Wildlife of Benin - Organizations

Organizations

According to the Strategic Plan for the Conservation and Management of Protected Areas approved in 1994, organization such as the National Centre for Wildlife Management (or Centre National de Gestion des Réserves de la Faune – CENAGREF) was created in 1996 for the sole purpose of the conservation and management of national parks including the buffer zones and the transition areas. The Direction of Pendjari National Park set up in 1996 and the Direction of W National Park set up in 1999 are administrative organizations under the CENAGREF that are responsible for the management of the parks. The Association of Civil Communities in the Protected Areas of the W National Park and the Séri Zone (Association des Communes Riveraines aux Aires Protégées du Parc W et de la Zone de Séri – ACRAP/WS) and Village Associations for the Management of Wildlife Reserves (or Associations Villageoise de Gestion des Reserves de Faune -AVIGREF) were also set up with the responsibility community training and promoting multi-level communication between farmers and other stakeholders and capacity building and the development of effective governance following decentralized resource management. IUCN has associated with these organizations to address all aspects of management of the natural resources of the W National Park.