Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

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**Bwindi Impenetrable National Park**^a
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Uganda
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, x
Identification	#682
Region^b	Africa
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1994 18th Session
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Location:	Uganda
Coordinates:	1°04′50″S, 29°39′41″E
Area:	331 sq. kilometres
Established:	1991
Governing body:	Ugandan Wildlife Authority

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in southwestern Uganda in East Africa. The park is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and is situated along the Democratic Republic of Congo border next to the Virunga National Park and on the edge of the western Rift Valley. It comprises 331 square kilometers of jungle forests and contains both montane and lowland forest and is accessible only on foot. The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site.

The park is a sanctuary for colobus monkeys, chimpanzees and many birds. It is perhaps most notable for the 300 Bwindi gorillas, half the world's population of the critically endangered Mountain Gorillas. There are three habituated Mountain Gorilla groups, 'Mubare' and 'Katendegyere' and 'Rushegura'. The Mubare group is fully habituated.

The area around Buhoma is ideal for watching primates and birds, including hornbills and turacos. The forest is one of the richest ecosystems in Africa, providing habitat for some 120 species of mammals, 346 species of birds, 202 species of butterflies, 163 species of trees, 100 species of ferns, 27 species of frogs, chameleons, geckos and many endangered species. In particular the area shares in the high levels of endemisms of the Albertine Rift.