NATUDEV, the benchmark NGO in promoting ICCAs in Burkina Faso

NATUDEV is the benchmark NGO in promoting ICCAs in Burkina Faso. An ICCA is a natural site conserved by a local community or a group of local communities (villages or groups of villages) and meeting the following three globally agreed criteria: governance is community (the site belongs to the community or group of communities concerned who have decision-making power over it and actually exercise it); the link between the community or communities and the site is strong enough that they are or are ready to defend it; the site shelters and conserves biodiversity. It is a category of nature conservation areas conceptualized about ten years ago by the ICCA World Consortium, which has been promoting it worldwide since then.

NATUDEV is a member of the ICCA Consortium. Its president is the coordinator of the Sahel Consortium (8 countries covered).

In Burkina Faso, NATUDEV has identified 5 types of ICCAs:

village areas of hunting interest (Zovic),

sacred groves,

sacred water points (ponds, rivers, sacred wells),

community pastoral spaces (grazing areas, cattle tracks, transhumance corridors, pastoral water points, etc.),

village forests

The coordination of the Microfinance Program of the Global Environment Facility (PMF / GEF) in Burkina Faso is the main partner of NATUDEV and the local communities in the work done with the latter for the defense and conservation of their ICCAs, their territories of life. The participation of SOS Sahel Burkina Faso is also recognized.

This partnership has led to the following results to date:

* Identification and documentation of ICCAs from 7 regions (out of 13) in Burkina Faso (the process continues)

* General assemblies of villages on the ICCAs

* Indication of ICCA by fixing panels

* Support for the constitution of the National Association of ICCA of Burkina Faso (NAICCA-BF)

* Training of representatives of 5 ICCAs guardian communities and of the NAICCA-BF office

* Contribution to the updating of the national monograph on biological diversity with an article on ICCAs

* Exchange trip to Benin between ICCA guardian communities

* Organization of a Benin-Burkina workshop on ICCAs (in Ouagadougou)

* Participation in television platforms on ICCAs

* Membership of two honorary members from Burkina Faso to the ICCA World Consortium

ICCAs in Burkina: NATUDEV takes stock

Based on bibliographic research and field surveys, the number of ICCAs in Burkina Faso was estimated at fifty-three thousand four hundred and twelve (53,412) in 2017. 99% of them are made up of all sacred groves (53,412 sites), 0.18% of sacred ponds (99 sites), 0.14% of community pastoral spaces (77 sites), 0.13% of Zovic (68 sites) and 0.08% of village forests (43 sites).

The total area of ​​the ICCAs listed is 717,847 ha, or 02.62% of the national territory. It varies between 0.20 ha (sacred wood) and 95,000 ha (pasture area).

Seventy-seven (77) species of wild fauna have been inventoried in the ICCAs of Burkina Faso. The sacred ponds are home to iconic reptile and fish species such as crocodiles, catfish and carps. In the field of flora, the ICCAs of Burkina Faso are home to at least 516 species (trees, shrubs, grasses), including rare or endangered species according to the IUCN Red List, species protected according to national legislation and species that are only found in ICCAs (SANOU, 2013; SAWADOGO, 2013; KABORE, 2010; NATUDEV, Surveys, 2017).

Village areas of hunting interest (ZOVIC): an original experience of community wildlife conservation

Under Law No. 003-2011 / AN of April, 5th 2011 relating to the forest code in Burkina Faso, “A village area of ​​hunting interest is part of the land of a basic community, affected by it for exploitation hunting resources. Its creation is proposed by the minutes of a meeting of the competent village body and confirmed by order of the competent local authority. “(Article 103).

“Village areas of hunting interest can be managed by village associations or groups or any other legal structure with legal personality …” (Article 104).

“The activities authorized in village areas of hunting interest are determined by the base community with the assistance of the local technical services responsible for wildlife” (Article 105).

