The wildlife of the Central African Republic is in the vast natural habitat in the Central African Republic (CAR) located between the Congo Basin's rain forests and large savannas, where the human density was smaller than 0.5 per km2 prior to 1850. The forest area of 22.755 million, considered one of the richest storehouses of wildlife spread over national parks, hunting reserves and community hunting areas, experienced an alarming loss of wildlife because of greed for ivory and bushmeat exploitation by hunters – mostly Arab slavers from across the borders of the Central African Republic with Chad and Sudan.
Realizing the serious threat to the wildlife, the colonists – French administration – in 1935 and later the government of the CAR, enacted laws and created national parks and preserves, which covered 16.6% of the country. The three most coveted national parks are the Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park with its reported "greatest concentrations of hippos in the world", the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park in the north; and the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve which covers rain forests. The Manovo-Gounda-Saint-Floris National Park, in particular was inscribed to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in 1988 in recognition of the diversity of life present within it in respect of its wealth of flora and fauna. In 2014, the Chinko Nature Reserve in eastern CAR was granted management through a public-private partnership with the Central African Republic Ministry of Wildlife, Water and Forestry and African Parks, a conservation NGO that takes on the direct, long-term management of national parks and protected areas in partnership with governments to save wildlife, restore landscapes and ensure sustainable livelihoods for local communities. African Parks has a mandate to manage this protected area, now referred to as the Chinko Project, for the next 50 years.
However, the legal instruments were not effective in controlling poaching activities for profits, as institutional support for protected areas has all along been weak with hunters and loggers not letting go their activities even in national parks. Most of the timber extracted from the CAR is exported to Europe.
Situated in the east of the CAR, Chinko is one of the region's only remaining strongholds for numerous species including the highly threatened Lord Derby eland, bongo and chimpanzees. This important ecosystem, however, is under tremendous pressure from militarized ivory poachers and intense levels of cattle grazing.
The richness of the wildlife of the Central African Republic is reflected in its about 3,600 species of plants, 663 birds, 209 mammals (includes two endemic species and 11 threatened species), 187 reptiles and 29 amphibians.
Geography
The Central African Republic, a landlocked country in Africa, which was once a French colony under the name Ubangi-Shari, is a rich rainforest area of 22.755 million ha with tropical forest covering 35% of the area of the country. The rich forests of the Central African Republic vary and largely are delimited within the major tropical rain forests of Africa and the great open savannas that stretch across the continent, south of the Sahara. Depending on climatic conditions, it is distributed with thick forests in the south, woody savanna in the center and grasslands in the north. Wildlife in these forests reflect all the species identified in Africa; the most conspicuous species include elephants, chimpanzees, crocodiles, hippos and giraffes.
The ecosystem in Central African Republic consists of the Western Congo Basin Forests, the Northeastern Congo Basin Forests and the Sudanian Savannas. The land use is categorized under the grass and shrub as 59%, under crops and settlements at 5% and major forests at 36% of the total land area of the country. Anthropological pressure is reported to be low in 46% area; medium in 44% and high in 10% of the land area.
Apart from all the savanna species of wild animals, the unique species found here are forest gorillas.
It had recorded the least percentage of forest loss, 1.9% from 1990 to 2005. Subsequently, logging roads were built not only to sustain subsistence agriculture but mostly for poaching for bush meat and ivory hunting, which has caused severe depletion of the abundant and diverse wildlife of CAR.
Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Central African Republic. It was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 1988 and it covers 1.74 million ha under category (ix)(x), recognising the diversity of life present within it, and under IUCN Category II. It encompasses three zones, "the flood plain of the Bahr Aouk and Bahr Kameur rivers in the north, the Massif des Bongo in the south, and a gently undulating transitional plain between". The vegetation types that dominate the park within these three zones consists of Sudanese-Guinean woodland savannah that is further subdivided under five types namely, "the Terminalia laxiflora wooded savannah; the Isoberlinia doka and Monotes kerstingii woodland; the Pseudocedrela kotschyi and Terminalia macroptera woodland; the mixed lowland woodland or wooded savannah; and Anogeissus leio and Khaya senegalensis". However, due to poaching activity within the park and severe loss of wildlife, it was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1997. Some 59 species have been recorded within the park.
Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve
Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve is a protected reserve of southwestern Central African Republic was established in 1990 and covers . The forest special reserve was established in 1990 along with its neighbouring Dzanga Ndoki National Park. Until 1986, anybody was free to shoot game in the forest.
