Protecting West African elephants and large fauna
Home to over 70% of the remaining West African elephant population, the W-Arly-Pendjari conservation complex (WAP complex) spans the borders of Burkina Faso, Niger and Benin. It includes five protected areas, hunting concessions and community lands. It's also the last relatively intact Savannah system in the region.
The area faces a range of threats, from climate change to unsustainable hunting for bushmeat. Large fauna across West Africa have suffered huge declines in the last 40 years.
It has the largest population of the Critically Endangered West African lion (approximately 90% of the remaining 400 individuals), the last population of cheetah in the region and a significant percentage of the West African elephant population. The site is critically important for the conservation of many Sahelo-Sudanese species.
We’re working with partners in the field to protect and support the recovery of species including the West African elephant, West African wild dog, West African lion and the Northwest African cheetah.
What threats are fauna facing in the WAP complex?
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Increasing incursions from pastoralist herders and their livestock
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Agricultural encroachment
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Illegal logging
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Unsustainable levels of hunting for bushmeat
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Poaching for ivory and large carnivore body parts
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Climate change
These issues are exacerbated by a lack of capacity for law enforcement, monitoring and management as well as resurgence of security crises in the region.
Who we’re working with to protect West African elephants and fauna
This project is a collaboration between ZSL and African Park Networks (APN) and focuses on supporting the Beninese Government in protecting the parks that represent the core of the Benin side of the WAP complex: Pendjari (2,700 square kilometres) and W (5,633 square kilometres), as well as the neighbouring hunting zones.
The Pendjari National Park and its surrounding buffer zone is estimated to be home to almost 1930 elephants and is a crucial site for lions and cheetahs. Although W has lower densities of wildlife, it still represents an important area for elephants and other threatened species.
The alliance enables all zoos to pool their donations for greater impact.
What we’re doing to protect West African elephants and fauna
This project is working to address the poaching threat to elephants, big cats and other wildlife, as well as increase the capacity of park management to protect the Pendjari and W National Parks. ZSL is conducting a number of activities to achieve this, including:
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Surveying the parks in partnership with the IUCN Cat Specialist Group to assess lion, leopard and cheetah populations using camera traps.
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Surveying markets for wildlife products to determine the level of illegal trade in big cat products and other traded wildlife.
ZSL is also improving law enforcement, through:
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Strengthen the application of legal and regulatory texts applicable to wildlife in Benin and Niger (CITES and national laws).
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Strengthen technical and operational capacities of foresters and other law enforcement agents (customs and policemen) in basic and advanced law enforcement skills to combat Illegal Wildlife Trade.
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Improve the knowledge of magistrates and prosecutors on offenses and reprehensible acts in terms of poaching and wildlife trafficking.
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Supporting awareness and popularisation of legal and regulatory texts applicable to wildlife through its Information, Education and Communication strategy.
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Facilitating the collection of information on seizures and arrests from the Nigerien customs and gendarmes and analysing the data to identify supply chains and estimate the scale of illegal wildlife trade.
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Supporting effective wildlife patrols in W Niger through training in SMART, resources and logistical support to patrols and support to park infrastructure.
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Supporting communities on the borders of Pendjari and W Parks with nature-based solutions to establish livelihood opportunities which reduce dependence on unsustainable use of natural resources.
People involved
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Andrew Fowler (West and Central Africa Regional Manager)
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Alain Lushimba (WAP Landscape Manager)
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Yekini Chabi N'diaye (WAP Field Manager)
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Audrey Ipavec (North, West and Central Africa Regional Co-ordinator RCWP, ZSL)
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Sarah Durant (Project Leader, RWCP, ZSL, Acting Director of Science, Institute of Zoology)
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Grant Miller (Law Enforcement Advisor, ZSL)
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Raj Amin (Consultative support for SMART, ZSL)
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Phillipp Henschel (Lion Survey Co-ordinator, Panthera)
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Marine Drouilly (Leopard Specialist,, Panthera)
Partners and Sponsors
ME/LCD Niger (Ministère de l’Environnement, et de la Lutte contre la Desertification), DGEFC (Direction Generale des Eaux, Forets et Chasses (Benin, NT,(Nature Tropicale) Rangewide Conservation Programme for Cheetah and Wild Dog (RWCP), African Parks Network (APN), Wild Africa Conservation (WAC), US Department of State, Panthera, DEFRA Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, IUCN Cat specialist group
Urgent action to stop the devastation of critical species and habitats by helping people and wildlife live better together, is the only way to save the natural world we love and depend upon. That’s where ZSL comes in, and where you can play your part.