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Gabon - Geography

Gabon is a major research center where scientists classify, survey, study behaviour, and often discover new species of plants that they share with the visitor. They also explain how climate is a decisive factor for biodiversity, their work of surveying gorillas and chimpanzees, the different species of crocodile, amphibians, the role of elephants in maintaining biodiversity, the properties of medicinal plants and much more.

Gabon is a driving force behind the conservation of the Congo Basin rain forest, the planet’s second lung with 2 million km2 of tropical forest, which absorbs 70 million tonnes of CO2 annually. The forest covers 85% of the national territory with a patchwork of 6 different ecosystems: mangroves, forest, savannah, wetlands, mountains and high plateaus and lastly beaches and dunes. Some areas remain totally unspoilt today. Over 10,000 plant species have been classified, 15% of which are endemic, 10,400 forest tree species with individual trees over 1,000 years old. And there are still some unexplored areas! There is also an extremely rich fauna: 680 species of birds, 1,300 butterfly species, 98 species of amphibians, between 95 and 160 species of reptiles, and almost 200 species of mammals. The Monts de Cristal region is one of the richest in biodiversity in the whole of tropical Africa.

The country also has a remarkable archaeological heritage. The oldest multi-cellular fossil in the world (2.1 billion years) was found in the Plateaux Bateke region. The first humans appeared 400,000 years ago, and the oldest tools used by humanity were found in the Lopé national park.

Gabon has a stretch of coastline 800 km long: explore the deserted beaches of Loango, one of the few places on earth where large mammals still have access to the sea; the dunes allow the formation of lagoons: the longest one, Louri, measures 18 km and is a paradise for surfing hippos, Nile crocodiles and all sorts of aquatic birds.

Along the coast, the Loango National Park is an extraordinary and complex patchwork of beaches, lagoons, mangroves, salt meadows, swamps, savannah and forests. Elephants, hippopotamuses and hump-backed whales share the pleasure of the rolling waves and the deserted beaches. This is the finest site in tropical Africa for recreational fishing both in the sea and in lagoons. The Mayumba National Park is one of the most important laying sites in the world for the leatherback turtle. Now an endangered species, the park was created to protect them.

Between land and sea, the incredible tangle of aerial roots of the mangrove trees plays a fundamental role in coastal ecosystems. In this area, you can watch leatherback turtles laying their eggs, but also discover the mudskipper (Periophthalmini), a strange fish that catches insects outside the water.

In the region of Libreville, the Akanda National Park is a 54,000 ha mangrove just a few minutes away from the capital with an extraordinary variety of wildlife. The Pongara National Park, less than an hour away by boat, is home to a very rich variety of fauna, particularly buffaloes, elephants and the damara tern, a threatened species. Here you can observe 550 leatherback turtles lay their eggs and the incredible spectacle of the mudskippers, amphibian fish that hunt insects out of the water.

Wetlands – in Ivindo national park, descend the Djidji river right to the falls, to see the crocodiles and gorillas splashing around among elephants at Langoue. This area is devoted to the various aquatic milieus and their indigenous fauna: Mpassa river, the long-snouted crocodiles and Jaco, the most famous parrot in Africa. Or, the rapids of the Djidji, the most spectacular in Central Africa, or explore the 30,000 ha of marshland at Akaka. Then finally, Langoue Bai is the best spot in Gabon for watching gorillas, as well as new species of butterfly.

Savannah land covers only a small part of Gabon, but it is very diverse: steppe at Loango and Pongara; marsh in the rainy season and grass that burns in the dry season, exposing mushroom-shaped termite mounds. Here, there are some exceptional pictures of the nocturnal activities in the savannah: elephants, antelopes and duikers, wild boars, birds and mandrills.

The highest mountains in Gabon are no more than 1,000 m in altitude, but the summits are practically inaccessible, which is the reason why the natural environment is so well-preserved. To reach Plateaux Batéké, visitors cross a liana bridge, and negotiate Ndobi falls… but the spectacle is worth the trouble. Waterfalls, rapids and endemic species of animals such as the cercopithecus solatus, also known as the sun-tailed monkey, which was discovered in 1984. The Monts de Cristal National Park consists of uplands that are difficult to access. Its climate is perfectly adapted to plants that thrive in humid conditions, like orchids and begonia. Botanists estimate that it hosts the richest plant biodiversity in all of Africa.

Along the Congolese border, three parks remain relatively unexplored: the Plateaux Bateke National Park: an ocean of grassland in the heart of the equatorial forest, in the kingdom of the Téké, a Bantu people. In places, the gentle landscape is broken by spectacular multicoloured pink, orange and black cliffs. There are also many archaeological vestiges. The Mwagna National Park with its bai (clearing) that is sacred to the pygmies, attracts forest elephants, monkeys, forest hogs, bongo antelopes, sitatungas and duikers. There are still many discoveries to be made there. Legend tells of a giant dinosaur-like creature, the mokélé-mbembé! Finally, to the North, the Minkebe National Park is an immense 8,000 km2 virgin forest with the largest concentration of elephants in the Congo Basin (an estimated 30,000 individuals) and rare species like the very shy bongo antelope.

Central Gabon has the most interesting sites in Africa for observing long-nosed crocodiles (in the Ivindo National Park) and mandrills (the largest population is to be found at Lopé, where a research centre is dedicated to them). The Lopé National Park has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2007. This park offers two exceptional experiences: a night in the heart of the Gabonese savannah observing antelopes and duikers, bush pigs, savannah birds… and an initiation to the Ndjembe secret society. Sheltered by the Chaillu massif, the Waka Park remains relatively unknown. The everyday lives of the people here are punctuated by their traditions and spiritual culture. Their vast knowledge regularly enables them to assist conservation specialists working in natural sites. Finally, the sun-tailed monkey, a primate previously unknown to science, was discovered in 1984 in the Birougou National Park in the center of the Chaillu massif.