Varela

Varela is a proposed national park on the far north-western coast of Guinea-Bissau, in the Sao Domingos sector of the Cacheu Region near the Senegal border.^[1] The 2018 United Nations List of Protected Areas, compiled from the July 2018 World Database on Protected Areas, lists it as a national park with Proposed status and an area of 86.04 km2.^[2] It is one of three national parks, with Dulombi and Boe, that Guinea-Bissau's protected-area institute planned to add to the terrestrial system.^[3] The nearby village of Varela is known for its beaches and pine forest, and receives few visitors.^[4]

Praia de Catao, one of Varela's beaches, is known for hippopotamuses.^[1]

Pine forest lies behind the beaches at Varela.^[4]

The Cacheu Region as a whole is a low-lying coastal region of plains interspersed with rias, with meandering rivers forming estuaries near the coast.^[5]

The Cacheu Region has a tropical climate with a dry season from December to May and a rainy season generally from May to November.^[5] FAO's AQUASTAT profile places north-western Guinea-Bissau in a maritime Guinean climate zone, with 1,500 to 1,877 mm of rain a year over about 112 days and a mean annual temperature of 26.6 degrees C.^[6]

The village of Varela, in the Sao Domingos sector, has 597 inhabitants, predominantly of the Felupe ethnic group.^[1] The Portuguese explorer Antonio Fernandes may have landed here between 1445 and 1447, and a sacred palm tree is revered by the local animist population.^[1]

Varela appears in the 2018 United Nations List with Proposed status and no year of designation.^[2] IBAP, the national institute for biodiversity and protected areas created in 2004, does not name Varela among the eight protected areas on its institutional presentation page.^[7] A 2018 terminal evaluation of a UNDP-GEF project describes Varela as part of IBAP's long-term plan for new terrestrial protected areas. The plan was to expand the terrestrial protected-area estate in phases, tied to growth in management capacity and funding, with the first phase limited to the Dulombi-Boe-Tchetche complex.^[3]

Varela's main draw is its beaches, described as among the best on mainland Guinea-Bissau, with pine forest behind the sand.^[4] The village has several named beaches, including Praia da Varela, Praia dos Pescadores, Praia de Niquin, Praia de Catao and Praia de Edjim.^[1] A small marine museum operates at the environmental station of a Portuguese NGO.^[1]

Varela lies about 50 km from Sao Domingos along a poorly maintained road; the trip takes at least two hours, and public transport runs from Sao Domingos.^[4] Lodging with a restaurant is available at an Italian-run guesthouse on the coast.^[4] The village also has an airfield with the ICAO code GGVR.^[1]

The 2018 UNDP-GEF terminal evaluation notes that most of the areas proposed for protection are inhabited by long-standing communities with traditional land uses, so the new categories and internal zoning were expected to lean toward sustainable use rather than strict conservation.^[3]