Lomami National Park

Lomami National Park (Parc National de Lomami) is a vast protected area in the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Central Africa. It lies in the central basin of the Lomami River, straddling the provinces of Tshopo and Maniema, roughly between the cities of Kisangani to the north and Kindu to the south. The park sits within the broader Tshuapa–Lomami–Lualaba (TL2) landscape, with the Lomami River acting as a key biogeographic barrier that has shaped unique wildlife evolution.

Covering approximately 8,879 km² (about 3,428 square miles), it ranks among the DRC’s larger national parks. The landscape consists primarily of dense lowland tropical rainforest, interspersed with seasonally flooded and riverine forests in the north, hill forests in the west, and patches of open-forest savanna (edaphic savannas) in the south. The Lomami River, over 300 meters wide in places, flows through or borders parts of the park before joining the Congo River. This remote, largely uninhabited wilderness features gently undulating plateaus at 400–700 meters elevation, with an equatorial climate of high rainfall (around 1,600 mm annually) and temperatures of 23–26°C.

Established on July 7, 2016, Lomami is the DRC’s ninth national park and the first created since 1992 (or in over 40 years, depending on the count). Its creation stemmed from explorations starting in 2007 by the Lukuru Foundation’s TL2 project, which revealed exceptional biodiversity. Local communities, including seven ethnic groups (Lengola, Mbole, Mituku, Langa, Tetela, Ngengele, and Arabisé) in about 100 villages in the buffer zone, participated through consultations, traditional tambiko ceremonies consulting ancestors, and agreements to limit hunting. The park was formally declared by the national government, with provincial protections starting earlier in 2013. It is managed by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), with co-management support from the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) since around 2021, including joint patrols and community programs.

The park stands out for its rich and often endemic biodiversity, protecting more of the DRC’s iconic Congo-specific species than any other protected area. Key endangered or notable wildlife includes:

• Bonobo (Pan paniscus) — with genetically distinct populations.
• Okapi (Okapia johnstoni).
• Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis).
• Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis), a monkey species discovered in 2007 and named after the Lomami region.
• Dryas monkey (Chlorocebus dryas).
• African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), though populations have declined due to poaching.
• Various primates such as Lomami red colobus, Tshuapa red colobus, and others.

It also supports giant pangolins, hippos, bushbuck, grey parrots, and diverse birdlife, including recent records like the Vermiculated Fishing Owl. The area continues to yield scientific discoveries, including new plants and potentially additional primate variants.

Lomami represents one of the Congo Basin’s last relatively intact wildernesses, offering critical habitat amid regional pressures. However, it faces ongoing challenges from commercial bushmeat hunting (driven by local subsistence and urban demand), poaching for ivory, and limited infrastructure in surrounding communities, which rely on agriculture, hunting, and fishing. Conservation efforts focus on patrols, community-based alternatives (like fish ponds), sustainable livelihood projects, and buffer-zone management to balance protection with local needs.

As a young national park in a remote setting, Lomami offers immense potential for eco-tourism, scientific research, and conservation. Activities could include guided forest walks, primate tracking, birding, and river-based exploration, though access remains challenging and infrastructure limited. It symbolizes community-supported conservation in the DRC, safeguarding irreplaceable biodiversity for future generations while highlighting the delicate balance between human livelihoods and wilderness preservation in the Congo Basin.