Ankasa Conservation Area

Ankasa Conservation Area
Map showing the location of Ankasa Conservation Area
Map showing the location of Ankasa Conservation Area
LocationGhana
Nearest cityAxim
Coordinates5°17′00″N 2°39′00″W / 5.283333°N 2.65°W / 5.283333; -2.65
Area50,000 ha (190 sq mi)
Aerial view of the Ankasa Forest

The Ankasa Conservation Area is located in southwestern Ghana, approximately 365 kilometers west of Accra, near the border with Côte d'Ivoire.[1] It encompasses the Nini Suhien National Park to the north and the Ankasa Forest Reserve to the south.[2]

Geography and environment

The park is approximately 500 square kilometers, and consists largely of tropical evergreen rainforest.[3] The Ankasa Conservation Area is the only wildlife protected area in Ghana that is located in the wet evergreen tropical high rainforest belt.[4]

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 of any in Ghana, with over 800 vascular plant species, 639 butterfly species, and more than 190 bird species.[4][5] Animal life includes the elephant, bongo, leopard, western chimpanzee,[6] Diana monkey,[7] and other primates. Apart from the forest reserve which was selectively logged until 1976, the rest of the protected area is almost intact.[4]

The Ankasa reserve, along with the Nini-Sushien National Park, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of many bird species.[8]

Access

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

Ankasa Forest
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References

  1. ^ "Ivory Coast", Wikipedia, 2019-05-21, retrieved 2019-05-25
  2. ^ "Ghana Wildlife Society:ANKASA NATIONAL PARK (Accessed June 2014)". Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
  3. ^ "Rainforests". Mongabay.com. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  4. ^ a b c Tilahun, Mesfin; Damnyag, Lawrence; Anglaaere, Luke C.N. (2016). "The Ankasa Forest Conservation Area of Ghana: Ecosystem service values and on-site REDD + opportunity cost". Forest Policy and Economics. 73: 168–176. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2016.08.011.
  5. ^ Hall, J. B.; Swaine, M. D. (1976). "Classification and Ecology of Closed-Canopy Forest in Ghana". Journal of Ecology. 64 (3): 913–951. doi:10.2307/2258816. JSTOR 2258816.
  6. ^ "Chimpanzee | National Geographic". Animals. 2011-05-10. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  7. ^ "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  8. ^ "Ankasa Resource Reserve - Nini-Sushien National Park". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-15.


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