Odzala-Kokoua National Park lies in the northwestern quadrant of the Republic of the Congo. It spans over 13,500 square kilometers of equatorial rainforest within the greater Congo Basin.
The park lies within the administrative boundaries of Cuvette-Ouest and was first designated as a protected area in 1935.
Its ecological profile includes Marantaceae forests, saline forest clearings known as bais, and swamp systems fed by the Mambili and Lekoli Rivers.
The area supports over 100 mammal species, including western lowland gorillas, forest elephants, and sitatungas. Bird life exceeds 400 recorded species, many of which are forest endemics.
Since 2010, the park has been co-managed by African Parks in partnership with the Congolese government.
Its current model integrates tourism, ecological research, and local community development. Visitor access is highly regulated to maintain environmental integrity, a priority that is evident in both policy and practice.
Habitat
The vast green wilderness that is Odzala-Kokoua National Park has a multitude of habitats. In general, the north of the Park has dense forest covering many steep-sloped hills, while in the west a major escarpment runs roughly north-south from which the altitude drops 350 metres into low swampy forest. The southern part of the Park is characterised by pockets of savannah dotted with forest islands, bisected by the rivers and their associated gallery forests.
A primary feature is the occurrence of “bais” or salines. These are swampy, grassy clearings in the otherwise dense forest that forest wildlife visit on a regular basis in order to drink, feed on sedges and grasses, and obtain minerals and salts. These bais range in size from less than a hectare to more than ten hectares and represent the best chance of seeing forest wildlife. The bais we visit in Odzala-Kokoua are relatively small and as a result offer the opportunity for close up viewing of various species.
History and Conservation Significance
Odzala-Kokoua was first gazetted as a national park in 1935 under French colonial administration, making it one of Central Africa’s oldest protected areas.
At the time, the designation was driven by the need to control elephant poaching and regulate forest resource extraction in the Sangha Basin.
Following Congolese independence in 1960, national legislation reaffirmed Odzala’s protected status.
By the early 2000s, ecological degradation and a management vacuum had raised alarms among international conservation bodies.
This period marked an inflection point that led to the involvement of transnational conservation stakeholders.
In 2010, the Congolese government formalised a management agreement with African Parks, a non-profit organisation with experience in rehabilitating failing protected areas. This agreement remains in effect today.