The Ankasa Conservation Area is located in southwestern

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, approximately 365 kilometers west of

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, near the border with

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

. It encompasses the Nini Suhien National Park to the north and the Ankasa Forest Reserve to the south.

Geography and environment

The park is approximately 500 square kilometers, and consists largely of tropical evergreen

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

. The Ankasa Conservation Area is the only

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

protected area in Ghana that is located in the wet evergreen tropical high rainforest belt. The Ankasa, Nini, and Suhien Rivers all pass through the park, and are known for their rapids and waterfalls. The forest has the most

biological diversity Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Eart ...

of any in Ghana, with over 800 vascular plant species, 639 butterfly species, and more than 190 bird species. Animal life includes the

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

, bongo, leopard,

western chimpanzee The western chimpanzee or West African chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes verus'') is a Critically Endangered subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It inhabits western Africa, specifically Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea-B ...

, Diana monkey, and other primates. Apart from the forest reserve which was selectively logged until 1976, the rest of the protected area is almost intact. The Ankasa reserve, along with the Nini-Sushien National Park, has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports significant populations of many bird species.

Access

The park includes basic camping facilities with shelters, toilets and running water.

External links

Ghana Ministry of Tourism -- official siteGhana Wildlife Society (Accessed June 2014)Status of Great Apes in the area

References

Eastern Guinean forests Important Bird Areas of Ghana Protected areas of Ghana Western Region (Ghana) Tourism in Ghana {{Africa-protected-area-stub