Hello to our esteemed reader’. We thank you for being with us and for following our weekly edition of Tourisphere. This week’s edition marks the final one for this year, but do read on more of our subsequent editions  in the new year.

In this edition, we are take you through to what Bijilo Forest Park has to offer. This piece of land is a small rainforest nature reserve located on a cliff edge on the beach right next to the Kololi, Senegambia strip, about 11 kilometres from Banjul in the Western Region of Kombo North. It is an ideal place for eco-tourists and birdwatchers staying in the nearby Kairaba  and Senegambia Beach Hotels, as it is just 10 minutes walk away.

The nature park is an old forest, which covers an area of 126 hectares open to tourists and the public in 1991. Today the park received around 23,000 visitors a year. Prior to this, there was heavy de-forestation for valuable rhun-palms and it’s resident green monkeys were persecuted by youngsters and stray canines. It is managed by the Gambia’s Forestry Department since 1962.

In The Gambia, it is recognized that tourism is of considerable importance to the country’s economy and to the lives of her people. It has the potential to bring jobs and livelihoods to Gambians and make The Gambia a better place to live in like any other tourist destination. It is also recognized that the safety and security of visitors and the community is important if tourism is to contribute to raising the living standards of communities in The Gambia. The Gambia has a rich cultural diversity with several different ethnic groups including the Mandinka (42% of the population), Fula (18%), Wolof (16%), Jola (10%), and Serahuli (9%) and her people are considered to be one of the major tourism assets.