Waza National Park - Geography

Geography

The park is bounded by the town of Waza to its west, the border with Nigeria, and Chad is only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away. The seasonally-flooded "Yaéré" floodplain marks the east and north-east, and the Maroua–Kousséri road is to the west.

The park’s habitat is mainly in the “Chad depression” with average elevation in the range of a 300–320 metres (980–1,050 ft), thought the highest ground goes up to 500 metres (1,600 ft) near Waza village. The topography of the park, however, is generally flat. Sand dunes in the western area of the park denote past desert conditions. The Chad depression was originally covered by Lake Chad. The land classification consists of terrestrial landscapes to the extent of 88%, and the park has 7% shrub land and 5% grassland.

The climate is mostly semi-arid as the average annual precipitation is only 700 millimetres (28 in) and erratic in its incidence. The rainy months are June to October and the dry season is from November to May. The dry season lasts from October to May. Mean annual temperature is 28 °C (82 °F). The coolest month is December recording a mean monthly minimum temperature of 16 °C (61 °F) and maximum of 33 °C (91 °F). In April, just prior to start of rainy season, the mean monthly minimum is 21 °C (70 °F) and maximum is 41 °C (106 °F).

Soil formations resulting from the erosion of the high mountains in the park primarily consist of tropical ferruginous soils in catenas, hydromorphic soils and vertisols. Heavy clays are the dominant soil type in the park.

With the above topographic, climatic and soil settings, the vegetation types which cover the park are categorized under five broad types of open combretaceous shrub savanna, anogeissus leiocarpus woodland, lannea humilis open grass savanna, acacia seyal tree savanna and Yaéré floodplains with perennial grasses. In the desert conditions, with no perennial streams flowing through the park area, there are no perennial grasses in the park. The water holes are created for animals. The combretaceous shrub savanna consist of Sclerocarya birrea tree savanna, Combretum and Terminalia shrubs and the doum palm Hyphaene thebaica. The Anogeissus leiocarpus woodland is in sandy soils with Mitragyna inermis in pockets near temporary water bodies. Lannea humilis are open grass savanna combined with short annual grasses. Patches of trees and stands of Mitragyna inermis are also reported from small islands near temporary water bodies. In this condition, vegetation reported are in the formations of compact clay. However, the area is very saline due to high evaporation. The fourth category of vegetation comprises Acacia seyal tree savanna growing in black clay soils which gets highly saturated during the rainy months; grasses in these conditions spread very slowly or may even dry up. The last type of vegetation is reported in the Yaéré flood plains, an important area to maintain perennial grasses in the park. The grasses reported are: Vetiveria nigritana, Oryza barthii, Echinochloa pyramidalis and Echinochloa stagnina and a few herbaceous legumes with Sesbania pachycarpa. However, in these conditions, where there are no trees, forest fires are common. A particular feature in the central and western parts of the park was that substantial areas were of annual grasses and herbs, interspersed by Acacia seyal shrublands. They were subject to seasonal flooding before the construction of the Maga dam.

The park is 120 kilometres (75 mi) to the north of Maroua and 135 kilometres (84 mi) off Kousseri, and has paved roads. The park is open to the public only from 15 November to 15 June and a guide is essential to see the wild life, in compliance with the rules of the park.