| The park was established in 1932 and officially opened to the public in 1994. The 357km2 national park is comprised of mostly undisturbed virgin rainforest. Excellent walking tours (and a canopy walkway) through the forest provide the opportunity to see much of Ghana’s indigenous plant life, as well as rare butterflies, birds and game (that could include the extraordinary bongo and forest elephant). Highlights include:
Kakum National Park Visitor Centre: The Kakum National Park Visitor Centre (KNPVC), managed by Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust (GHCT) built with funding from USAID and technical support by Conservation International (Cl) is located on a 512-acre land adjacent to the Kakum National Park. The Centre has facilities that promote conservation education and awareness.
Rainforest Café: Kakum Rainforest Café encourages conservation efforts at the Park by supporting local farmers through the purchase of fresh produce while providing a relaxing location for visitors to enjoy a fine meal and refreshing drinks.
Hidden Connections: The "Hidden Connection" exhibit interprets the complexities which underlie tropical rainforest diversity, the interdependencies among species, and the numerous biological connections which make the rain forest a "web of life '. It also highlights the cultural connections that the people of southern Ghana have with the natural world that make them part of this "web". At least forty-five minutes should be planned for visitors to experience the exhibit as it prepares them to enter the rainforest and to notice more of the scents, sights and sounds unique to the forest environment while increasing levels of enjoyment and conservation education.
The Afafranto Campsite: This campsite is located 200 meters from the Kakum Visitors Centre. The Afafranto campsite is ideally positioned for visitors wanting an easily accessible forest camping experience.
Visitors who want to visit this site must bring along their own tents, mosquito nets, sleeping pads and/or cots for use at the campsite. It will soon be possible to rent them from the Visitor Centre.
Sun bird Trail: Visitors with a special interest in birds now have a new trail that is specially developed to incorporate three ecosystems: the rainforest, the secondary forest and a pond environment. Visitors can use this trail to search for more than 400 bird species found on the Kakum bird checklist. The departure times for bird watching can be specified when making a booking for the trails and guides.
Canopy Walkway: The Kakum Canopy Walkway, Africa's first and only rainforest walkway, is composed of 350 meters of suspended bridge and six tree platforms that reach the height of 30 meters above the forest floor. From the treetops, visitors experience a unique and spectacular view of the rainforest ecosystem and have the opportunity to see flora and fauna, which could never be viewed from the ground. Hundreds of species of butterflies and birds can be viewed from the Walkway early in the morning and if visitors are lucky, they may catch a glimpse of the Spot-nose, Campbell's and Columbus monkeys.
| Kakum Conservation Area Tree House |
| In 1992, the Kakum Conservation Area (KCA) was formed, consisting of the Kakum National Park and the nearby Assin Attandaso Resource Reserve.
The Kakum National Park is a fairly old national park, having been established in 1932 and used for the last fifty years for thee extraction of timber. It is located in Central Region of Ghana, about 20 kilometres north of Cape Coast. It covers 360 square kilometres of Ghana's rapidly dwindling rainforest.
The government of Ghana officially opened the park in 1994. USAID/Ghana provides institutional support to the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust to ensure the sustainability of Kakum National Park.
There are seven primate species including the Diana monkey, about 550 species of butterflies, 250 species of birds including five hornbill species, the Frazer-eagle owl, and the African grey and Senegal parrots, and about 100 species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians (forty species of larger mammals).
The reserve has a varied wildlife with some 40 species of mammals. Bird life is also varied; the 200 species known include 5 spectacular hornbill species, Frazer-eagle owl, African grey and Senegal parrots.
The tree house walk takes you from one of two starting places depending one how far you intend to hike (2 or 3 hours). The hike is guided by trained experts in the area and follows a trail through cocoa farms, bamboo forests, until you reach the Kakum forest where the hike turns to more of a jungle experience.
The tree house sleeps 8-10 depending on your level of comfort (subtract 2 spots for the guides). It is situated 40 feet above the forest floor and within sight of the tallest tree of the forest where elephants can sometimes be seen scrounging for fallen fruit.
| Coastal Ramsar Sites - Muni-Pomadze Ramsar Site |
The Muni-Pomadze Site encompasses an area of about 90-km2 comprising the water shed of the Muni Lagoon. However, the lagoon and flood plains is only 114ha. Eleven communities/settlements within the site fall under the Awutu-Efutu-Senya and Gomoa Districts.
Farming and fishing are the main vocation of the people. Each Fisherman's earning is estimated to be more than one million in 1994. The lagoon extends about 15 km inland. Winneba is attempting to encourage the growth of beach recreation |
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