Traces of “unidentified armed men” [ou Hani, nom donné aux terroristes non identifiés] are still visible this Thursday, May 12, 2022 at the Békuy forestry post, located about 70 kilometers from Bobo-Dioulasso [capitale de la région des Hauts-Bassins, dans le sud-ouest du pays].
Thus, on February 21, 2022, this post was under fire from a terrorist attack. The traces of bullets on the buildings still testify to the violence of the attack on this site, which is of strategic importance for the “men of the bush”. The reserve effectively serves as a refuge for them to prepare and launch attacks.
The head of the Mare aux hippopotame biosphere reserve, Nestor Bado, lists the number of times unidentified armed men visited this area under their surveillance: April 2021, November 2021, April 2022 and twice in May 2022.
Poaching terrorism and terrorist poaching
Beyond serving as a hiding place for armed terrorist groups, forest areas suffer great losses. In the Hauts-Bassins, for example, the growing insecurity in protected forests is giving rise to acts of poaching, which are increasing more and more, testifies the director of the Békuy management unit of the National Office of Air (Ofinap), Souleymane Yaméogo. He says :
“Poaching has increased in recent years due to growing insecurity in the protected forests of Hauts-Bassins.”
Looking sad, he reveals that in 2020 the death of an elephant was observed; the following year, in 2021, the region recorded the poaching of four elephants and two hippos. In 2022, two elephants and a hippopotamus were killed. These figures may seem insignificant, but in the eyes of the actors in the field and especially with regard to the number of Burkinabe fauna, this baby elephant, these six elephants and these three hippopotamuses were protected behemoths and their poaching constitutes a heavy loss.
In recent years, he says, poaching has increased in the Hauts-Bassins region, and specifically in the Maro forest and the Mare aux hippopotame biosphere reserve.
This last biotope straddles the municipalities of Satiri and Padema. This reserve, located about fifty kilometers from the town of Bobo, is surrounded by ten villages. The forest in which the Hippopotamus Pond is located extends over 19,200 hectares. The pond itself has an area of 140 hectares in the dry season and 660 hectares in the rainy season. As for the classified forest of Maro, about 70 kilometers from Bobo-Dioulasso, it covers 52,000 hectares.
Complicit populations
The regional director in charge of the environment of the Hauts-Bassins, Mathurin Sanon, testified that on April 15 a group of four poachers was apprehended and judged at the high court of Bobo-Dioulasso. They were each sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 1,000,000 CFA francs. [1 500 euros].
These traffickers had elephant tusks, hippopotamus skulls, elephant and crocodile skins. Aware of the threat to wildlife and particularly to these species, Burkina Faso has adopted several national and international measures to protect them.
The head of the Békuy Management Unit, the captain of waters and forests Noufou Guigma, says:
“When a poacher is arrested by our team, we initiate the procedure which consists in informing the prosecutor. The offender’s material is seized, he is heard, tried and transferred.
Despite the existence of laws and their application, poachers do not budge. The forest code is however clear. It prohibits the killing of protected species and stipulates in article 107 that fully protected species are subject to a prohibition t