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Waza National Park ((フランス語:Parc National de Waza)) is a national park in the Department of Logone-et-Chari, in Far North Region, Cameroon. It was founded in 1934 as a hunting reserve, and covers a total of . Waza achieved national park status in 1968, and became a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1979. For the preservation and conservation of the biodiversity of the park, a Management Master Plan was drawn up in 1997, reported to be the first of its kind in Cameroon.〔 The park is adjacent to the Chingurmi-Duguma sector of Nigeria's Chad Basin National Park.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Chad Basin National Park )〕 There is also a proposal to combine this park with the Waza Logone floodplain as a Ramsar Site.〔 The forest dwellers who had their villages within the park were resettled on the borders of the park, after it was established. This was done with the objective of creating a social buffer to poaching activities and preserve the park's resources. The dominant vegetation is in the transition zone between the Sahel and Sudan savanna, containing acacia and open Yaéré savannah forests.〔 The prominent faunal species reported to inhabit the park are: West African lion, African bush elephant, hyena, hartebeest, roan, Buffon's kob, waterbuck, reed, gazelle, Sudan cheetah and West African giraffe. The avifauna reported are geese, egrets, ostriches, herons, pelicans, jabirus and ibis. ==Geography== The park is bounded by the town of Waza to its west, the border with Nigeria, and Chad is only away. The seasonally-flooded "Yaéré" floodplain marks the east and north-east, and the Maroua–Kousséri road is to the west.〔 The park’s habitat is mainly in the “Chad depression” with average elevation in the range of a , thought the highest ground goes up to near Waza village. The topography of the park, however, is generally flat.〔 Sand dunes in the western area of the park denote past desert conditions.〔 The Chad depression was originally covered by Lake Chad.〔 The land classification consists of terrestrial landscapes to the extent of 88%, and the park has 7% shrub land and 5% grassland.〔 The climate is mostly semi-arid as the average annual precipitation is only and erratic in its incidence. The rainy months are June to October and the dry season is from November to May. The dry season lasts from October to May. Mean annual temperature is . The coolest month is December recording a mean monthly minimum temperature of and maximum of . In April, just prior to start of rainy season, the mean monthly minimum is and maximum is .〔 Soil formations resulting from the erosion of the high mountains in the park primarily consist of tropical ferruginous soils in catenas, hydromorphic soils and vertisols. Heavy clays are the dominant soil type in the park.〔 With the above topographic, climatic and soil settings, the vegetation types which cover the park are categorized under five broad types of open ''combretaceous'' shrub savanna, ''anogeissus leiocarpus'' woodland, ''lannea humilis'' open grass savanna, ''acacia seyal'' tree savanna and Yaéré floodplains with perennial grasses. In the desert conditions, with no perennial streams flowing through the park area, there are no perennial grasses in the park.〔 The water holes are created for animals. The combretaceous shrub savanna consist of ''Sclerocarya birrea'' tree savanna, ''Combretum'' and ''Terminalia'' shrubs and the doum palm ''Hyphaene thebaica''. The ''Anogeissus leiocarpus'' woodland is in sandy soils with ''Mitragyna inermis'' in pockets near temporary water bodies. Lannea humilis are open grass savanna combined with short annual grasses. Patches of trees and stands of ''Mitragyna inermis'' are also reported from small islands near temporary water bodies. In this condition, vegetation reported are in the formations of compact clay. However, the area is very saline due to high evaporation. The fourth category of vegetation comprises Acacia seyal tree savanna growing in black clay soils which gets highly saturated during the rainy months; grasses in these conditions spread very slowly or may even dry up. The last type of vegetation is reported in the Yaéré flood plains, an important area to maintain perennial grasses in the park. The grasses reported are: ''Vetiveria nigritana'', ''Oryza barthii'', ''Echinochloa pyramidalis'' and ''Echinochloa stagnina'' and a few herbaceous legumes with ''Sesbania pachycarpa.'' However, in these conditions, where there are no trees, forest fires are common.〔 A particular feature in the central and western parts of the park was that substantial areas were of annual grasses and herbs, interspersed by Acacia seyal shrublands. They were subject to seasonal flooding before the construction of the Maga dam.〔 The park is to the north of Maroua and off Kousseri, and has paved roads.〔 The park is open to the public only from 15 November to 15 June and a guide is mandatory to see the wildlife, according to the rules of the park.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Waza National Park )〕 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「Waza National Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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