A veritable hydraulic reservoir and "green lung" oxygenating the heart of the sprawling city, the Banco National Park deploys its 3,474 hectares of tropical forest between the urban areas of the communes of Yopougon in the south-west, Attécoubé in the south, Adjamé in the east and Abobo in the north-east. Some 20,000 visitors a year come to hike in this national park. The park owes its name to the river that rises here, a simplification of the ebrié term "Gbangbo" which, according to legend, originally designated a fresh water genius familiar with the area and, by extension, the refreshing and pure spring from which the Banco springs, with waters reputed to be "holy". This reputation persists, since despite the pollution, the watercourse still hosts religious and mystical ceremonies (baptisms, purification or healing sessions...). So, with a little luck, you may see, not far from the northern entrance to the park, the local village women performing the so-called "genie dance" before entering a trance to the wild sound of the tom-toms.Environmental issues. The Banco National Park is a conservatory of the biological diversity of a type of forest that has become rare and the official showcase of a green space of inestimable richness. It is managed by the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR), which has mandated the NGO Vision Verte for all matters relating to ticketing, visits and actions in favour of the environment. Among the actors working to preserve the park are the WCF (Wild Chimpanzee Foundation), Afrique Nature, Environnement Saint-Santé pour Tous, an Ivorian NGO that carries out public education, ecotourism promotion and statistical management activities. The park is now threatened by the galloping urbanization of the city. All the more so as its role as a "green lung" makes it a precious tool for the city of Abidjan: the park alone fixes 104,000 tonnes of dust each year and releases 68,000 tonnes of oxygen into the air. In addition, its underground water table, which regenerates naturally, supplies a large part of the economic capital: 29 water boreholes near the park supply 40% of the city with water.The park today. For a long time, Banco National Park had a bad reputation for insecurity, mainly due to its proximity to the Abidjan prison, whose escapees reportedly found refuge in the forest, which has become a de facto den of drug addicts, bandits and rebel fighters. A situation amplified by rumours and for some years now totally over, the OIPR (Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves) having reinforced the security of the site by setting up surveillance patrols, and the army and the gendarmerie using the Banco forest to carry out their military exercises there. Today, the only danger incurred is getting lost in the wooded alleys of this vast green enclave.Life inside the park. There is, however, non-animal life inside this quivering island of greenery. Beginning with the laundry washers (fanicos) officiating near the entrance to the park - which you're likely to see in action between 10:30 a.m. and noon - followed closely in the riverbed by the animist villagers who come here to perform their ritual dances and ablutions. A little further on the dirt roads will lead you to the arboretum of Reste and to the former second home from where he supervised the elaboration of his "Tropical Boulogne". Reconverted into an educational ecomuseum with its exhibition rooms and library, and entirely rehabilitated by the SIFCA group (the first private group in Ivory Coast), this house of nature aims to raise awareness of environmental protection in a fun and recreational perspective (it is in fact mainly intended for school children who come there on collective visits). Moreover, although it now trains only a limited number of students, the Forestry School, a few steps away, is still active, since about fifty students are still welcomed there every year to receive training in agroforestry, animal husbandry, reforestation, etc. Its dormitories and refectory cohabit in harmony with the 250 or so souls of the riverside village of Anonkoua-Kouté, in the peaceful privacy of the wooded enclave. On school group days and weekends, the small ghostly restaurant facing the fish farm regains some of its old-fashioned liveliness. A lady prepares the kitchen there for groups of occasional visitors and the place should be renovated soon by Universelle Industries. In the meantime, it survives thanks to donations from SIFCA and the embassies of Korea and Japan. The Banco forest frequently hosts sports, ecological, cultural or tourist events such as mountain bike races, collective trekking, tree planting, etc.

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