The Area - Fauna and Flora


Home to the the world's largest frog...

Almost intact mangroves cover the shore of the Ntem estuary, near the town of Campo. Buffer zone of Campo-Ma'an National Park, Cameroon 2004.
Almost intact mangroves cover the shore of the Ntem estuary, near the town of Campo. Buffer zone of Campo-Ma'an National Park, Cameroon 2004.
© WWF-Canon / Olivier van Bogaert
Building of private houses is threatening coastal forests in the buffer zone of Campo Ma'an National Park, Cameroon 2004.
Building of private houses is threatening coastal forests in the buffer zone of Campo Ma'an National Park, Cameroon 2004.
© WWF-Canon / Olivier van Bogaert

The Campo-Ma'an National Park and its buffer zone are home to 80 species of mammals, 302 species of birds, 122 species of reptiles, more than 80 species of amphibians, and 249 fish species.

In addition, some 390 species of invertebrates have been identified, including seven species not yet officially recorded in Cameroon.

Mammals
Out of the 80 mammal species recorded, 23 are considered threatened under the IUCN-World Conservation Union Red List. They include

  • forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis),
  • leopard (Panthera pardus),
  • gorilla (Gorilla gorilla),
  • chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes),
  • mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx),
  • black colobus (Colobus satanas),
  • giant pangolin (Manis gigantea),
  • spotted-necked otter (Lutra maculicollis),
  • giant otter shrew (Potamogale velox), and
  • manatee (Trichechus senegalensis).

The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus) and hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), as well as various species of antelopes and bats, also live in the area. The park is also Cameroon's only protected area where mandrills can be found, and is an important refuge for, and a major site for the conservation of, lowland gorillas and chimpanzees.

Birds
According to Birdlife International, the Campo-Ma'an area is a key area for bird conservation. For example, it is home to the grey-necked rockfowl (Picathartes oreas) and Bates' weaver (Ploceus batesi) - two species threatened by extinction - and the forest swallow (Hirundo fuliginosa) and Rachel's malimbe (Malimbus racheliae) - two species which only live in the Atlantic coastal forest of northern Gabon and south-western Cameroon.

Reptiles
With 122 species of reptiles, the area is also considered one of the richest herpetological sites throughout the African continent. Three crocodile species threatened by extinction according to the IUCN Red List live here:

  • the African slender-snouted crocodile (Crocodylus cataphractus),
  • Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), and
  • African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetrapis).

Four threatened species of turtles have also been recorded on the coast:

Amphibians
The Goliath frog (Conraua goliath) - the world's largest frog - is present in both the park and buffer zone. It is believed that the particular ecology of the forests in Central Africa favour the distribution of amphibians. This could explain the high number of amphibians found in the Campo-Ma'an area.

Fishes
The Campo-Ma'an area, including the coastal zone, is home to 249 fish species. This represents 46 per cent of all fish species already recorded in Cameroon. Four of these species can only be found here.

Vegetation and flora
The Campo Ma'an National Park belongs to the Guineo-Congolian tropical forest ecosystem. The forest cover consists mainly of dense lowland moist forest. It also includes submontane and swamp forests. Almost intact mangroves cover the shore of the Ntem estuary, near the town of Campo. With more than 1,500 plant species, of which 114 are unique to the region and 29 found only in the park, flora is rich and diverse.




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