W-Arly-Pendjari Complex

• Phosphate mining project (issue resolved)
• Dam project (issue resolved)
• Lack of monitoring of the implementation of the Management Plan
• Transhumance
• Insecurity
• Poaching

Total amount granted:  USD 40,000 from the Rapid Response Facility (RRF) in 2022;

USD 247,870 from the Government of Norway in 2020-2024

On 29 January 2024, the States Parties of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger submitted a joint report on the state of conservation of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/749/documents, providing the following information:

• The managers of the property in the three States Parties have undertaken a number of initiatives since 2022 to re-establish their control over the entire area;
• In addition to a biannual camera trap campaign to monitor cheetahs and leopards, pending completion of the biannual aerial inventory of the property, envisaged for 2023 but postponed to 2024 due to the sociopolitical situation in the region, drones and joint patrols with the Defence and Security Forces are continually collecting information on the state of the fauna;
• Significant progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the 2022 Reactive Monitoring mission, notably including: the adoption of plans for securing, rehabilitating and developing the Arly and W national parks (Burkina Faso); the systematization of environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs) for infrastructure construction projects, inside and on the periphery of the property; the setting up of a special monitoring programme for damalisks, hartebeest and Defassa waterbucks in the Benin component of the property; the Multi-hazard Early Warning System, which is in the process of becoming operational; submission of the topographical map of the property and its buffer zone to the World Heritage Centre; and the marking out of transhumance corridors in Benin;
• Several initiatives have been undertaken to strengthen the sustainable financing mechanism for the property, including: development of the Resource Mobilization Strategy for the Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PACC-WAP), consolidation of the West African Savannah Foundation (WASF) and financial support from the German Development Bank (KFW) and the French Development Agency (AFD);
• Following the meeting of the Council of Ministers (June 2023), an annual allocation of 25 million CFA francs (approximately $40,000) per country was agreed, as from 2024, for operation of the Executive Secretariat of the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (SE-WAP), whose headquarters are hosted by Niger;
• An Adapt-WAP Green Credit Revolving Fund has been set up to diversify income-generating activities for communities living near the property;
• The State Party of Niger will resubmit a request for a minor modification to the boundaries of the property in the Niger component in January 2024. A request for a minor modification to the boundaries of the property in the Benin component will be submitted very shortly;
• A number of projects in and around the property, at various stages of completion, have been the subject of ESIAs: the construction of an oil pipeline between Niger and Benin, improvements to and asphalting of the Banikoara – Kérémou – Burkina Faso border road and rehabilitation of the Tapoa living accommodation in the W Park (Niger);
• In their correspondence of 21 November 2023 and 25 January 2024, the States Parties invited the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to carry out the joint Reactive Monitoring mission at the property in February 2024.

On 1 February 2024, the State Party of Niger submitted a proposal for a minor modification to the boundaries of the property to create a buffer zone, with the support of Burkina Faso and Benin.

The security situation in the area known as the three borders, which straddles the property, remains very precarious due to the presence of armed groups. Added to this security challenge are other difficulties linked to the sociopolitical situation in the region and in Niger in particular.

Violent events persist both within and around the property, despite the fact that the States Parties have undertaken several initiatives at local, national and sub-regional level to re-establish effective control over the entire property and its area of influence. It is recommended that the Committee deplore the continuing insecurity in the region and encourage the States Parties to continue their efforts to restore security and provide accurate data on the coverage of surveillance of the property, as well as the effectiveness thereof.

The considerable efforts made by the States Parties and the significant progress made in implementing the recommendations of the 2022 Reactive Monitoring mission are appreciated. Although it is too early to assess the impact of implementation of these recommendations, the Committee should welcome this progress and encourage the States Parties to maintain the momentum towards full implementation of the recommendations.

Although aerial surveys have continued, it is recommended that the request be reiterated to carry out regular aerial surveys of all components of the property using the same methodology, so that the results can be compared and wildlife population trends identified. 

Recalling the observation of the 2022 mission that the antelope translocation project had been implemented despite the reservations of the Antelope Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), it is recommended that further information be sought concerning this project and the additional translocation project planned between the Pendjari and W National Parks in Benin reported by the 2022 mission and that all species translocation projects be carried out in accordance with international standards.

The significant progress made by the States Parties in operationalizing the SE-WAP is to be congratulated. It is recommended that governance bodies continue to be set up and that more technical and financial resources be made available to ensure that they operate optimally in the long term. 

The preliminary ESIA report on the oil pipeline project crossing 38 km of the buffer zone of the Benin component of the property reveals a number of significant negative impacts on fauna and flora at all stages of the project and along its entire route. However, an assessment of the draft ESIA report by IUCN shows that there has been no specific analysis of the potential negative impacts of the project on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) attributes of the property. It is regrettable that the ESIA for this project was not submitted to the World Heritage Centre before the final decision was taken to implement it, in accordance with the Guidelines. Noting that the project has already been in the operational phase since November 2023, it is recommended that the States Parties provide detailed information on the route of the oil pipeline in relation to the property, as well as on the measures taken to avoid any potential negative impact and the measures taken in anticipation of possible accidents in order to avoid pollution damage and fires. 

It is noted with concern that the project to asphalt the Banikoara – Kérémou – Burkina Faso border road passes through the W Park in Benin and that this existing route was chosen over an alternative further from the property for economic reasons. The IUCN notes that the environmental assessment report does not present alternative routes and concludes that the project presents potential significant adverse impacts on soil, vegetation, groundwater and air along the route of the project; also that the cumulative impacts of asphalting the road on the characteristics of the OUV have not been sufficiently taken into account. These include collisions with wildlife, increased poaching, noise pollution and fragmentation of wildlife habitats, as well as potential impacts on the Burkina Faso component of the property, which is contiguous with the W Park in Benin. Noting that the project is already in the implementation phase, it is recommended that a halt to the work be requested and that the States Parties provide the World Heritage Centre with detailed information concerning the measures taken to avoid any negative impact on the property’s OUV before any decision be taken to continue implementing the project.

It is noted that the request has been submitted for a minor modification to the boundaries of the property in the Niger component and that a similar initiative is under way to modify the boundaries of the property in the Benin component in order to strengthen its protection. It is positive that further progress has been made to strengthen the property’s sustainable financing mechanism. It is recommended that ongoing technical and financial support from partners be welcomed and encouraged in order to ensure long-term sustainable funding for the property.

In its Decision 45 COM 7B.3, the World Heritage Committee requested that the States Parties invite a new Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the measures undertaken by the States Parties to restore the security of the property, strengthen its management and determine whether OUV is still in any danger. It is appreciated that the States Parties, in their correspondence of 21 November 2023 and 25 January 2024, have invited the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to carry out the new joint monitoring mission. The response of the United Nations Security Officer in Burkina Faso, dated 9 April 2024, to the World Heritage Centre’s correspondence of 2 February 2024 has been noted. It is recommended that the Committee invite the World Heritage Centre and IUCN to carry out the mission as soon as security conditions in the concerned countries permit.