Wildlife of
Burkina Faso

Primary Threats

• Conversion of savanna and woodland to rainfed crops (and associated shortening of fallow cycles) is a major driver of habitat fragmentation, especially in the more productive southern and eastern zones. Expansion often pushes into buffer areas and corridors around protected areas, reducing connectivity for wide-ranging savanna species.
• Beyond cropland expansion, habitat is lost and degraded through fuelwood/charcoal collection, uncontrolled grazing pressure, and localized clearing along watercourses and seasonal wetlands. This reduces woody cover, simplifies savanna structure, and diminishes gallery forests that are important for primates and birds.
• Rising temperatures, more intense heat, and rainfall variability amplify drought stress in Sahelian and northern Sudanian ecosystems. Water points become less reliable, seasonal wetlands dry earlier, and fire seasons can intensify-compounding pressures on wildlife, vegetation recovery, and pastoral livelihoods.
• As farms and grazing areas expand toward protected-area boundaries, conflicts increase (e.g., crop damage by wildlife and competition for water and pasture). Retaliatory killing and negative attitudes toward protected areas can rise where communities see limited benefits or face insecurity and livelihood shocks.
• Subsistence hunting and opportunistic killing persist in rural landscapes, and poaching risk increases where patrol coverage declines. In and around key protected areas (notably in parts of the east), insecurity can reduce ranger mobility and enable illegal offtake of antelopes and other wildlife.
• Illegal trade can involve bushmeat, live animals, and wildlife parts moving along regional routes. Porous borders in the WAP region can facilitate cross-border trafficking when enforcement and intelligence-sharing are disrupted by conflict and limited resources.
• Most pressure is not industrial timber extraction but widespread cutting of trees for fuelwood, charcoal, construction poles, and artisanal uses. This degrades woodland savannas, reduces nesting/foraging habitat for birds, and can undermine natural regeneration-especially near towns and road corridors.
• Artisanal and industrial mining (notably for gold) can cause localized deforestation, soil disturbance, and water pollution from sediment and processing chemicals. Mining-related in-migration can increase demand for woodfuel and wildlife products, and can create new access tracks into previously remote habitats.
• Key issues include sedimentation and chemical contamination of waterways near mining zones, agrochemical runoff in more intensive farming areas, and urban wastewater around major cities. Aquatic habitats and wetlands used by waterbirds and fisheries are particularly vulnerable.
• Overuse of woodfuel, overgrazing around water points, and intense harvesting of non-timber forest products in some areas reduce ecosystem resilience. Depleted vegetation cover accelerates erosion and lowers dry-season forage availability, creating feedback loops of further pressure.
• Roads and new access tracks (often associated with mining, timber/fuelwood supply, or agricultural expansion) increase fragmentation and facilitate human access for illegal hunting and wood extraction. Infrastructure can also disrupt wildlife movements between protected-area blocks and seasonal resources.
• Frequent burning, expansion of irrigated/peri-wetland cultivation, and hydrological changes around dams and reservoirs alter fire regimes and water availability. While some fire is ecologically normal in savannas, altered timing/intensity can reduce tree recruitment and degrade habitat quality.