The “W” Park, along with the Pendjari and Arly nationals parks—represents a complex of protected areas of exceptional value, as much ecologically and scientifically as for leisure and socioeconomic reasons. It has the particularity of straddling three different countries, which, in spite of their poverty, following their independence won in 1960 have done their best to maintain their countries in an acceptable state, first of all trying to assume responsibilities on an individual basis for managing what is world patrimony.
Only 25 years later, in 1984, did the countries concerned officially decide to join forces in order to better manage this transboundary region.
A retrospective analysis of this experience of transboundary management of protected areas brings to light the real difficulties that the states have had to cope with when carrying out the joint ventures and strategies, which they themselves decided to put into action. The reasons for these difficulties are many, but in general can be said to include political uncertainty; insufficient financial, institutional, and organizational means for administrating the parks; the lack of a true development plan and system of information and ecological follow-up at a regional level; and also the hesitations of those providing funds, who were supposed to support state initiatives.
However, these difficulties should not hinder future optimism. The current regional projects currently underway will without any doubt be the booster and the cement required for encouraging effective collaboration not only among the states concerned, but also among park administrations, local populations, and partners that provide scientific, technical, and financial help. It would be accurate to say that it is the lack of financial resources and the lack of means for intervening available to those administrations responsible for TBNRM that put a block to the efforts for integrating initiatives made toward the conservation of biological diversity.
This optimism can be real, for there are real advantages involved in looking after this unique spot in West Africa, both for the states and their populations, for national and international institutions responsible for the various conventions pertaining to conservation and preservation of the environment, for science, and also for all those people quite simply desirous to defend their love of nature and its beauty.
Thus we consider that the efforts must be continued in order to guarantee the integrity of ecosystems within the “W” Park, and to be able to effectively and on a long-term basis, manage the biological resources found there—while at the same time helping local populations to benefit from this, in a spirit of total fairness.