Inside Gashaka- Gumti National Park
Gashaka-Gumti National Park is one of the largest parks in Nigeria.It is located in Gashaka local government area of Taraba state ,and stretches to parts of Toungo local government area of Adamawa state. The park is rated highest in term of beautiful scenery, waterfalls, ever green mountains and above all the park houses over 500 […]
Gashaka-Gumti National Park is one of the largest parks in Nigeria.It is located in Gashaka local government area of Taraba state ,and stretches to parts of Toungo local government area of Adamawa state.
The park is rated highest in term of beautiful scenery, waterfalls, ever green mountains and above all the park houses over 500 different forms of wild life and close to a million birds.Gasahaka – Gumti National park is among the seven National parks in Nigeria.It is the largest, most scenic and biologically diverse conservation enclave.
Similarly, thousands of birds migrate to the park yearly from across the globe ,making the park to be a refuge of different species of birds in the entire West African sub region
However, despite the attractions which make it a unique park in the country , Nigerians are not patronizing the park, instead they travel to other parks abroad which are less attractive and spend millions of Naira while doing so.
The park is also located at the foot of the famous Mambilla plateau ,which is also one of the best tourist’s attraction in the country, and it has both tropical and temperate climates.
The distance from Jalingo, the Taraba state capital to the tourists camp in Serti is about 340 kilometers, and the road leading to the camp is good with vehicles plying it on a 24 hour basis.
All around the Gashaka -Gumti National park is natural scenery .The park covers 6731 square kilometers ,and shares a common boundary with the republic of Cameroon..
Gashaka_Gumti National park started as a forest reserve in the 70s and was transformed into a national park in 1999 by federal Decree, because of its richness in biodiversity and eco system. It derived its name from two of the area’s oldest and most historic settlements, the Gashaka Village in Taraba state and Gumti village in Adamawa state.
A visit by Daily Trust to the Park recently revealed more of the natural content of the park that attracted tourists and researchers from across the globe, more especially from Europe and America.
My guide, a ranger, told me that there are few conservation enclaves in the world that can boast of such unique spectacular and diverse scenery ,as the vast and relatively unspoilt wilderness.
Going deep inside the park from the main gate of the park at Bode village along Gembu- Serti high way, l had no reason to argue with the Ranger on the richness of the park.
Beautiful scenery and the mountains as well as waterfalls and rivers with fast flowing water, were there from every direction you look at.
It was not surprising that foreign tourists coming into the park ,were on the high side compared to local tourists.
The conservator of the park Mr.Saidu Yohana told Daily Trust that local tourists have not really understood the richness of tourist’s attraction of the park. He explained that Nigerians under scored the richness of the park,and that was why they go to other parks ,or even travel abroad for holidays.
Mr Yonana said the park is the largest in the whole of Nigeria and even the West African sub -region. According to him the park encompasses, Savannah,forest, wetland and montane habitats in a continuous ecological system that makes it rare if not unique in the entire West African Region.
The largest and multi diverse conservation enclave in the country, Gashaka- Gumti national park has the highest mountain peak in Nigeria, the Chappal Waddi is 2400 feet above sea level. The footage one sees of parks across East Africa do not match or rival what is obtainable in the park, and that was why until recently the park was a Mecca to hundreds of tourists and researchers coming from different parts of the world.
I was amazed with the beautiful scenery, the coolness and quietness of the environment, it is indeed a good place to spend days in relaxation, but yet not even people in Taraba where the facility is located , appreciate the unique beautiful attraction inside the park.
The two Rangers who were my guides on the trip said that for one to fully appreciate the richness and the eco diversity of the park ,requires a trek of a whole day or two into the park, as most parts could be accessed by Range Rover used because of the many Rivers and streams at this period of rainfall.
I was told that there is a well maintained over 1000 kilometers network of jeep tracks and trails which links Gashaka and Gumti sector all together ,and to other strategic locations around the park.
Daily Trust also discovered that at the moment a network of seasonal motorable dirt road and tracks was being developed for park viewing, anti poaching patrols and for biodiversity research among others.
Because of the terrain at this period my movement was only limited to some parts of the park ,and even at that point I was delighted with what I saw .
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| Hippos in one of the rivers |
The park it was gathered was also suitable for adventure and recreation because of its beautiful scenery, fine subtropical climate conditions, flora and fauna. It also offers an amusing opportunity to a visitor to watch wild animals, birds as well as for sport fishing.
Out of the seven National parks in the country, it was further gathered only Gashaka- Gumti offers potential of sport fishing and one of the recognized places is the Mayokam Hippo-pool.
“Because of many rivers and streams inside the park ,vehicles have limits to where they take visitors, the rest is by trekking and it takes hours to move into all the zones” a Ranger said.
He said if a visitor wants to see the animals he would have to trek kilometers into the park, and one is expected to carry his food and water along.
Its altitude according to my guide is 450 meters above sea level in the wild savannah plains of the Northern sector, to the peaks and pinnacles of Gangirwal in the Southern park sector, which is at 2,400 meters above sea level, and this point represents Nigeria’s highest mountain
The conservator of the park, Mr Saidu Yohana told our correspondent that the fauna of the national park is very diverse and contains about 103 species of mammals. Species include yellow-backed duiker, African golden cat, African buffalo, the largest population of chimpanzees in Nigeria, and there are over1700 chimpanzees in the park, African elephant, klipspringer, West African wild dog, hartebeest, the world’s largest antelope, the giant eland, Roan antelope, Kob antelope, oribi, Black-and-white colobus monkey, baboon, warthog, and the rare mountain reedbuck. Its largest unspoilt rivers contain hippos, crocodiles, otters and a wide variety of fishes.
