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São Tomé und Príncipe - online guide 

Natural Reserve Obô 

Protected areas in São Tomé and Príncipe 

The Natural Park "Obô" of São Tomé and Príncipe was created through the Law 6/2006 with a view to contributing to the protection of forest areas around Pico de São Tomé (19,500 ha) and its representative ecosystems (forest, coastal and marine). 

The parc area presents a discontinuous territory, covering 3 distinct zones: 

  1. • a central massif, which is currently recognized as a Natural Park by the majority of the visitors, 
  2. • the Malanza Zone, in the southern part of S. Tomé, 
  3. • the Praia das Conchas and Lagoa Azul area

The Obô de S. Tomé  forst reserve has no permanent human settlements, due to its topography, high rainfall, difficult access and the soil's unsuitability for agricultural activities in general. These factors have ensured the absence of major negative impacts by human action, although hunting, illegal felling of trees, extracting sand from beaches, planting palm for wine and other human activities are threatening the park natural environment .