Bijilo Forest Park, Nature reserve in West Coast Division, Gambia

Bijilo Forest Park is a fenced 51.3-hectare woodland on the Atlantic coast just south of the Senegambia area of Kololi. A 4.5 km nature trail crosses closed-canopy forest with Borassus aethiopum palms, coastal scrubland and sand dunes, and a straight footpath near the beach, the ornithological path, serves birdwatchers. A small pond is kept as a watering hole, with signs, benches and a viewing point.

The woodland was established in 1950 for forestry use, but the small area proved unprofitable. The Gambian-German Forestry Project, working with the German Forest Service and GTZ, placed it under protection in 1982. It opened to visitors in 1991, and in 2017 clearing in the north took part of the park for building land.

Visitors call it Monkey Park because green monkeys, Temminck's red colobus and patas troops live in the woodland and are often fed peanuts sold by park staff, a practice the park is nominally trying to stop. The 4.5 km trail and the shorter ornithological path near the beach are used by Gambian school groups and European birdwatchers.

Wear sturdy shoes and bring water, as paths wind through damp forest sections that can be slippery, especially during the rainy season. Guides are available to help spot animals and explain the forest ecosystem as you walk.

The park's name in local use is Monkey Park, and staff still sell peanuts so visitors can feed the green monkeys, a practice the park is nominally trying to stop. The nocturnal Senegal bushbaby also lives here, alongside Gambian sun squirrels, African civets and brush-tailed porcupines.