W Regional Park

The Regional W Park, the largest park in West Africa, extends across the territories of three West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger) and forms one of the largest protected savanna ecosystems in Africa. A major tourist destination and, above all, a wildlife conservation site, the Regional W Park covers a total area of 10,302 km².².

In 1926, the French colonial administration first identified this savanna area as a wildlife refuge zone. Between 1952 and 1953, the W area was classified as a Total Wildlife Reserve, before being designated a National Park in 1954. It is located 150 km southwest of Niamey, the capital of Niger. The park represents the first transboundary park of French West Africa (AOF). Ecologically and economically important, the park contains more than 80% of Niger’s biological diversity. It is the last sanctuary in West Africa where a complex and exceptional biodiversity still survives in harmony, forming part of a regional network of protected areas shared by three countries, with Nigerien, Burkinabè, and Beninese components.

The complex known as “W” takes its name from the W-shaped meanders of the Niger River near Karey Kopto (Niger). It forms part of a larger protected complex known as WAP (W–Arly–Pendjari) and has been protected since 2007 under the Ramsar Convention.

The Nigerien section is bordered: to the East by the Niger River, to the North by the Tapoa River, to the South by the Mékrou River, and to the West by the Niger–Burkina Faso border.

In Benin, the park is located in the northern tip of the country and is watered by tributaries of the Niger River, the second longest river in Africa after the Nile. The area experiences a Sudanian climate and supports a wide diversity of vegetation, including gallery forests and several types of savannas.

In Burkina Faso, the park is located in the far eastern part of the country, characterized by moderate rainfall. It belongs to the Pendjari–Mékrou biogeographical sector, shared between the Volta basin in the south and the Niger basin in the north.

From the perspective of biological diversity, the floristic inventory of the park has identified around 500 plant species, distributed across various vegetation types, including shrub savannas, wooded or tree savannas, grass savannas, as well as rocky forests and gallery forests.