Burkina Faso

África

174

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Burkina Faso is a landlocked country of gentle relief, crossed by the transition between the Sahel of the north, dry and thorn-scrubbed, and the Sudanian savannah of the south, more wooded and with gallery forest along the Mouhoun, Nakambé and Nazinon rivers. That southern belt concentrates the wildlife: the Arly and Pendjari complex, a continuation of the W park, forms with its neighbours one of the last great blocks of protected savannah in West Africa, with elephants, buffalo, roan antelope, kob and one of the last lion populations in the region. The Nazinga ranch is known for its high density of elephants around the artificial dams during the dry season. In the west, the Banfora cliffs, the Karfiguéla falls and the Dindéresso woods provide humid environments with primates and forest birds.

The nature of Burkina Faso

National animal: The white horse, represented twice over on the national coat of arms

Did you know?

La Mare aux Hippopotames, near Bobo-Dioulasso, is a shallow lake ringed by flooded forest where a population of hippopotamuses has lived alongside the fishermen of the neighbouring villages for generations. Their survival owes a great deal to a traditional prohibition on killing them, which has worked as a form of local protection since long before the place was declared a biosphere reserve.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Occidental / Sahel (pais sin litoral)Cobertura forestal de aprox. 23% del territorio (6,2 millones de hectareas en 2020, en descenso desde 7,7 millones en 1990)

Climate

•Semiarido saheliano (BSh) en el norte
•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en el sur (sabana sudano-guineana)

Main biomes

•Sabana saheliana (norte)
•Sabana sudano-guineana con bosques de galeria (sur, complejo transfronterizo Arli-W-Singou)
•Formaciones graniticas y mesetas lateriticas
•Sabana sudanesa arbolada
•Estepa saheliana
•Bosque de galería
•Lago somero y bosque inundable
•Acantilado de arenisca
•Charca estacional
•Sabana arbustiva espinosa

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral)

Flagship wildlife

•Leon del Africa Occidental (complejo WAP)
•Elefante de sabana
•Bufalo africano
•Buitre de Ruppell (colonia reproductora regionalmente significativa en el complejo Arli-W-Singou)
•Hipopótamo
•Elefante africano de sabana
•León africano
•Búfalo cafre
•Antílope ruano
•Cobo de agua
•Babuino anubis
•Cocodrilo del Nilo
•Grulla coronada cuelligrís
•Buitre encapuchado

Notable endemic species

•2 especies vegetales endemicas confirmadas: Pandanus brevifrugalis e Isoetes jaegeri, de un total de 2.067 especies de plantas registradas
•318 especies de aves residentes mas 119 migratorias (81 del tipo paleartico)

Notable threatened species

•Leon del Africa Occidental (En Peligro Critico, poblacion regional del complejo WAP entre las ultimas viables de la subespecie)
•Halcon Falco naumanni y agachadiza Gallinago media entre las aves migratorias de preocupacion global registradas en el pais

Notable protected areas

•Complejo transfronterizo Arli-W-Singou (Patrimonio Mundial, compartido con Níger y Benin, refugio de leon del Africa Occidental)
•Reserva Parcial de Fauna del Sahel
•Parque Nacional de Arly
•Parque Nacional de la W
•Rancho de Nazinga
•Reserva de la Biosfera de la Mare aux Hippopotames
•Cascadas de Karfiguéla
•Bosque clasificado de Dindéresso

Main conservation threats

•Caza furtiva y deforestacion en el complejo Arli-W-Singou
•Perdida neta de cobertura forestal en las ultimas tres decadas
•Presion de sobrepastoreo en zonas de transicion Sahel-sabana

Conservation

The W-Arly-Pendjari complex is a World Heritage Site and the greatest stronghold of savannah wildlife in West Africa, but insecurity in the Sahel region has interrupted management and tourism across much of these areas.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Nazinga between February and May, when the elephants gather at the dams. Arly in the dry season for ungulates and lions. La Mare aux Hippopotames at dawn for hippopotamuses and waterbirds.

Sources: Wikipedia - Biodiversity of Burkina Faso | One Earth - Sahelian Acacia Savanna | Frontiers - Preliminary biological data Sahel wetland ecosystems Burkina Faso

Savanna