He explained that the avian fauna is very rich with about a million birds. The park is officially labelled as one of Africa’s “Important Bird Areas” – and with more than 500 species found, visiting bird watching enthusiasts are constantly adding new species to the list.
He said the mandate of the parks is to protect and manage the major catchment of the upper Benue River system,which originates from the park.
“We have the mandate to protect the high biodiversity of species of fauna and flora of the area, some of which are endangered or at the verge of extinction,” the conservator said.
There were a number of waterfalls in the park with falling water all the year round and that has added more attraction to visitors. Some of the waterfalls inside the park include Kiri waterfalls, Yoma waterfall located on Karlai hills, Mayo Ngaska waterfalls and Ngiti waterfalls. The water falls it was gathered ,apart from being site attractions has the potential to generate electricity, but yet the entire park relies on generating plants for its power supply.
He said charges are moderate as visitors were charged N7500 per day N7000 is for a room ,while N1500 was for transport and camera tours into the park.
According to him the charge was the lowest in any park in the country, adding that there was the need for holiday seekers to patronize the park ,because it has all the potentials needed by tourists.
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| Gashaka- Gumti National Park |
“Local tourists need not to travel abroad as here in Gashaka – Gumti park there is what it takes to give pleasure to persons that want to see wild life of any type, as well as the beautiful scenery” he said .
He said that 32 chalets were built to accommodate tourists and most of chalets were built at tourists camp located inside SERTI town, while few other chalets were provided inside the main park.
Our correspondent however discovered that Gashaka local government area where the park is located is yet to be connected to the national grid ,hence the park relies on generating plants for power supply.
The cost of diesel has forced the management of the park to provide electricity for a few hours in the day, and such supply is normally between 6.30pm to 11.30pm ,but however water supply in the tourist’s camp went for 24 hours and without interruption.
The conservator of the park said the park needs urgent attention from the federal government ,as some of the facilities needed to be upgraded. According to him electricity supply was highly needed to add comfort to visitors.
He said government should provide adequate funds to provide facilities in order to attract local and foreign tourists
He also expressed the need for additional man power for effecting patrols against poaching, logging of tress, illegal mining of Gold and illegal grazing, which have been a source of concern to the park authorities.
“The park contains the most important area of montane forest in Nigeria, and the Caps of the montane forest are identified to be critical to watershed conservation and climate change regulation” he said.
“This area of the montane forest also harbors at least 24 threatened plant species, believed to possess certain medicinal properties for the cure of prostate cancer,and which need to be protected “he added.
He also said there was the need for more logistics and security ,pointing out that the park is located in the North- East region that faces insurgency problems, and there was tendency for criminal elements to use the area as their hide out. Mr. Saidu Yohana lamented that the revenue of the park has dropped drastically because of insecurity in the North- East region ,and as a result the European nations and United States of America has banned its citizens from visiting the park.
“More than 90 percent of tourists that come to the park either for holiday or for research are from Europe ,and now they were not coming because of insecurity “he lamented.
He said the issue of security was a serious challenge which needs to be addressed urgently. He appealed to the police and the Army to increase patrols around the park.
“Our rangers that patrol the park need patrol vehicles ,weapons and therefore the state government should come to the aid of the park by donating patrol vehicles to ensure proper security surveillance in the park” he said
Mr Yohana explained that part of the mandate of the National park was to protect the wild life as well as the eco- system ,but there were cases of illegal mining, illegal logging of trees and illegal grazing which should be addressed to protect the eco system in the park
“ We have Chinese using locals to cut a particular tree which they take to china through the ports , and has been a major threat to the vegetation as well as the eco system in the park” he further stated
Our findings revealed that students from Nigerian universities, colleges of Education, colleges of agriculture as well as other research institutions, visit the park for practical purposes and research work.
The conservator while commenting on students coming for practicals, said another mandate of National park was to provide an avenue for science student as well as those in other fields to conduct research work and practicals in various fields.
According to him,the park has all the species of insects, wild life ,trees and fishes ,adding that two types of fish species and 7 species of Monkeys were found in the park by a team of researchers, that were never found elsewhere in the world.
He said why students from high institutions were coming for practical and research purposes was because the park’s mountains harbour populations of rare and endemic species.
He said students coming for practical purposes into the park were charged N500 accommodation fee per night. He therefore called on federal government to build more structures to accommodate the increasing number of students coming to the park.
The conservator of the park however commended Conservator General Ibrahim Musa Goni for doing very well to revive all the national parks in the country. He said it was under the new conservator General that the first female was appointed as a conservator of a national park.
Mr Saidu Yohana explained further that Gashaka- Gumti National park has the potential to generate huge revenue if facilities at the park are uplifted, adding that the park has a diverse ecosystem hardly found in any part of Africa.
A resident of the area, Malam Garba Yakubu told our correspondent at Goje village that the park was neglected by the federal government over the years.
He said some of the structures in the park were constructed when the park was a forest Reserve ,and since then not much was done to uplift the existing facilities.
He said a similar park in neigbouring Cameroon was better in terms of modern facilities and security ,adding that both local and foreign tourists were visiting those parks on daily basis.
Commenting, the Lamdo Gashaka, Alhaji Zubairu Hammangabdo said the park has a rich ecosystem hardly found in any part of Africa ,and if uplifted with more facilities the park would attract tourists from within and outside the country.
The Lamdo, a first class chief in Taraba state appealed to the Army headquarters to increase military surveillance in his domain to protect the people, adding that with insecurity in parts of the North- East region, criminal elements may likely try to use the forests and mountains in the area as their hiding place.