title: Conserving wildlife amongst the cotton fields. A third of a century of experience at the Nazinga Game Ranch, Burkina Faso.
abstract: Established in the early 1970 as a participatory wildlife production area, the Nazinga Game Ranch turned into an island of conservation surrounded by cultivation. We asked ourselves how long-term ungulate trends are affected in a context of continuous human pressure. To find out, we compiled and analysed the data of yearly line-transect counts of mammals carried out since 1985. Results showed that large species such as the elephant (Loxodonta africana) and large antelopes increased or showed stable populations. In contrast, medium and small ungulates showed continuously decreasing trends. During the same period, rainfall, water availability from artificial water points and the crop encroaching outside Nazinga Game Ranch increased. After an initial significant reduction, illegal human signs increased. However, we showed that human signs were positively correlated with the abundance of large ungulates but negatively correlated with the abundance of medium and small ones. In conclusion, this study showed that some isolated mammal populations could be restored and maintained in the long term, in spite of being surrounded by highly cultivated areas.
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium. ph_bouche@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bouché
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lejeune
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bailly
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Margaux
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muyle
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zinque
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alizé
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mercier
authors.affiliation: CIRAD Département ES-UPR AGIRs, Campus de Baillarguet TA C-22E, 34398, Montpellier cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cornélis
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Production Development Center, Ouagadougou 01, 01 BP 5570, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Clark
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lungren
authors.affiliation: Val de la Berwinne, 13A, B-4890, Thimister-Clermont, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Portier
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchal
authors.affiliation: Section Suivi Écologique du Ranch de Gibier de Nazinga-Office National des Aires Protégées, 01 BP 5820, Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso.
authors.forename: Florent
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Renault
authors.affiliation: Direction Générale de l'Office National des Aires Protégées, Ouagadougou, 01 BP 5820, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Dieudonné
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yaméogo
authors.affiliation: Direction de la Faune et des Chasses Ministère de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable, Ouagadougou, 03 BP 7044, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kafando
authors.affiliation: Direction du Ranch de Gibier de Nazinga, Office National des Aires Protégées, Ouagadougou, 01 BP 5820, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Prosper
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sawadogo
authors.affiliation: Unité de gestion des Ressources Forestières et des Milieux naturels, Université de Liège Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés, 2, B-5030, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vermeulen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000254:growth & development*; D002050:Burkina Faso; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004606:Elephants / Q000254:growth & development*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D003368:Gossypium / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011998:Recreation; D012418:Ruminants / Q000254:growth & development*
keywords: Burkina Faso; Distance sampling wildlife surveys; Human impact on wildlife; Mammalian long-term trends; Nazinga Game Ranch; Wildlife management