Manovo-Gounda-St Floris National Park is one of the largest protected areas in Central Africa. Located in the northeastern part of the Central African Republic, near the borders with Chad and Sudan, it covers nearly 1.7 million hectares. It is the country’s largest savanna reserve.

Its geographical position, at the crossroads between Sahelian and Sudanian ecosystems, gives rise to a remarkable diversity of landscapes, ranging from open grasslands to wooded savannas, wetlands and gallery forests along the Manovo, Gounda and Koumbala rivers. Rocky outcrops and granite massifs further enrich this vast and complex natural environment.

Established in 1979, the park was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1988 due to its exceptional ecological value. It is home to a wide range of wildlife characteristic of Africa’s great savanna ecosystems. Historically, large populations of elephants, buffaloes, hippos, lions, leopards and cheetahs roamed the area. The park also once served as a refuge for the black rhinoceros, which has since disappeared locally. Birdlife is another major asset, with several hundred species recorded, including birds of prey and seasonal waterbirds attracted by the floodplains.

Despite this extraordinary natural wealth, Manovo-Gounda-St Floris has faced serious challenges for decades. Intense poaching, illegal resource exploitation, armed group activity and long-term insecurity have severely weakened its ecosystems. Wildlife numbers have declined sharply, and habitats have been progressively degraded. These threats led to the park being placed on the World Heritage in Danger list in 1997, highlighting the critical state of conservation of the values for which it was originally recognized.

In recent years, renewed conservation efforts have sought to slow this decline and protect what remains of this unique natural heritage. Initiatives aimed at strengthening monitoring, combating poaching and restoring sustainable management have been launched, often under difficult security and economic conditions.

Manovo-Gounda-St Floris remains both a powerful symbol of Central Africa’s ecological richness and a stark reminder of the pressures facing protected areas in fragile contexts. Preserving the park is essential not only for regional biodiversity, but also for the safeguarding of global natural heritage.