Twelve new Ramsar sites in Burkina Faso _ designations will benefit AEWA species

Twelve new Ramsar sites in Burkina Faso – designation will benefit AEWA speciesGland,
1 October 2009
- The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
announced the designation of 12 new wetlands of International
Importance (Ramsar Sites) by the Government of Burkina Faso.
These wetlands extend from the Sahel region in the North,
through the Cascade regions in the south west, to the Central
and Eastern regions of the country.

Three of these sites (Barrage de la Kompienga,
Vallée du Sourou and Réserve Totale de Faune
d’Arly) are located at least partly, within Important
Bird Areas (IBAs) identified by BirdLife International.
The ‘Réserve Totale de Faune d’Arly’
holds the last significant populations of the Near Threatened
Black Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina) in Burkina
Faso listed under Column A of AEWA’s table 1 of waterbirds
species to which the Agreement applies. These new designations
will therefore also contribute towards the conservation
of migratory waterbird habitats in the country.

The new Ramsar sites in Burkino Faso cover
a wide range of wetland types, which offer a large number
of ecosystem types essential for wildlife, the livelihood
of riparian populations and hydrological and climatic stability
in many parts of the country.

Burkina Faso is one of the AEWA Range States,
which will hopefully accede to the Agreement in the nearest
future and join the combined efforts of the countries along
the African-Eurasian Flyways by furthering migratory waterbird
conservation at flyway level.

Click
here
to read the full Ramsar announcement.

Last updated on 16 June 2014