Strengthening the anti-poaching fight in the PoNaSi ecological complex

The complex, called Pô-Nazinga-Sissili (PoNaSi, 355,700 ha), is located straddling the South Center and Center-West regions of Burkina Faso. This Complex is, (together with the WAP Complex in the East), one of the last major zones of Sudano-Sahelian forest-savanna ecosystems in the country reserved for wildlife and forests in Burkina Faso and constitutes the last ecological continuum of importance of the south and is home to a great diversity of flora, fish and fauna. It is home to emblematic species including one of the last elephant populations (Loxodona africana, VU) still substantial (+ -700), many buffaloes (Syncerus caffer, NT), and various antelopes such as cobs, cobs defassa, hartebeests, roan antelopes, ourébis, harnessed bushbuck, different species of duikers, … Nevertheless, the PoNaSi complex is greatly depleted as a whole and has lost animal diversity, in particular by the absence of large carnivores, (lions, leopards).

The majority of wildlife is concentrated in Nazinga, an area with wildlife facilities such as reservoirs, and where conservation efforts have been concentrated. The threats are intense and growing: subsistence poaching, (local), and commercial poaching, (cross-border), livestock grazing in protected areas, deforestation and carbonization, rapid advance of the agricultural front, uncontrolled bush fires, grabbing of cultivable land by private agricultural investors, (leading to uncontrolled land clearing and pollution of natural resources by the use of pesticides and herbicides), illegal mining activities. In addition, Burkina Faso is currently going through an unprecedented security crisis and protected areas are popular havens for criminals who can set up camps in remote areas and therefore benefit from unlimited access to the natural resources they can use to finance their actions.

The well-trained eco-guards, not only protect natural resources against illegal and unsustainable exploitation, but are also often the primary barrier force against robbers and terrorism in the region. The objective of this project is to consolidate the security and good governance of the PoNaSi complex and its periphery in order to lead to a significant reduction in insecurity, poaching and wildlife trafficking, and a better involvement of communities to conservation activities in these protected areas.