Badingilo National Park

Badingilo National Park in South Sudan is an integral component of a larger 200,000 km2 ecosystem that stretches east through the Jonglei corridor to Boma National Park and north to the Sudd, an inland delta bordering the White Nile, one of two primary tributaries of the Nile River. This area contains one of the largest land mammal migration in Africa, where each year hundreds of thousands of white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, tiang and reedbuck merge in Badingilo in the wet season for breeding before migrating north and east to towards the Sudd and Boma National Park and across the border to Gambella National Park in Ethiopia.

Badingilo spans 8,935 km2 and was established in 1986 initially for the conservation of black rhino, which today is locally extinct, and was once renowned for its richness of large mammals. Decades of instability and ethnic conflict have severely impacted the lives of local people in and around Badingilo and other protected areas in South Sudan, resulting in significant pressure on the country’s wildlife and habitats. In order to ensure the long-term ecological, social, and economic sustainability of this globally important park, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan signed a 10-year agreement with African Parks on 25 August, 2022. The partnership includes the wildlife corridors and proposed extension zones in the broader landscape – an area of well over three million hectares. These national resources are the lifeblood of the White Nile ecosystem and provide sustenance and livelihoods for millions of people.

Badingilo Highlights

• Together with Boma, Badingilo supports part of one of the largest land-mammal migrations in Africa, where hundreds of thousands of white-eared kob, Mongalla gazelle, tiang, and bohor reedbuck utilise the parks.
• Badingilo-Boma is a proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site and is an Important Bird Area (IBA).
• Badingilo and Boma support the critically endangered Nubian giraffe (a subspecies of northern giraffe), endangered northern lion, and critically endangered north-east African cheetah.
• A significant number of people live on Badingilo’s boundary, comprising different ethnic groups, including the Dinka, Mundari, Pari, Lopit, Bari, Lokoya, Murle and others. Each has distinct traditions, culture, and livelihood activities.

Partners

On 25 August 2022, African Parks signed a 10-year management agreement with the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism to restore and develop Badingilo and Boma national parks, with the aim of these becoming one of the leading wildlife sanctuaries in South Sudan.

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