Sangha Trinational


World Heritage Identification Number: 1380

World Heritage since: 2012

Category: Natural Heritage

Transboundary Heritage: Yes

Endangered Heritage: No

Country: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo

Continent: NA

UNESCO World Region: Africa

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Sangha Trinational: A Biodiverse Haven in the Heart of Central Africa

The Sangha Trinational, a vast expanse of pristine rainforest straddling the borders of Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), and the Republic of Congo, stands as a testament to the remarkable biodiversity and unique biological communities found within the humid tropical forests of Central Africa. This tri-national conservation area, covering approximately 750,000 hectares, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 due to its exceptional biodiversity and the preservation of ecological and evolutionary processes on a grand scale.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Situated in the north-western Congo Basin, where Cameroon, Central African Republic and Congo meet, the site encompasses three contiguous national parks totalling around 750,000 ha. Much of the site is unaffected by human activity and features a wide range of humid tropical forest ecosystems with rich flora and fauna, including Nile crocodiles and goliath tigerfish, a large predator. Forest clearings support herbaceous species and Sangha is home to considerable populations of forest elephants, critically endangered western lowland gorilla, and endangered chimpanzee. The site’s environment has preserved the continuation of ecological and evolutionary processes on a huge scale and great biodiversity, including many endangered animal species.

Encyclopedia Record: Sangha Trinational

Sangha Trinational is a forest divided between the nations of Central African Republic, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville. It was added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 because of its outstanding biodiversity and unique biological communities. The site includes 3 contiguous national parks within the humid tropical forests of Central Africa: Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Congo, Lobéké National Park in Cameroon, and Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in Central African Republic. The large size of the site and the relatively limited amount of deforestation within the three parks has allowed populations of vulnerable species such as African forest elephants, gorillas, sitatunga, and chimpanzees to thrive. In addition, populations of critically endangered plant species such as Mukulungu are protected within the site's borders.

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Additional Site Details

Area: 746,309 hectares

UNESCO Criteria: (ix) — Outstanding example representing ecological and biological processes
(x) — Contains most important habitats for biodiversity

Coordinates: 2.6094444444 , 16.5541666667

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Image of Sangha Trinational

© Thomas Breuer, CC BY 2.5 Resized from original.

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Nearby World Heritage Sites

Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua
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Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda
660 km — Gabon
Salonga National Park
712 km — Democratic Republic of the Congo
Last updated: January 18, 2026

Portions of the page Sangha Trinational are based on data from UNESCO — World Heritage List Dataset and on text from the Wikipedia article Sangha Trinational, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes made. Additional original content by World Heritage Explorer (WHE), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. WHE is not affiliated with UNESCO or the World Heritage Committee. Legal Notice. Privacy Policy.

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