fbpx
Wikipedia

Mole National Park

January 01, 1970

Mole National Park, one of Ghana's seven national parks, is the country's largest wildlife refuge.[1][2] The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m, with a sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park. The park's entrance is reached through the nearby town of Larabanga.[1][3] It covers an area of about 4,577 square kilometers of fairly undisturbed Guinea savannah in the northern part of Ghana.[4] The Levi and Mole Rivers are ephemeral rivers flowing through the park, leaving behind only drinking holes during the long dry season.[5] This area of Ghana receives over 10 mm per year of rainfall. A long-term study has been done on Mole National Park to understand the impact of human hunters on the animals in the preserve.[6]

Mole National Park
An African bush elephant at the park
Location Ghana
Nearest cityLarabanga
Coordinates9°42′N 1°50′W / 9.700°N 1.833°W / 9.700; -1.833
Area4840 km2
Established1958

History edit

The park's lands were set aside as a wildlife refuge in 1958. In 1971, the small human population of the area was relocated and the lands were designated to a national park. The park has not seen major development as a tourist location since its original designation. The Mole National park as a protective area is underfunded and national and international concerns exist about poaching and sustainability in the park, but its protection of important resident antelope species has improved since its initial founding as a preserve.[7][8]

Since the resettlement of humans from the area, the park has become an important study area for scientists. This has allowed for some long-term studies, in particular, of relatively undisturbed sites compared to similar areas of densely populated equatorial West Africa. One study on the resident population of 800 elephants, for example, indicates that elephant damage to large trees varies with species. In Mole, elephants have a greater tendency to seriously injure economically important species such as Burkea africana, an important tropical hardwood, and Butyrospermum paradoxum, the source of shea butter, over the less important Terminalia spp.[6][9]

Recently, honey made from flowers in the Molé National Forest has become the region's first fair-trade commodity.[10] Nearby, villagers harvest the honey using traditional, non-invasive methods, and have partnered with a Utah-based company to sell the honey as a health and wellness supplement in the US.[11] The program was co-founded by Ashanti Chief Nana Kwasi Agyemang, who hopes to re-ignite local interest in the honey and eventually export it to other countries in Africa.[12]

Flora edit

 
Burkea africana is a member of the Legume Family that is common throughout Tropical Africa including Ghana's Mole National Park

Tree species of the park include Burkea africana, Isoberlinia doka, and Terminalia macroptera. The savanna grasses are somewhat low in diversity but known species include a spikesedge, Kyllinga echinata, an Aneilema, Aneilema setiferum var. pallidiciliatum, and two endemic members of the Asclepiadaceae subfamily, the vine Gongronema obscurum, and the edible geophyte, Raphionacme vignei.[9][13][14][15]

Trees:

Shrubs:

Herbaceous plants:

Grasslands:

Fauna edit

 
Old World monkeys are common in the park

The park is home to over 93 mammal species, and the large mammals including an elephant population, hippos, buffalo, and warthogs.[16][17] The park is considered a primary African preserve for antelope species including kob, defassa waterbuck, roan, hartebeest, oribi, the bushbuck, and two duikers, the red duiker and yellow-backed duiker.[7][16][17][18][19] Olive baboons, black-and-white colobus monkeys, the green vervet, and patas monkeys are the known species of monkeys resident in the park.[16] Of the 33 known species of reptiles slender-snouted and dwarf crocodile are found in the park.[1][16][17] Sightings of hyenas, lions and leopards are unusual, but these carnivores were once more common in the park.[6][17] Among the 344 listed bird species are the martial eagle, the white-headed and palm-nut vultures, saddle-billed storks, herons, egrets, the Abyssinian roller, the violet turaco, various shrikes and the red-throated bee-eater.[1]

Mole National Park, like other Ghanaian game preserves, is poorly funded for prevention of poaching. Nevertheless, the fauna of the park is guarded by professional rangers,[20] and the poachers are at real risk to be put under arrest. Poachers tend to live within 50 km of the boundaries of the park.[6] This distance of 50 km is the reported greatest distance hunters were willing to travel with poached game.[6] The remnant human population of the park was removed in 1961, leaving all game hunters outside the reserve, meaning that mammal populations on the edges of the park are impacted more by hunting than interior populations.

