Abuko Nature Reserve

In 1967 a local Gambian man called Kalilu requested the then acting wildlife officer, Eddie Brewer (OBE), to shoot a leopard that had been killing their pigs which had been feeding there illegally. When he visited the spot with his daughter, Stella, they saw an amazing richness of Gambian wildlife and flora and realised the conservation importance of the stream running through Abuko. They made a request to the government to protect it which was promptly approved when it was officially declared a nature reserve in March 1968.
Abuko’s size was extended from 188 to 259 acres in 1978 and enclosed in a 2.5 metre fence with the help of the WWF. It is among six protected wildlife management parks and covers an area of 105 hectares (roughly 2 sq. km). The park is rectangular in shape with a surrounding narrow strip around its boundaries acting as an extra buffer zone. Later in its development 2,000 malina trees were planted to act as an extra barrier against encroachment by locals.

Today, Abuko is the Gambia’s most visited tourist attraction receiving approximately 33,000 visitors per year. One interesting fact is that it is the nearest tropical forest to Europe.