Three regions of concentration: East, Center-South and Center-West

Burkina Faso has sixty-eight (68) Zovic spread over three (3) regions: East, Center-South and Center-West regions. The Eastern Region concentrates the vast majority with fifty-eight (58) Zovic against ten (10) for the Center-South and Center-West regions. The Zovic of the East cover 38,346 ha and those of the Center-South / Center-West, 21,580 ha, that is 58,926 ha for the whole of the Zovic of the country. The smallest Zovic has 14 ha and the largest, 8789 ha.

The Zovic are, for the most part, constituted on the edge of the classified wildlife areas, those of the WAP national park complex (W-Arly-Pendjari) for the eastern Zovic and those of the wildlife reserve complex PONASI (Pô-Nazinga-Sissili) for the Zovic of the Center-South and the Center-West.

Sites with multiple uses

Far beyond their hunting interest, village areas of hunting interest are areas of multiple use of natural resources for local populations. They are among the last secure reservoirs of flora and fauna in the villages that created them.

The Zovic provide wildlife, non-timber forest products (wild fruits, medicinal plants, fodder), fish, materials for handicrafts (fibers, wood, leaves, straw), constructions (roofing, beams, huts , hangars, etc.).

The direct income generated by hunting and the exploitation of various other products contributes to the financing of community projects (infrastructure, events, etc.) and to the purchasing power of local actors. Some Zovic host sacred sites to which the populations concerned are attached.

Sacred woods in Burkina Faso: of particular importance for communities and biodiversity

Sacred woods gather here the natural sites designated under this name or under the name of sacred groves, sacred forests, wooded sanctuaries. They also include the sacred hills. They are relics of original forests protected by local communities as an important support for their religious life, their identity and their social cohesion. They benefit from proven customary conservation rules, transmitted from generation to generation and which generally prohibit the removal or destruction of natural species found on their site.

Largest category of ICCAs in Burkina Faso

Sacred woods are present throughout the country with an increasing frequency from the Sahel region to the southern regions (SAWADOGO, 2013). Their areas vary between 0.02 ha and 300 ha (SAWADOGO, op.cit, p.107) with an average of 5.17 ha (Ibid). Survey and study data suggest that there are, on average, 6 (six) sacred groves per village in Burkina Faso. Considering the 8,902 administrative villages in the country (MATD, pers. Com. 2017), it is possible to estimate the number of sacred groves at 53,412. This justifies estimating the total area of ​​sacred groves at 496,320 ha, or 01.8% of the area of ​​the national territory.

Biodiversity sanctuaries

The sacred groves and their surroundings are rich in dense and diverse natural resources; they constitute refuges of many rare flora and fauna species, threatened with disappearance or disappeared in the surrounding terroirs (SANOU, 2013; KABORE, 2010). Certain flora species are only observed in sacred groves (SANOU, op.cit). SAWADOGO (op.cit, p.24) has identified 470 species from 284 genera and 74 families of Burkinabè flora are present in the sacred woods and their areas of influence, ie 24.54% of the national flora. 50% of sacred woods are shrub savannas, 20% tree savannas, 20% thickets, 10% wooded savannas.

Sacred water points: NATUDEV identifies 99 sites

Sacred water points in Burkina Faso concern sacred ponds, wells and rivers. They cover areas of 1.52 ha on average, or around 150 ha for the ninety-nine (99) sites identified to date (NATUDEV, Surveys, 2017).

Community pastoral spaces: NATUDEV counts 77 sites

In Burkina Faso, community pastoral spaces contain grazing areas, rest areas and corridors for the passage of livestock. They are very diverse in terms of their area. Areas varying between 2 ha and 95,000 ha with an average of 2,662 ha. The total area of ​​the seventy-seven (77) sites listed is 159,741 ha.

Village forests: NATUDEV documents 43

Village forests mostly date from after 1992, when the slogan “8000 villages, 8000 forest” was launched. Their number has grown steadily since then. They are managed by committees, groups or village associations within the framework of collaboration with state services (especially those responsible for the environment) and decentralized communities since the advent of these. The forty-three (43) village forests identified and documented represent 2,710 ha or 63.04 ha on average. Documentation consists of the collection and analysis of detailed data on the forests considered.