Garamba National Park

Garamba National Park, established in 1938, is a World Heritage site located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The park’s location between the Guinean and Sudanese biogeography realms makes the region particularly interesting in terms of vegetation and plant life. The Garamba National Park boasts a larger variety of plants and animals than any other country in Africa. One reason for the large variety is the diversity of the climates and the ecosystem. Garamba National Park is home to tropical and deciduous forests, savannahs, swamps, mangrove as well as whole range of rivers, mountains, volcanoes and lakes. The park covers three different biomes: gallery forest with forest clumps and marshland, aquatic and semi-aquatic, and savannahs. The savannahs have an amazing range of dense woodland to nearly treeless grassland. The center of the park is a long grass savannah which covers the majority of the park. (McGinley, 2008)
Combretum dominates the savannah woodland, along with Terminalia mollis. There are many dormant species in the woodlands sections such as Hymenocardia acida, Bauhinia thonningii, Acacia and Bridelia. The vegetation in the gallery forests is equally interesting and includes Erythrophleum suaveolens, Chlorophora excels, Irvingia smithii and Klainedoxa. The north eastern part of the park is partially Sudanian woodland and is dominated by Isoberlinia doka with some scattered Uapaca somon. Cyperus papyrus and Mitragyna rubrostipulacea will be found dominating the marshlands. (McGinley, 2008)
The long grass savannah is mostly dominated by Loudetia arundinacea along with various Hyparrhenia species. In September these can grow to a height of 2m, but the tallest species, Urelytrum giganteum can grow to a height of 5m. The long grass savannah section also contains scattered trees, typically Kigelia Africana and Vitex donana. The park boasts over 1,000 vascular plant species and of these approximately 5% are endemic, meaning they are not naturally

References: United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (Content Partner); Mark McGinley (Topic Editor). 2008. "Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth October 26, 2007; Last revised August 22, 2008; Retrieved January 19, 2009]. Pedersen, T (2008). Garamba National Park. Retrieved February 2, 2009, from Garamba National Park Web site: http://www.tommy777.addr.com/Garamba.htm Wikipedia, Garamba National Park. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garamba Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, (2009, January 6). Garamba National Park under attack by LRA. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from Save the Elephants Web site: http://www.savetheelephants.org/news-reader/items/garamba-national-park-under-attack-by-lra-40democratic-republic-.html UNSESCO, Biodiversity Conservation in Regions of Armed Conflict: . Retrieved February 1, 2009, from UNSESCO Web site: http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/83/