The W National Park (french: Parc national du W) or W Regional Park (french: W du Niger, links=no) is a major national park in West Africa around a meander in the River Niger shaped like the letter W (french: double v, links=no). The park includes areas of the three countries Niger, Benin and Burkina Faso, and is governed by the three governments. Until 2008, the implementation of a regional management was supported by the EU-funded project ECOPAS (Protected Ecosystems in Sudano-Sahelian Africa, french: Ecosystèmes protégés en Afrique soudano-sahélienne). The three national parks operate under the name W Transborder Park. (french: Parc Regional W). The section of W National Park lying in Benin, measuring over , came under the full management of

African Parks African Parks is a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on conservation, established in 2000 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was founded as the African Parks Management and Finance Company, a private company, then under ...

in June 2020. In Benin, W National Park is contiguous with Pendjari National Park which is also under the management of African Parks.

History

The W National Park of Niger was created by decree on 4 August 1954, and since 1996 has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Within Niger, the Park is listed as a

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Type II, and is part of a larger complex of Reserves and protected areas. These include the adjacent Dallol Bosso (Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) on the eastern bank of the Niger River and the partial overlap of the smaller "Parc national du W" (Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar). The three parks are

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s (IBAs) of types A1 and A3 (IBA codes IBA NE001, IBA BF008, and IBA BJ001).

Geography

Bends in the River Niger which give W National Park its distinctive name

In the three nations, the Regional park covers some largely uninhabited by humans, having been until the 1970s a

Malarial Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or dea ...

zone of wetlands formed by the delta of the

Mékrou River The Mékrou River is a river of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger. It flows through the W National Park. A tributary of the Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in ...

with the Niger, broken by rocky hills. Historically, the area has been at one time a major area of human habitation, judged by the important archaeological sites (mostly tombs) found in the area.

Flora

In the national park, A total of 454 species of plants were recorded, including two orchids found only in Niger. The park also constitute the southern limit of tiger bush plateaus distribution in Niger.

Fauna

The park is known for its large mammals, including aardvark, baboon, African buffalo, caracal, cheetah,

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to and a body ...

, hippopotamus, African leopard, West African lion, serval and warthog. The park provides a home for some of West Africa's last wild African elephant. However, the rare West African giraffe, today restricted to small parts of the Niger, is absent from the park. The W Park is also known for historic occurrence of packs of the endangered

West African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' L ...

, although this canid may now be extirpated from the area. The National Park is one of the last strongholds for the Northwest African cheetah. A small population of 25 individuals is estimated to be resident across the W– Arli– Pendjari protected area complex. The W National Park is also known for its bird populations, especially transitory migrating species, with over 350 species identified in the park. The park has been identified by

as an

.BirdLife International. (2013). Important Bird Areas factsheet: 'W' National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/03/2013.

Gallery

File:Elephants bath park w Niger 2006.jpg, File:Gazelle big road park w niger 2006148670716 94d943892c b.jpg, File:Gazelle clearing park w niger 2006.jpg, File:Gazelles grass park w niger 2006.jpg, File:Landsacpe_dry_stream_park_w_niger_2006.jpg, File:Baboon niger parkw 2006.jpg,

References

Literature

* Convers Arnaud, Chaibou Issa, Binot Aurélie, Dulieu Dominique (2007) La gestion de la transhumance dans la zone d’influence du parc régional du w par le programme ecopas: une « approche projet » pour l’aménagement de la périphérie du parc. Vertigo Hors Série 4. URL : http://vertigo.revues.org/761 ; DOI : 10.4000/vertigo.761 * Benoit M (1998) Statut et usage du sol en périphérie du parc national du "W" du Niger. Tome 1 : Contribution à l’étude du milieu naturel et des ressources végétales du canton de Tamou et du Parc du "W". ORSTOM, Niamey, Niger, 41 p

* Doussa S (2004) Les impacts de la culture cotonnière sur la gestion des ressources naturelles du Parc W. Maitrise, Université de Ouagadougou. * Grégoire JM, Fournier A, Eva H & Sawadogo L (2003) Caractérisation de la dynamique des feux et de l’évolution du couvert dans le Parc du W: Burkina Faso, Bénin et Niger. 64 S

* Hogan C.Michael (2009
''Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
* * Nacoulma, B.M.I. (2012): Dynamique et stratégies de conservation de la végétation et de la phytodiversité du complexe écologique du Parc National du W du Burkina Faso. PhD thesis, Université de Ouagadougou. * Nacoulma, B.M.I., Schmidt, M., Hahn, K., Thiombiano, A. (2020): ''A checklist of vascular plants of the W National Park in Burkina Faso, including the adjacent hunting zones of Tapoa-Djerma and Kondio''. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e54205

* * * Rabeil T (2003) Distribution potentielles des grands mammifères dans le Parc du W au Niger. Doctoral Thesis, Univ. Paris VII. 463 S

* Price et al. (2003) The “W” Regional Park of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger - Building on a Process of Regional Integration to Address both Local Interests and Transboundary Challenges. World Parks Congress 2003, Durban, RSA. In: Pansky, Diane (ed.). 2005. Governance Stream of the Vth World Parks Congress. Ottawa, Canada: Parks Canada and IUCN/WCPA. ISBN R62-375/2003E-MRC 0-662-40433-5

* W National Park of Niger. 2009

* Zwarg A, Schmidt M, Janßen T, Hahn K, Zizka G (2012) Plant diversity, functional traits and soil conditions of grass savannas on lateritic crusts (bowé) in south eastern Burkina Faso. Flora et Vegetatio Sudano-Sambesica 15: 15–24

External links

*
Detailed Nigerien government tourist map

UNESCO Page on W National Park
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070627095327/http://www.orleans.ird.fr/UR_US/ur136/site/activites/wniger.htm Le Parc du W du Niger (Niger, Burkina Faso, Bénin): Aires protégées Burkina Faso - Niger - Bénin]. Centre IRD d'Orléans Research Summary, University of Orleans (France) {{authority control Nature conservation in Burkina Faso National parks of Benin National parks of Burkina Faso National parks of Niger Biosphere reserves of Benin Biosphere reserves of Burkina Faso Biosphere reserves of Niger World Heritage Sites in Niger Ramsar sites in Benin Ramsar sites in Burkina Faso Ramsar sites in Niger Niger River Protected areas established in 1954 Important Bird Areas of Benin Important Bird Areas of Burkina Faso Important Bird Areas of Niger