Maiko

Maiko National Park, established in 1970, protects a vast tract of primary lowland equatorial rainforest in the eastern Congo basin, spanning parts of Maniema and North Kivu provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Covering approximately 10,830 square kilometres—making it one of the larger national parks in Africa—Maiko encompasses the upper Maiko River catchment and surrounding dense forest. The park is a critical refuge for three globally endangered large mammals: the okapi, the forest elephant, and the eastern lowland gorilla (Grauer's gorilla). Its extreme remoteness and the active armed conflict in the surrounding region have made systematic conservation management extremely difficult.