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Nki National Park is a national park in southeastern Cameroon, located in its East Province. The closest towns to Nki are Yokadouma, Moloundou and Lomie, beyond which are rural lands. Due to its remoteness, Nki has been described as "the last true wilderness."〔 It has a large and varied ecosystem, and it is home to over 265 species of birds, and the forests of Cameroon contain some of the highest population density of forest elephants of any nation with an elephant density of roughly 2.5 per square kilometer for Nki and neighboring Boumba Bek National Park combined. These animals are victims of poaching, which has been a major problem since an economic depression in the 1980s. The indigenous people follow in the footsteps of the poachers, attracted by the financial opportunities. The removal of logging industries from the park, on the other hand, has been a success; it is no longer considered a major threat to Nki's wilderness. ==History== The World Wildlife Fund has been in the process of conserving the park since the 1980s, including ridding the area of the logging business. This movement, however, has been met with some criticism, especially by members of the remote village of Ndongo, Cameroon. Before WWF arrived, Ndongo was a bustling logging town of 300 residents with fairly good roads and plentiful working opportunities. Once the organization established itself, it pressured the logging companies to operate in a more environmentally friendly manner. The logging companies pulled out of the town in 1988, leaving broken machinery and severely damaging Ndongo's economy. According to Leonard Usongo, manager of WWF projects in southeast Cameroon, "we cannot convince a community of the need to protect forests if we don’t acknowledge their problems or their poverty."〔 Today, logging is no longer a major problem,〔 as "it would require a lot of investment to develop necessary infrastructure, such as roads, for () operations, especially in the southern portion of Nki."〔 According to the WWF's scientific advisor in the region, Paul Robinson Ngnegueu, "poaching is the biggest threat to ... Nki."〔 It is a result of the late 1980s economic depression in Cameroon. The indigenous people followed the poachers, attracted by the financial opportunities. They would sell their product through "intermediaries" for money and more hunting supplies.〔 Cameroonian authorities fought poaching in Nki by applying repressive measures to the indigenous population. An example of this was in January 1997, when Bakas were forced from their homes near Mambele. These actions turned the Bakas against the WWF, which they considered "an organization of whites who want to protect animals".〔 Every year, poachers travel up the Dja for central Nki, where elephant ivory is abundant. Strong currents on the river are a deterrent for half the year, but after that, according to freelance journalist Jemini Pandya, the fauna is easy to prey upon.〔 Nonetheless, when Pandya of the WWF visited Nki National Park in the early 1990s, she described it as "the last true wilderness." In 1995, the park was named an Essential Protection Zone, its first official status. It was not formally established as a national park until the Cameroonian government decreed the creation of Boumba Bek and Nki National Parks on 17 October 2005. This establishment was not without opposition; the Bakas have continually asked to reduce the park's boundaries and ask for higher usage rights, which invaded upon "their" land.〔 Cameroon and Gabon are currently working on the TRIDOM project, a conservation initiative leading to a land management plan which will oversee access to and use of forests. It will create a tri-national "interzone" bordered by the Minkebe, Boumba-Bek, Nki, and Odzala National Parks and the Dja Wildlife Reserve. This project is part of a conservation movement toward the zoning and designation of new protected areas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nki National Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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