Understanding the conservation challenges of armed conflicts in protected areas: insights from the W–Arly–Pendjari Complex in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger

Abstract Armed conflicts in biodiversity hotspots across Africa significantly threaten conservation efforts. The incursion of armed groups since 2017 in the W–Arly–Pendjari Complex in Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso poses a severe threat to conservation efforts in one of West Africa’s largest transboundary natural World Heritage sites. Local conservation managers often have no clear strategies to address such threats. A better understanding of the key drivers of the armed conflict would help them to respond quickly and effectively using adaptive management approaches. We used the participative Delphi technique to identify the factors driving the conflict, the key players contributing to security threats in the region and the stakeholders who could contribute to solving the conservation issues linked to the security crisis. A panel of 20 experts identified the main drivers of the insecurity to be political, economic and social, especially the vulnerability and marginalization of local communities as a consequence of weak government control and limited resources. Violent extremist groups, particularly Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, pose significant threats to conservation efforts in the region, which our results suggest would be best addressed through military action and regional cooperation to combat terrorism. We recommend that conservation managers adopt a community-focused strategy to reduce the vulnerability of forest-dependent communities and counter local alliances with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin. Our findings contribute to a wider understanding of how the growing threat of violent extremist groups can negatively affect protected areas and what steps should be taken to counter this.