Tourism edit

After improvements to the roads leading to the park, the number of visitors to the park increased from 14,600 in 2014 to 17,800 in 2015. Depending on the year, about 20-40% of visitors are foreigners. Farouk Umaru Dubiure, the Park Manager, says, “though we received many visitors, the funds generated were very low because 70 percent of the visitors were Ghanaian students who pay little to visit the park. These students also visit the Park on the same day and return, compared to the foreigners who spend more days to view the Park well.” [21]

The new road was also blamed for facilitating illegal rosewood logging bound for China.[22]

Other tourist attractions around the Mole area include Bui National Park, Paga Crocodile Pond, Larabanga Mosque,Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows among others.[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Briggs, Philip J. (2007). Ghana, 4th (Bradt Travel Guide). Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-84162-205-7.
  2. ^ "Mole National Park, Northen Ghana". Mole National Park. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  3. ^ "Visit Ghana - Savanna Region". Visit Ghana. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  4. ^ "Mole National Park, Northen Ghana". Mole National Park. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  5. ^ Bowell, R. T.; R. K. Ansah (1993). "Trace Element Budget in an African Savannah Ecosystem". Biogeochemistry. 20 (2): 103–126. doi:10.1007/BF00004137. S2CID 97181325.
  6. ^ a b c d e Brashares, Justin S.; Peter Arcese, Moses K. Sam (2001). "Human demography and reserve size predict wildlife extinction in West Africa". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 268 (1484): 2473–2478. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1815. PMC 1088902. PMID 11747566.
  7. ^ a b East, R. (Rod); IUCN/SSC Antelope Specialist Group. (1999). African Antelope Database 1999. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN Species Survival Commission. ISBN 2-8317-0477-4.
  8. ^ Stuart, S. N.; Adams, Richard J.; Jenkins, Martin (1990). Biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and its Islands : Conservation, Management, and Sustainable Use (Occasional Papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. ISBN 2-8317-0021-3.
  9. ^ a b Sackey, I; WHG Hale (2008). "The Impact of Elephants on the Woody Vegetation of Mole National Park, Ghana". Journal of the Ghana Science Association. 10 (2): 28–38. doi:10.4314/jgsa.v10i2.18038.
  10. ^ "Who We Are - Aseda Raw Honey". Aseda Raw Honey. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  11. ^ McCord, Keith (7 October 2012). "Utah company's honey business changes lives in Africa". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  12. ^ "Made In Ghana, Sold In U.S.A: Honey Co-Op Provides Jobs In Africa". AFKInsider. 18 October 2013. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  13. ^ "Mole National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Centre".
  14. ^ Sobey, Douglas G. (1978). "Anogeissus Groves on Abandoned Village Sites in the Mole National Park, Ghana". Biotropica. 10 (2): 87–99. doi:10.2307/2388011. JSTOR 2388011.
  15. ^ Benzie, John A. H. (1986). "The Distribution, Abundance, and the Effects of Fire on Mound Building Termites (Trinervitermes and Cubitermes spp., Isoptera: Termitidae) in Northern Guinea Savanna West Africa". Oecologia. 70 (4): 559–567. doi:10.1007/BF00379904. PMID 28311499. S2CID 2597491.
  16. ^ a b c d Riley, William; Riley, Laura (2005). Nature's strongholds: the world's great wildlife reserves. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-12219-9.
  17. ^ a b c d Pamela K. Brodowsky and the National Wildlife Federation (2009). Destination Wildlife : An International Site-By-Site Guide to the Best Places to Experience Endangered, Rare, and Fascinating Animals and Their Habitat. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-399-53486-7.
  18. ^ East, R. (Rod); Mallon, D. P. (David P.); Kingswood, Steven Charles (1989). Antelopes : global survey and regional action plan. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. ISBN 2-8317-0016-7. compiled by R. East.
  19. ^ Brashares, Justin S.; Moses K. Sam (2005). "How much is enough? Estimating the minimum sampling required for effective monitoring of African reserves". Biodiversity and Conservation. 14 (11): 2709–2722. doi:10.1007/s10531-005-8404-z. S2CID 8392674.
  20. ^ "Photographs of Mole National Park, April 2016". Independent Travellers. independent-travellers.com. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  21. ^ "Mole Park attracts more tourists". 20 January 2016.
  22. ^ "How China's Appetite for Rosewood Fuels Illegal Logging in Ghana". 17 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Mole National Park, Northen Ghana". Mole National Park. Retrieved 2023-08-02.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mole National Park.
 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Mole National Park.

