In the far south of Guinea-Bissau, almost touching the border with Guinea, one of the last great patches of West African rainforest survives: Cantanhez Forests National Park. Here, among giant kapok trees, lianas and palm groves, live the westernmost wild chimpanzees on the whole continent, alongside red and black-and-white colobus, guenons, baboons and — depending on the area and your luck — the odd forest elephant, buffalo and a birdlife that delights birdwatchers.
What makes Cantanhez unique is not just its wildlife but how it is conserved. Much of this forest survived because local communities consider it sacred, and today those same communities are at the heart of a community-based ecotourism model: local guides who know every trail and every chimpanzee group, a camp run by people from the park, and small-scale tourism designed so that protecting the forest also benefits those who live in it.
This guide tells you how to visit Cantanhez: how to reach the deep south of the country, how to organise the dawn chimpanzee trek, where to stay (the U'Anan camp in Jemberem is the classic base), what wildlife and landscapes to expect, and how to do it responsibly. It is a genuine adventure destination, free of crowds, for anyone who dreams of seeing wild chimpanzees roaming free in one of Africa's least-known and most valuable forests.
The Cantanhez forests are a remnant of the great rainforest that once covered much of Upper Guinea before centuries of logging and farming expansion. They were largely preserved because the Nalu, Balanta and Sosso peoples who live there protect certain blocks as sacred forests, linked to their beliefs and rituals. In the late 20th century, scientists and conservationists drew attention to the area's exceptional chimpanzee population and biodiversity, and in 2007 the Guinea-Bissau government created Cantanhez Forests National Park to protect it, backing community conservation and ecotourism. Its natural and human history is told on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The greenest corner of the country: the last moist forests of Upper Guinea, home to Africa's westernmost chimpanzee population, and the rapids of the Corubal River on the way inland.
Read the history of The south: rainforest and waterfalls →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Thousands of years ago, a broad belt of tropical rainforest covered much of West Africa, from Sierra Leone and Liberia to the south of what is now Guinea-Bissau: this is what biogeographers call the Upper Guinean forest. Over time, and above all through centuries of farming, logging and expanding human settlement, that forest shrank until only scattered fragments were left. Today it is one of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet, and also one of the richest in biodiversity.
The Cantanhez forests, in the far south of Guinea-Bissau, are one of those precious fragments. They mark the north-westernmost edge of the great Upper Guinean forest, the jungle's last breath before it gives way to savannah and mangroves further north. The forest is a mosaic of humid rainforest, with huge kapok trees (the 'poilão', a sacred tree in the region), lianas, palms and more than two hundred plant species, mixed with mangroves, lakes, rivers and palm groves. That variety of habitats in a fairly small area explains its extraordinary richness.
What stands out is that this forest has survived in a poor, densely farmed country. Much of the answer lies in the culture of the communities who live there: for peoples such as the Nalu and the Balanta, certain blocks of forest are sacred. They are home to spirits and the setting for rituals, so nobody may touch them. That traditional protection, older than any environmental law, is what allowed Cantanhez to reach the 21st century with its giant trees and its wildlife still standing.
The great treasure of Cantanhez is its chimpanzees. The park is home to a significant population of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), an endangered subspecies, and they are the westernmost chimpanzees on the whole African continent. Cantanhez quite literally marks the western edge of the range of our closest relatives. Seeing or hearing them in the wild, in their own forest, is one of the most thrilling wildlife experiences West Africa has to offer.
The Cantanhez chimpanzees have attracted huge scientific interest. Researchers have documented how they use tools (to crack open fruit or get at food, for example), their cultural behaviours and how they have adapted to a 'mosaic' landscape. There, forest, palm groves and farmland alternate, and the chimpanzees live alongside human communities, though not always without conflict. Because chimpanzees and people share the same land, Cantanhez is a unique laboratory for studying how great apes and rural communities coexist.
Alongside the chimpanzees, the forest is home to other primates, including red and black-and-white colobus monkeys, guenons and baboons. In some areas there are also very elusive forest elephants and buffalo. In all, more than a hundred species of mammals, birds and fish live here. This concentration of biodiversity, and above all a viable chimpanzee population at the western limit of its range, is what made Cantanhez a conservation priority, not just for Guinea-Bissau but internationally.
Cantanhez is not an empty wilderness. It is a living territory, home to communities from several ethnic groups (Nalu, Balanta, Sosso and others) who have spent centuries growing rice in the lowlands, harvesting palm fruit and living in close connection with the forest. Their presence is part of the landscape. Far from clashing with conservation, it has been one of its keys for generations, thanks to the institution of the sacred forests.
In the worldview of these peoples, certain blocks of forest are sacred spaces, linked to spirits, ancestors and initiation rites. Traditional rules as powerful as any law forbid cutting their trees or hunting in them. So, long before there was a national park, those taboos protected the most valuable corners of the forest, and with them the chimpanzees and the other wildlife that depended on that refuge. Conservation in Cantanhez has its roots in African spirituality.
That world, however, is under pressure. Population growth, the need for new farmland, cutting trees for firewood and timber, hunting and cash crops such as cashew (cajú) all threaten the balance. Chimpanzees sometimes raid crops, which leads to conflict with farmers. That is exactly the challenge for modern conservation: to strengthen and update traditional protection, giving communities economic reasons, as well as spiritual ones, to keep caring for the forest.
In the late 20th century, scientists, conservationists and international NGOs turned their attention to Cantanhez after confirming its exceptional biodiversity and, above all, its chimpanzee population. Studies, conservation projects and work with local communities got under way to slow deforestation and protect the wildlife. The area was first recognised as a protected area. Then, on 1 October 2007, the state of Guinea-Bissau upgraded it to the Parque Nacional de los Bosques de Cantanhez, covering about 1,057 km² and managed by IBAP.
The park was created to give the forest legal protection, but from the start it followed a different model from the 'fenced-off' parks that push people out. In Cantanhez, communities still live inside and around the park, and the idea is that conservation has to be done with them and for them. Hence the focus on community ecotourism: local guides trained to track chimpanzees, a camp run by people from the park (U'Anan, in Jemberem), and small-scale tourism whose income goes straight to the villages.
The idea behind it is simple and powerful: the forest and the chimpanzees should be worth more alive than dead. If responsible tourism, research and conservation projects create jobs and income, communities have a tangible reason to protect the forest instead of cutting it down. In a country with very scarce resources and chronic political instability, this community model is both the greatest strength of Cantanhez and its greatest challenge.
Today Cantanhez is both one of Guinea-Bissau's great natural treasures and one of its most authentic adventure destinations. You won't find luxury tourist facilities or crowds. What you will find is an ancient forest, a handful of guides who know the chimpanzees almost by name and a simple camp. There is also the chance of an experience still possible in very few places in the world: tracking wild great apes on foot, at dawn, in their own habitat.
The park's future depends on a delicate balance. The threats are real: deforestation, farming expansion (cashew above all), hunting, conflict between chimpanzees and farmers, and weak institutions in a country shaken by coups and political crises. But there are also reasons for hope. They include the strength of the traditional protection of the sacred forests, the commitment of local communities and international scientific interest. Ecotourism helps too, because when it is well managed it can turn conservation into development.
For travellers, visiting Cantanhez is about much more than seeing chimpanzees. With your presence and your money, you support a model that tries to show it is possible to protect nature and improve people's lives at the same time. On the western edge of the African rainforest, among giant kapok trees and chimpanzee calls, Cantanhez holds one of West Africa's last jungles and one of its greatest hopes for conservation.
