Travel Guide Forêt D’arly

The Arly forest is one of the best preserved natural ecosystems in Burkina Faso and the richest in wild fauna. Arly National Park occupies 92 500 hectares, extending to the Beninese border along the Pendjari River. This forest is in the heart of the WAP complex (W, Arly, Pendjari), covering almost 30 000 km 2, the largest wild space in West Africa. This space is in fact composed of a succession of national parks and reserves, including in Burkina Faso, the partial reserve of Pama, the total reserve of Singou, the partial reserve of Arly, the National national Park, the partial reserve of the Kourtiagou and the national park of the W. These different words indicate a differentiated management of these zones, according to the degree of protection. characterised by rights of use, especially for hunting. In the Nationaux and W national parks, this is excluded from the management plan, the only permitted use being vision tourism.Arly National Park, in the past, experienced a period of high tourist attendance and was then neglected, gradually seeing its infrastructure deteriorating and its attendance falling. Tracks are impassable during rainy season, ideal is the December-May period. However, we can only hope for the redevelopment of this natural park and encourage travellers to go there. A project to rehabilitate this park, supported by the European Union and the World Bank, is under way. Surrounded by hunting concessions and on the edge of the Pendjari, permanent rivers, the forest presents abundant wildlife and probably less farouche than on reserves where hunting is practised. Let us hope that vision tourism can help boost the development of this superb region. Depending on the conditions of the trails, travellers will only cross it to reach the area of the W Park or spend a few days discovering its natural heritage.