Taï National Park
-created in 1972
-Biosphere Reserve since 1978
-World Heritage Site since 1982
-454.000ha of tropical rain forest

Taï National Park is situated in the western part of Côte d’Ivoire, close to the Liberian frontier. Classified as a protected area since 1926, the region was declared a National Park in 1972 by the Ivorian government. The game reserve « Reserve de Faune du N’Zo », bordering the National Park to the north, is under joint management with the Taï National Park. Today, both areas are still covered with evergreen rainforest.
Taï National Park is the largest primary rainforest under protection in the whole of West Africa. With a surface of 5340 square kilometres, the Taï region (Taï National Park and the « Reserve de Faune du N’Zo ») contains more than 50% of West Africa’s strictly protected rainforest area. Only an area as immense as Taï National Park has a chance to conserve all aspects of a complex ecosystem with all its genetic resources.

Today the Taï National Park
-includes more than 50% of West Africa’s rainforest area under strong protection
-represents a quarter of the remaining evergreen moist forest in Côte d´Ivoire

Giant arch of Noah?

Where the rainforest survived the glacial periods….

Rainforests are not vanishing for the first time: 18000 years ago, at the climax of the last glacial period, West Africa’s climate was cool and dry. At that time the Taï region was the most important refuge of West African rainforest. Ever since, the region has been West Africa’s top biodiversity hotspot, with more large mammal species than the whole of Latin America. In Taï National Park there are 12 mammal species with a distribution restricted to the West Guinean region. Almost no zoo in the world will be able to show you the Pygmy Hippo, Jentink’s duiker or the zebra duiker.

Where today the rainforest is protected on the long term…

No entry for logging companies: The Taï National Park, with an area of 4540 km², is the largest West African rainforest under strong protection. In the former most important country in Africa for timber export, this National Park is the last chance of survival for…
… the most intelligent chimpanzees in the world, who use stone and wooden tools to crack five species of nuts and hunt Colobus monkeys cooperatively,
… 1300 plant species, including traditional medicinal plants active against hepatitis and malaria,
… the forest elephants, the little brothers of the savannah elephants.