Akanda National Park is one of 13 National Parks in Gabon set up in 2002 by President Omar Bongo

Omar Bongo

El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba , born as Albert-Bernard Bongo, was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009....

 after a two year study by the DFC

DFC

DFC may refer to:*Dfc is one of four symbols for the subarctic climate under the Köppen climate classification system*David Fickling Comic *decorrelated fast cipher...

, WCS

Wildlife Conservation Society

The Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently manages some of wild places around the world, with over 500 field conservation projects in 60 countries, and 200 scientists on staff...

 and WWF. The 13 national park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

s are designed to represent the biodiversity of the country and encourage tourism. Akanda National Park is located in the northeast of the country, near Libreville

Libreville

Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.- History :...

, with coastline along the Mondah and Corisco bays.

The national park is composed chiefly of mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

 and tidal beach habitats. Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

 has only 2.5% of the total mangrove swamp in Africa, but Akanda together with the nearby Pongara National Park

Pongara National Park

Pongara National Park is a national park in Gabon near the capital Libreville along the Komo estuary and the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 929 km². - External links :*...

 comprise 25% of the total protected mangrove in the continent. They play an important role in the ecosystem and help stabilise the coastline around Libreville. Human encroachment from both building and crop planting are a threat to both parks.

Both of the bays are rich in marine life, and Corisco bay provides an important feeding area for turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

s. Akanda is internationally important as a site for migratory birds and is home to the largest populations of such birds in Gabon. It is an IUCN Critical Site.