Forest and Wildlife Reserves in Order of First Protection, From Behali in 1917 to Garbhanga in 2022

Behali was first declared a reserved forest in 1917, making it the oldest protection on this path. It covers about 140 square kilometres of semi-evergreen forest in the Eastern Himalayan foothills of Assam, and it sits between Nameri and Kaziranga national parks as a migration corridor, especially for elephants.

Aouk Aoukale in the Central African Republic was established in 1939 and covers about 3,451 square kilometres in Vakaga prefecture. The Bahr Aouk River runs through it, and it is the second oldest protection on this path.

Mukura in northwest Rwanda was designated a reserve in 1951 at 30,000 hectares and now covers about 16 square kilometres. It once joined a continuous mountain forest running from Nyungwe to Volcanoes National Park and is now an isolated fragment, a clear case of how much protected forest can shrink.

Bakossi in Cameroon was created in 1956 and covers 5,517 square kilometres of the Bakossi Mountains. It later gained layers of protection inside it, including a Bakossi National Park created by decree in 2008, and it holds one of the healthiest remaining populations of the endangered drill.

N'zo in Ivory Coast was given its status in 1971 and is classed as IUCN Category IV. Together with the adjoining Tai National Park it holds nearly half of the country's chimpanzees, so a small faunal reserve carries an outsized share of the primate population.

Langtang, established in 1976, was Nepal's first Himalayan national park and its fourth protected area overall. It covers about 1,710 square kilometres, reaches Langtang Lirung at 7,245 metres and Gosainkunda Lake at 4,300 metres, and adjoins the Qomolangma preserve in Tibet.

Dibbeen in northwest Jordan was established in 2004 and is managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature. At about 8.5 square kilometres it protects pine oak forest described as one of the last of its kind in the Middle East, sheltering the Persian squirrel, grey wolves and striped hyenas.

Garbhanga, declared a wildlife sanctuary by Assam gazette notification on April 7, 2022, is the newest protection on this path. About 15 kilometres from Guwahati, its roughly 117 square kilometres act as a forest and catchment for the city, with recorded populations of hoolock gibbons and Malayan giant squirrels.