Cross River Complex

Characterized by high species richness and endemism across many taxa, the Cross River Complex encompasses five protected areas : the Cross River National Park (Okwangwo & Oban Divisions), Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS), and the Mbe Mountains Community Forest, Takamanda National Park and Korup National Park in Cameroon. Proposed as a World Heritage Site, this transboundary landscape is an important stronghold for the critically endangered Cross River gorilla (Africa’s rarest gorilla), Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, drill, Preuss’s guenon, and other endangered species. The vegetation of this landscape is mostly lowland and sub-montane closed canopy forest. The topography is rugged, and elevations range from 150m in the southern lowlands in the Oban Division of Cross River National Park and Korup National Park to around 1,700m on the edge of the Obudu plateau in the northern limit of the Okwangwo Division of Cross River National Park.