Taï National Park is a 3,300-square-kilometre protected area in western Côte d’Ivoire, containing one of West Africa’s last remaining tracts of primary rainforest. Established as a forest reserve in 1926 and designated a national park in 1972, it lies between the Cavalla and Sassandra rivers near the Liberian border.
The park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 and recognised as a biosphere reserve in 1978, reflecting the diversity of its flora and fauna. Five mammal species within its boundaries appear on the Red List of Threatened Species: pygmy hippopotamus, olive colobus monkey, leopard, chimpanzee and Jentink’s duiker. The forest also functions as a natural reservoir for Ebola virus, a fact that has drawn attention from the World Health Organization given its proximity to Abidjan’s international airport, approximately 100 kilometres to the east. The park rises to 396 metres and is surrounded by a 200-square-kilometre buffer zone.
