The dense rainforest is rich in plant and animal species including a high population of primates, some endemic to the reserve.

[2] However, the primate population is under threat due to growing demand for bushmeat coupled with lack of enforcement of the ban on hunting in the reserve.

[3] The Gran Caldera de Luba Crater Scientific Reserve is in the island of Bioko, which is part of the small country of Equatorial Guinea.

Until recently a poor country, exploitation of large offshore reserves of oil and gas has dramatically increased the gross domestic product.

[5] It is part of the Cameroon line, a string of volcano-capped swells that extends for almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from the island of Pagalu in the southwest through to Oku on the mainland in the northeast.

[5] The landscape is dramatic, including waterfalls cascading down the mountain slopes and black sand beaches along the shores.

[8] Temperatures in the lower regions range from 17 °C (63 °F) to 34 °C (93 °F)[9] The forests in the reserve have been largely untouched, particularly on the wetter southern slopes of the mountain.

[11] The Gran Caldera de Luba has much the highest density of fauna on the island due to its inaccessibility to hunters, who must walk for two days to reach the crater.

Larger hunted species such as black-casqued wattled hornbill and hadada ibis are only found in this part of Bioko.

This was followed in 1996 and 1997 by studies of critically important areas for conservation of biological diversity involving the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Playa Moaba is also a site for ecotourism operated by EG Expeditions, a joint endeavor by BBPP and Magno Suites, a luxury hotel in the city of Malabo.

A Spanish expedition in 2007 from the Technical University of Madrid used ropes to climb down the near-vertical one-kilometer high walls of the crater.

[17] The villagers of San Antonio de Ureca in the south of the reserve grow bananas, breadfruit, pineapple and sugar cane.

Arcadia University's Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program has provided income for about half of the adult population of the village, employed as forest guards.

[8] In the early 1980s a market for commercial bushmeat developed in Malabo, the capital city on the north coast of the island.

Offshore oil exploration has fed money into the economy, increasing the number of people who can afford bushmeat.