Travelling in Cote d'Ivoire

One of the great misconceptions about travel in general is that you need to visit South America for authentic jungle. And one of the great travel myths about Africa in particular is that, broadly speaking, the east and south are for wildlife, while the west is for culture. It can come as a surprise, then, to learn of a large-scale, well-established eco-venture like the Ivory Coast’s Tai National Park, a jungle of epic biodiversity which smashes both these myths at once.

Tai is no fledgling operation formed in the current eco-frenzy. Created in 1972 in western Ivory Coast, near the Liberian border, it was West Africa’s first national park, earning World Heritage status in 1982. During the climax of the most recent ice age, 18,000 years ago, the Tai region was the last refuge for West Africa’s rainforests. As a result, the area is now one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with more large mammal species than Latin America’s rainforests (including 12 endemics) and 1300 plant species.

Along with the neighbouring N’Zo Reserve, the Tai area covers a vast 5340km2, comprising half West Africa’s protected forest. A reserve this size is necessary to preserve the full genetic diversity of such a complex ecosystem, especially in the face of a voracious national logging industry. 50% of the Ivory Coast used to be forested; now the figure is only 7%.

Thanks to WWF and German donor support for Tai, which began in the 1980s, tourists from around the world are now able to visit this extraordinary rainforest, staying at the locally-run Touraco Ecotel on the park border. Built in traditional style and designed to minimise environmental impact, the 20-bed lodge has solar power, a wastewater treatment system and environmentally sound rubbish disposal practices.

As well as creating employment and a market for local enterprises, the lodge integrates the community into the conservation process, thereby increasing the prospects of its long-term success. Since it opened in 1999, several hundred guests have visited Tai each year; the park’s management plan aims for a carefully chosen target of 1500 annually.