Full List of all National Parks in Nigeria:
This article will examine Nigeria’s complete list of national parks as of 2023. An area designated by the government of a nation for the preservation of the natural environment is known as a national park, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
National parks may be set aside for the benefit of the general public or due to their historical or scientific value. Our national parks in Nigeria were created primarily to protect wildlife, with a huge chunk of the natural environment remaining relatively untouched by human intervention.
Full List of all National Parks in Nigeria
The national parks in Nigeria are some of the best tourist destinations because they allow visitors to interact with nature at its most breathtaking while learning about various animal species and taking in all the sights that Mother Nature has in store for visitors and tourists at these locations.
You’re in the correct location if you want to learn everything there is to know about Nigeria’s national parks and game reserves, and this page will help guide you to the precise information you need.
Please be aware that the Nigeria National Park Service (NNPS), an organization charged with the duty of preserving, enhancing, protecting, and managing vegetation and wild animals in the national parks of Nigeria, is in charge of overseeing all National Parks and Game Reserves in the country.
A Conservator General oversees the NNPS, a parastatal of the federal government that reports to the federal Ministry of the Environment. Let’s go on to the information about all of Nigeria’s national parks today with that in mind.
Full List of all National Parks in Nigeria and Their Locations
Below is the list of all eight (8) national parks in Nigeria this 2023 and their locations in no particular order:
CHAD BASIN NATIONAL PARK
The Chad Basin National Park is situated in the historical Kanem-Borno Empire, which is present-day Borno and Yobe States, respectively, in the Northeastern geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
This ancient Empire, which was founded before the 10th century A.D., was one of the most well-known and politically well-organized in Africa at the time, comparable to the Songhai and Mali Empires. The Conventional Basin of Lake Chad, where Chad Basin National Park today is located, was where the ancient Borno Empire originally flourished.
With nations like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Libya, Morocco, and Spain, as well as other African nations, the Empire played a significant part in the development of Trans-Saharan trade, Arabic and Islamic learning, scholarship, and diplomatic ties.
Through the Borno Empire, Islam was initially introduced to what is now known as Northern Nigeria as a result of the Continental Trade in the 11th century A.D. The Rabeh’s Fort at Dikwa is one of the notable remnants of the old Borno Empire’s material culture that is still remarkable.
In the early 1900s, the Fort would eventually serve at various points as a military operational base for the French, German, and British Colonial Troops throughout their colonization of West Africa. The Fort at Dikwa was eventually designated a National Monument on April 23, 1959, one year before Nigeria gained independence from Great Britain.
Due to extensive interactions during the Trans-Saharan Trade between Arabs, Kanuris, and Shuwa-Arabs, among others, the local people surrounding the Park have a Arabic-Islamic culture.
The penetration of European colonizers into the former Borno Empire has had certain effects on the socioeconomic, political, and religious perspectives of the indigenous populace. A grandiose royal festival with horses, camels, a procession of princes and princesses dressed in regal attire, various war weapons, leadership, and military hierarchy, and martial music, with a likely origin in North Africa or even as far away as India, the Durbar is still very well-known today in the Borno and Yobe States.
The Chad Basin National Park, which encompasses a total geographical area of 2,258 square kilometers, is situated between the two States of Borno and Yobe as previously mentioned. The Park primarily consists of three sectors that are spread out from one another; the Borno State section Chingurmi-Duguma is one of them, while Yobe State’s Wetlands and Bulatura Oases are the other two.
CROSS RIVER NATIONAL PARK
As its name suggests, the Cross River National Park is situated in Cross River State, one of Nigeria’s nine Niger Delta States, which is a part of the South-South geopolitical zone. The park covers a total land area of around 4000 square kilometers, with montane mosaic vegetation on the Obudu Plateau and primary primary moist tropical rainforest environment in the north and center. It is the nearest Great Rainforest Reserve to the Mangrove Swamps on the coast of our country.
The Cross River National Park is a significant biological reserve that houses one of the oldest rainforests in Africa, together with the Korup National Park in the Republic of Cameroon. It is also one of the top 25 biodiversity hot places in the world, according to the United Nations. Oban and Okwagwo, two distinct, non-contiguous sections of the park, both have a diverse range of wildlife.
