W National Park (WNP), named after the shape of the Niger River, is connected with Pendjari National Park through hunting concessions, and together the parks form a significant portion of the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex, a globally significant 26,361 km² transboundary landscape representing west Africa’s largest intact wild ecosystem. Recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this remote region has suffered from rising militant extremism and a historical lack of management, as well as of human and financial resources. Acknowledging progress made by African Parks in Pendjari National Park since 2017, the Benin Government, together with West African Savannah Foundation (FSOA), coordinated a Priority Intervention Plan (PIP) with African Parks in September 2019 to provide an urgently needed wildlife refuge for which W National Park was intended. In June 2020, the Benin Government committed to W’s long-term protection, concluding a full management agreement with African Parks.
W National Park is a transboundary protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site covering three countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In June 2020, the Benin portion of the park, spanning more than 8,000 km2, officially came under African Parks’ management. W National Park is contiguous with Pendjari National Park, which the Benin Government invited African Parks to manage in 2017. Together, the parks form a significant portion of the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex, a globally significant transboundary landscape representing the largest intact wild ecosystem in West Africa.
Characterised by wooded savannah and gallery forests in the south and open savannah with thorny scrub in the north, W is drained by two large river systems, the Mékrou and Alibori, which form part of the Niger River basin. The last viable populations of several species in the region including the Northwest African cheetah, are found in the WAP Complex, including a critically endangered subspecies which occurs in small numbers. Ninety percent of the West African lion subpopulation also occur in the WAP as well as several rare antelope species such as the korrigum, or tsessebe.
W Highlights
- The WAP Complex is the largest protected and intact ecosystem in west Africa with a high diversity of fauna and flora and the potential to become the reference for effective protected areas in West Africa.
- Several species are represented in the Complex as the last viable populations, including Northwest African cheetah, West African lion subpopulation, and korrigum.
- Rangers have been deployed throughout W to ensure people and wildlife benefit from the increased stability in the region.
- Over 30 professional herders are deployed inside the park to sensitise herders on grazing access and to help secure the core 1,500 km² area of the park which is now livestock-free.
