Grievances, greed or tactics? The political ecology of jihadist expansion in West Africa’s WAP complex

• Evidence on security practices and perceptions in Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso show why Sahelian jihadists target the WAP complex. • Findings do not support the hypothesis that Sahelian jihadists leverage grievances on the governance of natural resources in the WAP complex. • The primary reason driving Sahelian jihadists to the WAP complex is the need of securing a tactical rear base. • Conservation is not bound to fuel insurgency, even when the context is prone, as in the WAP complex case The role of natural parks and protected areas in fostering peace or exacerbating conflict has gained increasing attention. While early scholarship emphasized their potential in post-conflict peacebuilding, political ecology has highlighted how the securitization of environmental concerns may clash with local resource management, fuelling hidden resistance or overt violence. Specific outcomes arguably depend on contextual features and eschew generalised answers, yet French-speaking West Africa remains underexplored in this debate. This article addresses that gap by focusing on the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) transboundary park complex across Burkina Faso, Niger, and Benin. Noting the expansion of jihadist groups in this area, this case selection further helps bridge the divide between conflict studies and political ecology literatures, including conservation amidst counterinsurgency. The article explores three hypotheses to understand why jihadist groups have expanded in the WAP area: (H1) leveraging local grievances over environmental governance and restricted resource access to mobilize local populations against the states; (H2) exploitation of conflict economies like trafficking, poaching, and gold mining for greed and economic gain; and (H3) capitalize on the military potential of forested areas to provide safe havens. Qualitative evidence – including interviews and surveys with local stakeholders and park rangers – is mobilized to assess the purchase of these hypotheses. Findings suggest that, contrary to earlier claims, the politicization of environmental grievances plays a limited role. Instead, jihadist presence in the WAP complex is more convincingly explained by economic motivations linked to illicit activities and, most critically, by military considerations, with protected forest areas offering strategic advantages.