Participatory management project of the local sacred hippopotamus refuge in Woozi

Located in the town of Boussouma, (160 km south-east of Ouagadougou), the local sacred hippopotamus refuge of Woozi, (3,800 hectares), is home to a population of 154 individuals. With the extension of crop fields, the development of market gardening with unsuitable agricultural practices, (destruction of plant cover, bush fires, use of chemicals, etc.). This has led to a degradation of habitats and banks which resulted in the decrease of food resources of the hippos causing an increase in human / hippo conflicts.

The management of the refuge is not optimal, in particular due to a lack of organizational capacity of the management committee of the refuge, the poor consideration of the refuge in municipal planning and the lack of support measures that could encourage communities to become more involved in the protection of hippos.

Since 2015, in particular with the support of Italian cooperation, the NGO Bissakoupou has started supporting the refuge through actions to restore degraded lands and develop forest resources. All these initiatives had the merit of supporting the implementation of the development plan for the refuge, but did not, however, take into account aspects relating to the protection of the banks, the improvement of grazing areas for hippos, the management of human / hippo conflicts and the local governance of the refuge.

This has resulted in the acceleration of the degradation of the banks, the exacerbation of human / hippopotamus conflicts, the degradation of the hippo grazing areas and the low valuation of the potential of the refuge. The objective of this project is to conserve hippos by strengthening the consolidation of local governance and improving the management efficiency of their habitat in order to mitigate Human / Hippopotamus conflicts.