Gashaka-Gumti National Park is a park in eastern Nigeria. It lies in the states of Adamawa and Taraba, along the Cameroon border. Nigeria’s largest park, Gashaka-Gumti is a collection of protected areas covering about 2,587 square miles (6,700 square kilometers). The park includes mountains, rain forest, and high savanna (grassland). Rugged hills and valleys funnel several rivers through the park. The rivers include the Gam-gam, Gashaka, Kam, and Yim. Nigeria established the park in 1991. The Nigeria National Park Service maintains it.
Gashaka-Gumti consists of two former game reserves. The Gashaka Game Reserve became the southern half of the park. Gumti Game Reserve added the northern half. Baboons, chimpanzees, forest elephants, giant elands, gorillas, and leopards roam the park’s forests. Crocodiles, hippopotamuses, otters, and a variety of fish live in the park’s rivers. The park is considered an African Important Bird Area (IBA) because of its numerous species (kinds) of birds. The park’s many plant species include ferns, orchids, and rare plants. One of Nigeria’s highest peaks, Chappal Waddi, rises in the southern highlands.
Gashaka-Gumti is part of the Guinean Forests of West Africa, an official United Nations biodiversity hotspot. Such hotspots are areas with a high number of endemic species—plants and animals unique to that area.
Human activity continually threatens and damages Gashaka-Gumti. Conservation efforts aim to stop deforestation caused by illegal logging and slash-and-burn farming. The Park Service polices the area to help prevent illegal fishing and hunting.
