Wildlife of Benin
In addition, many other forest reserves are noted in the country but are not easily accessible, well protected or adequately surveyed for its wildlife resources.
It covers 10.3% of the nation and is part of the three-nation W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (WAP) (of which 43%, 36% and 21% is in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger respectively).
However, these systems have been subject to severe misuse by way of deforestation, which necessitated the enforcement of a law, which imposes restrictions on cutting of these forests.
Sudanian savanna fauna consists of 70 diurnal mammals and more than 112 species of fish including the monkfish and sawback angelshark.
In June 1986, it was classified as a MAB Biosphere Reserve (including the adjoining hunting zones of Pendjari and Atacora).
The Pendjari River Valley was recognized as a wetland of international importance and designated as a Ramsar site in February 2007.
[1][8][9] The park is part of the W-Arli-Pendjari complex (WAP), which is a vast protected area in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.
They provide a wonderful backdrop to the Pendjari National Park, which, in its isolation, remains one of the most interesting in West Africa.
It was in a state of extinction due to "shifting cultivation, grazing, selective cutting of valuable or rare tree species, roads and dams construction, and over-exploitation of non-timber forest products" to meet the basic needs of rural communities.
It reached a critical stage where indigenous multilayered plant communities became extinct in several areas with the resultant creation of open fields, shrubs or savannas of least value.
Thus, the degradation of the ecologically rich system necessitated intervention at the Government level through enabling legislation to stop further damage to the ecosystem.
93-009) in July 1993, under which the uniqueness of riparian forests as refuge ecosystem for plants and wildlife of many kinds was duly recognized.
The enacted law stated that "clearance of wood and shrubs is not allowed within 25 metres (82 ft) at both sides of any waterway (article 28).
[2] Reptiles present include Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), dwarf caiman and chameleons in 100 colour variations.
Birds are a special feature in all types of habitats ranging from rainforest to deserts in Benin, which have two main climatic zones, namely the thick tropical vegetation in the south and the dry savannas and light woodlands in the north.
The Volta depression has savanna ecosystem with woodlands and rare species such as Burkea africana, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Detarium microcarpum, Lannea acida, Sterculia setigera, Combretum ghasalense (syn.
On the deep soils of some of the summits and the Atakora escarpment, one finds a greater variety of plant species with Isoberlinia doka and Afzelia africana.
