the eastern side the Zugurma sector. The two sectors are not connected by land. In addition, part of the Kainji Lake falls under the national park and is protected from fishing and other commercial activities.
Along with Yankari National Park, it is one of the two national parks in Nigeria with more than token tourism facilities and has hundreds of visitors yearly.
History
[edit]The protection of the area goes nearly a century back with the demarcation of the area as a forest reserve in the early 1900s. Later on, The British colonial administration spearheaded the creation of game reserves to conserve wildlife, to provide protein supplement, and also for posterity. After a survey of the wildlife resources of West Africa in 1932, Col. A. H. Haywood recommended the establishment of game reserves in the savannah region of Nigeria, particularly in Borgu/Oyo (which includes the present-day park); Wase/Muri and the Chafe/Kwiambana areas. In 1963, The Borgu Forest Reserve with an area of 245 km2 became the second to be demarcated and constituted a game reserve, six years after the first one, Yankari Game Reserve. By then, the reserve was still uninhabited. On 23 September 1975, the area formerly known as Borgu Game Reserve together with the Zugurma Game Reserve (established in 1971) on the other side of the lake were declared as the Kainji Lake National Park, and the decree for the establishment of this park was eventually promulgated in 1979.
The park as an ecosystem
[edit]The larger of the two distinct sectors of the park, the Borgu sector is an ecosystem in the so-called Northern Guinea vegetation zone characterized by tall grasses and savanna woodland. It is crossed by the Oli river.
In contrast, the Zugurma sector to the east of the lake is a green forest ecosystem.
The park is home to (at the last count) 63 species of mammals, 241 species of birds, and 28 species of reptiles and amphibians. The mammals include lion, hippopotamus, kob, baboon, Red-flanked Duiker, bushbuck, reedbuck, Common Duiker, Roan Antelope, oribi, buffalo, warthog, leopard, hyaena, hedgehog, among others. Years ago, the park had elephants, but they migrated to Republic of Benin due to the noise of Alpha jets overflying and practising from the nearby military base.
Tourism and conservation
[edit]Along with Yankari National Park, Kainji Lake National Park is one of the two national parks in Nigeria with more than token tourist facilities. The Borgu sector is home to the Oli River Tourist Camp which has hundreds of visitors yearly, most of them Nigerians. The Zugurma sector, on the other hand does not have such facilities.
References
[edit]- http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/pa/0302p.htm
- Nigeria: First national Biodiversity report, July 2001 [