Conservation, Missions and a trip around West Africa. Part 1

Republic of Benin

Very seldom does one hear all three phrases/words in the same sentence, in West Africa one does not even hear of the first word. Conservation is a foreign word in Franco-Africa and may even be the cause for the lack of large sustainable national parks. Conservation is a word that most African’s don’t grasp. If it can’t make money it has no value in some way that is actually true for most people not just Africans. Due to this conservation has not worked where there is lack of good infrastructure to protect wildlife from the ever increasing pressure from surrounding villages. Despite this age old dispute of who or what should take priority it was a trip across West Africa which drew me closer to what West Africa has in terms of its value in conservation. Albeit very daunting, yet hopeful as they may be leading conservation into new light and direction. As for missions… well where does it not fit in to the picture?

My trip started when I met up with an old and older friend of mine Rod Ragsdale, he works and lives in Côte d’Ivoire. I was very keen to go over and visit him to see a couple of his projects and see different parts of West Africa, using the opportunity while here in Benin. With what to do next year in the back of my mind, this meant finding a niche for me here, if possible. So we met in Parakou, from there we headed north stopping in Nattitingou (in the north of Benin), from Nattitingou we went through the border post between Burkino Faso and Benin and headed to Quagadougou. I had to spend a few days in Quagadougou to sort out my visas for Côte d’Ivoire and Benin. Once that was done we headed down into Côte d’Ivoire and onto Korhogo. I then spent a few days in Korhogo and then went down to Bouake where I spent a week. After Bouake I headed through to Abidjane and caught a flight back to Benin, the same day caught the bus from Cotonou to Parakou and rested.

It was time well spent and I got the opportunity to see what other projects along my line of interest were taking place in West Africa.  Although not conservation based yet sustainable energy minded, Nattitingou was our first stop. Here we visited a mission station that assists and helps people use ecological friendly material to make a living, this included solar water heaters, solar cookers and even a hydroponics. The hydroponics set-up was interesting as it was the first time I had seen one working. The concept is simple enough in that fish are kept in a pond and fed. The nutritious water is then pumped over a cobble bed where vegetable are grown and then back into the pond where the fish are housed. the idea is that the fish and vegetables can sustain a family with food. with many other nifty gadgets we moved on to be able to get through the border and on to Quagadougou.

Clarke Lungren holding a
Gambian rat

Burkino Faso

With close to 30km's of no mans land between benin and Burkino Faso, we gained an hour and arrived in Quagadougou before it got dark. An elephant was seen in the reserves bordering the road, it stimulated a conservation around the situation of wildlife in West Africa. Conservation in Africa is pitiful at the moment but does have some hope, thanks to a few passionate people that have dedicated their lives to the conservation of wildlife in West Africa. While waiting for my visa in Quagadougou Rod and I took a trip down to Kombissiri to visit Clarke Lungren working on intensive wildlife management for the production of bush meat to local markets and restocking of larger mammals in Foret Classee (forest reserves). This is a great concept and may relieve the pressure poachers may have on the local wildlife, as this means is more profitable and sustainable. Touring through his projects was great, from a species and economical point of view, his breeding for the re-introduction of game into areas where they may be now extinct, is still in its beginning phases. The extinction is in spite of the trend to increase the amount of conserved areas in Burkino Faso.

Entrance gate to Nazinga

From Clarke Lungren's small farm we headed South to Nazinga, a game ranch started by Clarke Lungren and his brother with the idea that the communities benefit and in the long term take over management. This is a sound idea and succeeded at Nazinga. The communities have pride and see the value wildlife has to them, this ensures that they protect the reserve. There may be problems with the system today but where are there no problems in Africa?  knowing some of the history of Nazinga made the trip more special. Overall Nazinga was great, we saw elephants, large herds of Roan antelope, Western Hartebeest. Patas, Buffon's kob, warthog, waterbuck and many other bird species were seen. I was even fortunate enough to find two Abyssinian ground-hornbills while driving around. I manage to add a whole lot of new species not only to my life list but my Big Year list too. The buffalo were illusive but seeing elephants and watching them wallowing in the dam made it all well worth it.

Back in Quagadougou and after picking up my visa we headed on down to Côte d’Ivoire, the borders work in such a way the "no man's land" can be up to 30km as in the case with Burkino Faso and Benin. Thank fully the "no man's land" gap is not as far with the Côte d’Ivoire and Burkino Faso border post, and without too much hassle we were in Côte d’Ivoire.