The Kakum National Park, located in the Cape Coast hinterland, covers an area of 375 sq. Km and protects a large stretch of virgin rainforest in Ghana.
Originally intended as a forest reserve, in 1931 the Kakum area was not open to the public and, a part of it was used for timber and deforestation, but was threatening to irreparably deface this stretch of coastal rainforest.
Subsequently, the area of Kakum was declared protected and was joined to the contiguous Assin Attandaso Reserve, to form the wide Kakum Conservation Area.
The area of Kakum, at a later time, with the intervention and support of local communities, was declared a national park in 1992.
The deforestation of the '70s and' 80s, fortunately, has compromised, not irremediably, only partially the forest, that remains, even today, for the most part in pristine conditions; the predominant type of vegetation is the humid rainforest, both virgin and semi-deciduous, and characterized by high rainfall and high humidity, with an average of 90%.
The diversity of Kakum flora is such that the number of registered plant species exceeds 200 units per 1 square hectare.
The forest in the Kakum National Park is both primary and secondary, the difference being that the primary forest is pristine and virgin, while the secondary forest has been somehow "disturbed" by natural or human events and is recovering from these events.
Usually, the primary forest has a covering, or canopy, complete that makes little light filter down to the ground, the secondary forest does not have complete coverage but is characterized by smaller trees, and the light filters through to the soil, allowing the growth of numerous pioneer species.