January 01, 1970
mole, national, park, ghana, seven, national, parks, country, largest, wildlife, refuge, park, located, savannah, region, ghana, savanna, riparian, ecosystems, elevation, with, sharp, escarpment, forming, southern, boundary, park, park, entrance, reached, thro. Mole National Park one of Ghana s seven national parks is the country s largest wildlife refuge 1 2 The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m with a sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park The park s entrance is reached through the nearby town of Larabanga 1 3 It covers an area of about 4 577 square kilometers of fairly undisturbed Guinea savannah in the northern part of Ghana 4 The Levi and Mole Rivers are ephemeral rivers flowing through the park leaving behind only drinking holes during the long dry season 5 This area of Ghana receives over 10 mm per year of rainfall A long term study has been done on Mole National Park to understand the impact of human hunters on the animals in the preserve 6 Mole National ParkAn African bush elephant at the parkLocation GhanaNearest cityLarabangaCoordinates9 42 N 1 50 W 9 700 N 1 833 W 9 700 1 833Area4840 km2Established1958 Contents 1 History 2 Flora 3 Fauna 4 Tourism 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory editThe park s lands were set aside as a wildlife refuge in 1958 In 1971 the small human population of the area was relocated and the lands were designated to a national park The park has not seen major development as a tourist location since its original designation The Mole National park as a protective area is underfunded and national and international concerns exist about poaching and sustainability in the park but its protection of important resident antelope species has improved since its initial founding as a preserve 7 8 Since the resettlement of humans from the area the park has become an important study area for scientists This has allowed for some long term studies in particular of relatively undisturbed sites compared to similar areas of densely populated equatorial West Africa One study on the resident population of 800 elephants for example indicates that elephant damage to large trees varies with species In Mole elephants have a greater tendency to seriously injure economically important species such as Burkea africana an important tropical hardwood and Butyrospermum paradoxum the source of shea butter over the less important Terminalia spp 6 9 Recently honey made from flowers in the Mole National Forest has become the region s first fair trade commodity 10 Nearby villagers harvest the honey using traditional non invasive methods and have partnered with a Utah based company to sell the honey as a health and wellness supplement in the US 11 The program was co founded by Ashanti Chief Nana Kwasi Agyemang who hopes to re ignite local interest in the honey and eventually export it to other countries in Africa 12 Flora edit nbsp Burkea africana is a member of the Legume Family that is common throughout Tropical Africa including Ghana s Mole National Park Tree species of the park include Burkea africana Isoberlinia doka and Terminalia macroptera The savanna grasses are somewhat low in diversity but known species include a spikesedge Kyllinga echinata an Aneilema Aneilema setiferum var pallidiciliatum and two endemic members of the Asclepiadaceae subfamily the vine Gongronema obscurum and the edible geophyte Raphionacme vignei 9 13 14 15 Trees Adansonia digitata Afzelia africana Anogeissus leiocarpus Afraegle paniculata Burkea africana Butyrospermum paradoxum Cassia sieberana Celastrus senegalensis Combretum ghasalense Detarium microcarpum Grewia lasiodiscus Grewia mollis Lannea acida Maytenus senegalensis Piliostigma thonningii Pterocarpus erinaceus Sterculia setigera Tamarindus indica Terminalia spp including T avicennioides Ximenia americana Shrubs Diospyros mespiliformis Feretia apodanthera Flueggea virosa Tinnsea spp Urginea spp Herbaceous plants Abutilon ramosum Aneilema umbrosum Atylosia scarabaeoides Blepharis maderaspatensis Desmodium velutinum Mariscus alternifolius Ruellia Sida urens Triumfetta pentandra Wissadula amplissima Grasslands Andropogon spp including Andropogon gayanus var squamulatus a tall grass Brachiaria spp Loudetiopsis kerstingii Sporobolus pyramidalis only in protected areas Setaria barbata only in protected areas Fauna edit nbsp Old World monkeys are common in the park The park is home to over 93 mammal species and the large mammals including an elephant population hippos buffalo and warthogs 16 17 The park is considered a primary African preserve for antelope species including kob defassa waterbuck roan hartebeest oribi the bushbuck and two duikers the red duiker and yellow backed duiker 7 16 17 18 19 Olive baboons black and white colobus monkeys the green vervet and patas monkeys are the known species of monkeys resident in the park 16 Of the 33 known species of reptiles slender snouted and dwarf crocodile are found in the park 1 16 17 Sightings of hyenas lions and leopards are unusual but these carnivores were once more common in the park 6 17 Among the 344 listed bird species are the martial eagle the white headed