The Gbele Resource Centre or Gbele Game Production Reserve is one of the lesser known game reserves in

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 ...

. The reserve is the fourth largest in Ghana.

History

About 30 km to the north of the centre is the

Gwollu Defence Wall The Gwollu Defence Wall is a historic wall in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The wall is located near the Burkina Faso-Mali border. It was built as a defense against slave traders. History The Gwollu Defence Wall was built in the 19th centur ...

Resettlement

In 2019, the government finalised an agreement with settlers in the park which will ensure that they had all vacated the reserve by March 2020 and moved to new housing units it had built for them. The resettlement programme began in 2011. The settlers had migrated into the reserve in search of fertile land for farming.

Geography

The Gbele Resource Centre is located to the north-east of Wa, capital of the

Upper West Region The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East Region to the east, Northern Region (Ghana), Northern Region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional ...

. To the west is

Nadowli Nadowli is a small town and is the capital of Nadowli district, a district in the Upper West Region of north Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atla ...

Jirapa Jirapa is the capital town of the Jirapa Municipal in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Institutions * The only girls' secondary school in the region, St. Francis Girls' Secondary School, is situated in the town. * Jirapa Senior High School. * ...

and

Lawra Lawra is a small town and is the capital of Lawra district, a district in the Upper West Region of Ghana.Lawr ...

. To the north is

Nandom Nandom is the capital town of the Nandom Municipal District of the Upper West Region of Ghana. Nandom town and the multiple villages that surround it to the north, south, east, and west are inhabited by the Dagara people. The Dagara of the Nando ...

and Hamile. There is a village called Gbele located within the reserve. It is located in the Sissala West, Sissala East Municipal and Daffiama Bussie Issa districts. The nearest town is Tumu, capital of the Sissala East Municipal District which is 17 km to the north.

Environment

The topgraphy of the reserve is generally flat. The

Kulpawn River The Kulpawn River is one of the major rivers of northwestern Ghana, along with the Black Volta and Sisili River The Sisili River is one of the major rivers of northwestern Ghana, along with the Black Volta and Kulpawn Rivers. Historically, th ...

which is seasonal flows from the west to the southeast. Around Gbele village are thickets of ''

Adansonia digitata ''Adansonia digitata'', the African baobab, is the most widespread tree species of the genus ''Adansonia'', the baobabs, and is native to the African continent and the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen, Oman). These are long-lived pachycauls; rad ...

'', '' Faidherbia'' and ''

Ficus sycomorus ''Ficus sycomorus'', called the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry (because the leaves resemble those of the mulberry), sycamore, or sycomore, is a ficus, fig species that has been cultivated since ancient times. Etymology and naming The spec ...

''.

Wildlife

Birds

A total of 176 species of birds have been recorded in the reserve. The staff in the reserve are aware of an additional 18 species. Gbele Resource Centre is the only wildlife reserve where the ''

Rufous-rumped lark The rufous-rumped lark (''Pinarocorys erythropygia'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. It is found in western and central Africa from Mali, Guinea and Sierra Leone to eastern Sudan, South Sudan and north-western Uganda. Its natural h ...

'' is known to occur and breed. It is also one of only three reserves where the ''

Yellow-billed oxpecker The yellow-billed oxpecker (''Buphagus africanus'') is a passerine bird in the family Buphagidae. It was previously placed in the starling and myna family, Sturnidae. It is native to the savannah of Sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Suda ...

'' is recorded. Other bird species include black-headed weaver, Dorst's cisticola,

Gambaga flycatcher The Gambaga flycatcher (''Muscicapa gambagae'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is sparsely distributed across the Sudan (region) and the Arabian Highlands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry sav ...

northern carmine bee-eater The northern carmine bee-eater (''Merops nubicus'') is a brightly-coloured bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. It is found across northern tropical Africa, from Senegal eastwards to Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. It was formerly considered to ...

, red-throated bee-eater,

spotted thick-knee The spotted thick-knee (''Burhinus capensis''), also known as the spotted dikkop , or Cape thick-knee, is a wader in the family Burhinidae. It is native to tropical regions of central and southern Africa. Description The spotted thick-knee, whic ...

violet turaco The violet turaco, also known as the violaceous plantain eater (''Tauraco violaceus''), is a large turaco, a group of African otidimorphae. Characteristics These are unmistakable birds, but shy and often inconspicuous in the treetops. They are ...

and

Willcocks's honeyguide Willcocks's honeyguide (''Indicator willcocksi'') is a species of bird in the family Indicatoridae. It is found mainly throughout the African tropical rainforest. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the General Sir James Willcocks ...

. The reserve 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.

Mammals

Mammal species present include

hartebeest The hartebeest (; ''Alcelaphus buselaphus''), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an Fauna of Africa, African antelope. It is the Monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Alcelaphus''. Eight subspecies have been described, including two som ...

Cape bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus''), also known as imbabala is a common, medium-sized bushland-dwelling, and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa. It is found in a wide range of habitats, such as rain forests, montane ...

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus ''Kobus (antelope), Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first Scientific description, described by Irish naturalist Will ...

common duiker The common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), also known as the gray duiker or bush duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus ''Sylvicapra''. This species is found everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of ...

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

olive baboon The olive baboon (''Papio anubis''), also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae Old World monkeys. The species is the most wide-ranging of all baboons, being native to 25 countries throughout Africa, extending from ...

patas monkey The common patas monkey (''Erythrocebus patas''), also known as the hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa. Taxonomy There is some confusion surrounding if there are v ...

green monkey The green monkey (''Chlorocebus sabaeus''), also known as the sabaeus monkey, is an Old World monkey with golden-green fur and pale hands and feet. The tip of the tail is golden yellow as are the backs of the thighs and cheek whiskers. It does n ...

African buffalo The African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer)'' is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head, referred to ...

African elephant African elephants are members of the genus ''Loxodonta'' comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (''L. africana'') and the smaller African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''). Both are social herbivores with grey skin. ...

and roan antelope.

Gallery

File:Faidherbia albida.JPG, ''Faidherbia albida'' File:Violet Turaco RWD3.jpg, Violet turaco File:Flickr - Rainbirder - Yellow-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus).jpg, Yellow-billed Oxpecker File:AlaudaErythropygiaWolf.jpg, Rufous-rumped lark File:Ugandan defassa waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) male.jpg, Waterbuck

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gbele Resource Centre National parks of Ghana Important Bird Areas of Ghana Protected areas of Ghana Upper West Region