GESHAKA-GUMPTI NATIONAL PARK
The Gashaka-Gumti National Park is situated in the mountainous region of northeastern Nigeria, just to the north of the Mambilla Plateau and not far from the country’s border with Cameroon. Of Nigeria’s eight national parks, it is one of the biggest and most beautiful, and it is located between the states of Taraba and Adamawa.
Its neighbors in the Republic of Cameroon are the Faro and Tchabal Mbado National Parks. Depending on where you are within the park, the Geshaka-Gumpti National Park in Nigeria experiences a variety of beautiful weather.
These range from subtropical highland weather on the high plateau around Chappal wadi, Sabere, and Fillinga to tropical dry humid, tropical moist humid, and tropical humid in the lowlands. Some historic structures are housed within the Park, one of which being the pre-1918 German fort and garrison at the summit of Gashaka Hill, which served as a watchtower for the German military expedition that traveled through that region.
Still visible all over the Fort were the graves of some fallen German soldiers. Additionally, there is an English fort next to Gashaka hamlet that was constructed by the British Frontier Force when they defeated the Germans to take control of the Mambilla pass, a tiny passageway that once provided access into Cameroon via the Mambilla Plateau.
KAINJI LAKE NATIONAL PARK
The Borgu and Zugurma wildlife reserves were combined to form the Kainji Lake National Park, Nigeria’s first national park, in 1976. Decree 46 of 1979, the legislative document establishing the park, was promulgated in 1979. Acts 36 of 1991 and 46 of 1999, which are now known as Cap (act) 65 of 2004, reconstructed the park, and established new National Parks across the nation.
Kainji Lake National Park is situated in the northwest central region of Nigeria, between the states of Niger and Kwara, and approximately 500 kilometers from Lagos and 385 kilometers northeast of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
With a total area of 5340.82 square kilometers divided into two distinct non-contiguous sectors, namely the Borgu sector with an area of 3970.02 square kilometers and the Zugurma sector with an area of 1370.80 square kilometers, this park is a national park that is well protected. The typical annual rainfall ranges from 1100 to 1200mm, or roughly 200 days, and occurs from April to November and November to April, respectively, in the climate.
With rounded hills, broad pediments or plains separating them, and incised river channels sloping down towards the River Niger basin, the Kainji Lake Park is a typical inselberg landscape. Oli Menei, Doro, and Manyara Rivers are only a few of the Rivers in the Park.
KAMUKU NATIONAL PARK
Kaduna State’s Birnin Gwari is home to the Kamuku National Park. The Park has a total land area of roughly 1,120 square kilometers, and its vegetation is typical of the Savannah Woodland. Except a river, the River Mariga, the lush Kwiambana Game Reserve in Zamfara State, and the Kamuku National Park have the same ecology and border.
As a result, the Park represents one of the best blocks of Sudan-Guinea Savannah vegetation still present in the nation’s network of protected areas. The Park is a site that you should visit if you are a tourist or traveler because it is blessed with great biodiversity.
OKOMU NATIONAL PARK
The Okomu National Park is the smallest of Nigeria’s eight (8) National Parks and bears the motto “The pride of our natural heritage.” The Park, a rainforest ecosystem, was established in 1935 from the previous Okomu Forest Reserve. Many species of endangered plants and animals can now be found in the Park. It can be found in Edo State.
OLD OYO NATIONAL PARK
The name of the Old Oyo National Park comes from the remains of Oyo-Ile, the former political center of the Yoruba Empire. The Upper Ogun (1936) and Oyo-Ile (1941) Forest Reserves, two former Native Administrative Forest Reserves, make up the Park.
In 1952, these distinct ecosystems and historical artifacts were promoted to the status of Game Reserves, and now they are National Parks. Northern Oyo State is home to the Old Oyo National Park, which occupies 2,512 square kilometers of land. If you happen to visit this park, which is endowed with a plethora of species and biodiversity, you will be amazed by the incredible gifts that nature has given us.
YANKARI NATIONAL PARK
In Bauchi State, in the northeastern region of Nigeria, there is a sizable wildlife park called the Yankari National Park. This Park is home to a large number of naturally occurring warm water springs, as well as a vast variety of flora and animals, and it is situated on territory that covers a total area of roughly 2,244 square kilometers.
The Yankari National Park was first established in 1956 as a game reserve before being named Nigeria’s largest national park in 1991. It is one of the most well-known tourist destinations in Nigeria and is essential to the growth and promotion of ecotourism and tourism in the country.