and palm nut vultures saddle billed storks herons egrets the Abyssinian roller the violet turaco various shrikes and the red throated bee eater 1 Mole National Park like other Ghanaian game preserves is poorly funded for prevention of poaching Nevertheless the fauna of the park is guarded by professional rangers 20 and the poachers are at real risk to be put under arrest Poachers tend to live within 50 km of the boundaries of the park 6 This distance of 50 km is the reported greatest distance hunters were willing to travel with poached game 6 The remnant human population of the park was removed in 1961 leaving all game hunters outside the reserve meaning that mammal populations on the edges of the park are impacted more by hunting than interior populations Tourism editAfter improvements to the roads leading to the park the number of visitors to the park increased from 14 600 in 2014 to 17 800 in 2015 Depending on the year about 20 40 of visitors are foreigners Farouk Umaru Dubiure the Park Manager says though we received many visitors the funds generated were very low because 70 percent of the visitors were Ghanaian students who pay little to visit the park These students also visit the Park on the same day and return compared to the foreigners who spend more days to view the Park well 21 The new road was also blamed for facilitating illegal rosewood logging bound for China 22 Other tourist attractions around the Mole area include Bui National Park Paga Crocodile Pond Larabanga Mosque Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows among others 23 See also editWildlife of Ghana West AfricaReferences edit a b c d Briggs Philip J 2007 Ghana 4th Bradt Travel Guide Bradt Travel Guides ISBN 978 1 84162 205 7 Mole National Park Northen Ghana Mole National Park Retrieved 2023 08 02 Visit Ghana Savanna Region Visit Ghana Retrieved 2023 03 11 Mole National Park Northen Ghana Mole National Park Retrieved 2023 08 02 Bowell R T R K Ansah 1993 Trace Element Budget in an African Savannah Ecosystem Biogeochemistry 20 2 103 126 doi 10 1007 BF00004137 S2CID 97181325 a b c d e Brashares Justin S Peter Arcese Moses K Sam 2001 Human demography and reserve size predict wildlife extinction in West Africa Proceedings of the Royal Society B 268 1484 2473 2478 doi 10 1098 rspb 2001 1815 PMC 1088902 PMID 11747566 a b East R Rod IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group 1999 African Antelope Database 1999 Gland Switzerland IUCN Species Survival Commission ISBN 2 8317 0477 4 Stuart S N Adams Richard J Jenkins Martin 1990 Biodiversity in Sub Saharan Africa and its Islands Conservation Management and Sustainable Use Occasional Papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Gland Switzerland IUCN ISBN 2 8317 0021 3 a b Sackey I WHG Hale 2008 The Impact of Elephants on the Woody Vegetation of Mole National Park Ghana Journal of the Ghana Science Association 10 2 28 38 doi 10 4314 jgsa v10i2 18038 Who We Are Aseda Raw Honey Aseda Raw Honey Retrieved 2016 02 29 McCord Keith 7 October 2012 Utah company s honey business changes lives in Africa DeseretNews com Retrieved 2016 02 29 Made In Ghana Sold In U S A Honey Co Op Provides Jobs In Africa AFKInsider 18 October 2013 Retrieved 2016 02 29 Mole National Park UNESCO World Heritage Centre Sobey Douglas G 1978 Anogeissus Groves on Abandoned Village Sites in the Mole National Park Ghana Biotropica 10 2 87 99 doi 10 2307 2388011 JSTOR 2388011 Benzie John A H 1986 The Distribution Abundance and the Effects of Fire on Mound Building Termites Trinervitermes and Cubitermes spp Isoptera Termitidae in Northern Guinea Savanna West Africa Oecologia 70 4 559 567 doi 10 1007 BF00379904 PMID 28311499 S2CID 2597491 a b c d Riley William Riley Laura 2005 Nature s strongholds the world s great wildlife reserves Princeton N J Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 12219 9 a b c d Pamela K Brodowsky and the National Wildlife Federation 2009 Destination Wildlife An International Site By Site Guide to the Best Places to Experience Endangered Rare and Fascinating Animals and Their Habitat New York Penguin ISBN 978 0 399 53486 7 East R Rod Mallon D P David P Kingswood Steven Charles 1989 Antelopes global survey and regional action plan Gland Switzerland International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ISBN 2 8317 0016 7 compiled by R East Brashares Justin S Moses K Sam 2005 How much is enough Estimating the minimum sampling required for effective monitoring of African reserves Biodiversity and Conservation 14 11 2709 2722 doi 10 1007 s10531 005 8404 z S2CID 8392674 Photographs of Mole National Park April 2016 Independent Travellers independent travellers com Retrieved July 14 2017 Mole Park attracts more tourists 20 January 2016 How China s Appetite for Rosewood Fuels Illegal Logging in Ghana 17 December 2022 Mole National Park Northen Ghana Mole National Park Retrieved 2023 08 02 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mole National Park nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Mole National Park Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mole National Park amp oldid 1207017314, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.