The reserve is ecologically rich and contains a variety of megafauna such as western lowland gorillas, African forest elephants, bongo antelopes, African forest buffalos, In 1999, the forest special reserve was administered collaboratively by the Central African Ministry of Environment, Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Chinko Project Situated in east CAR, the Chinko Project provides a rare sanctuary for wildlife in a volatile region plagued by militarised ivory poachers and excessive cattle farming. Extreme poverty has resulted in a 95% depletion of all wildlife, making this one of the most crucial conservation projects on the continent. There are very few places on earth quite like Chinko. This landscape, comprising both tropical rainforest and savannah plains, is home to ten species of primate, two distinct types of elephant and the iconic Lord Derby eland.
Legal ordinances To preserve the unique forest vegetation that covers 35% of the land area of the country and the wildlife within it, and put an end to the intensive poaching activity from across its international border with Chad and Sudan, establishment of national parks and reserves to preserve the environment of rich natural heritage became a necessity. The French administration as colonists of the country in 1935 and later the government of the Central African Republic enacted laws to establish national parks, presidential parks, strict nature reserves, wildlife reserves, special reserves and biosphere reserves.
The national parks set up are the Andre Felix National Park, the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park, the Manovo-Gounda Saint Floris and the Zdanga-Ndoki; the presidential park is the D'Avakaba; the strict nature reserves are the Mbaéré-Bodingué Reserve and the Vassaka-Bolo Reserve; the wildlife reserves are Aouk-Aoukale Reserve, Gribingui-Bamingui Reserve, Koukourou-Bamingui Reserve, Nana-Barya Reserve, Ouandja-Vakaga Reserve, the Yata-Ngaya Reserve and the Zemongo Reserve; the special reserve is the Dzanga-Sangha; and the biosphere reserve is Basse-Lobaye.
Important ordinances enacted by the Central African Republic concern protection of wild life and regulation of hunting, under the guideline that wild life forms an integral part of the national heritage. The law defines categories of protected areas and prescribed rules for their establishment, apart from the management aspects of fully and partially protected species and ordinary game species; regulation hunting procedures also have been listed for ordinary game species. Hunting of fully protected species is banned. Partially protected species can be taken with specific permission. The capturing and transport of wild animals by and under the control of the Wildlife Department, enforcement measures and penalties are also defined.
Flora The flora of the Central African Republic has not been very well studied at all, although at least 3600 species are known. However, there are likely to be as many as 5000 species. The country is mainly dominated by Sudanian woodland, although a small area of Acacia dominates the Sahelian woodland in the extreme north. Many of the species which are endemic to the country are located in the hills of northeast, especially in the Massif des Bongos and Massif du Dar Chala in the Yata Ngaya Faunal Reserve area. Notable northern forests include Kotto, Kaga-Bandoro and Nana forest. Savanna reserves in the north are important for large mammals, especially Bamingui-Bangoran National Park and Biosphere Reserve and Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park and the north of the country also contains floodplains.
In the southwest is lowland forest and secondary grassland interspersed with forest in the Bangassou area of the south. Lowland forest exists in the southwest in the Dzangha-Sangha and Mbaere Bodingue Ngoto areas. Shrubs and bush vegetation mostly confined in the extreme northern region. Tropical forests cover 3.5 million ha. The tropical forests contain luxuriant plant growth with hundreds of plant species including Entradrolphragus angolensis, Lophira alata, Manilkara mabokeensis, Monodora myristica, Ricinodendron heudlotii, along with the African tulip tree, rubber tree, strangler fig, and Cecropia species.
In the Central African Republic forest cover is around 36% of the total land area, equivalent to of forest in 2020, down from in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered and planted forest covered . Of the naturally regenerating forest 9% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity). For the year 2015, 91% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 9% private ownership. In 2021, the rate of deforestation in the Central African Republic increased by 71%.
Woodland savannah mainly consists of Vitellaria paradoxa, Combretum spp., Acacia spp., Anogeissus leiocarpa, Afzelia africana, Burkea africana, Isoberlinia doka, Terminalia spp., Khaya senegalensis, Rafia sudanica and Borassus spp. along the rivers.
Fauna
The fauna of the CAR consists of 209 mammal species, of which two are endemic and 11 are threatened. The threatened species listed in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals are: endangered species namely, chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), giant African water shrew (Potamogale velox), red colobus (Procolobus badius) and wild dog (Lycaon pictus); and the vulnerable species are African elephant (Loxodonta africana), African golden cat (Profelis aurata), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), Gounda mouse (Mus goundae); endemic species are Hun shrew (Crocidura attila), lion (Panthera leo), and Oubangui mouse (Mus oubanguii), red-fronted gazelle (Gazella rufifrons) and spotted-necked otter (Lutra maculicollis]). The Gabon dwarf shrew (Suncus remyi), which was critically endangered in the past is now a species of least concern.