W Regional Park Solar Energy System

In 2003, we commissioned a pilot renewable energy system in the W Regional Park. The park is part of the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve and the largest natural reserve in Western Africa. We conducted the project in close collaboration with the three host countries – Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger – as well as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU).

We constructed different renewable energy supply systems that promoted the conservation of biodiversity in the core area of the park and fought desertification, while fulfilling the basic needs of the populations living in the buffer and transition zones around the park.  The following systems were commissioned in 2003:

• At Perelegou Pond, in Niger, in the core area of the park, we installed two small dams and a solar water pump. This resulted in consistent water levels at the pond, which has helped develop a new ecosystem and increased the presence of fish, crocodiles, birds, and mammals
• We installed solar panels at the park rangers’ station to provide lighting and radio communications. A reliable system to supply safe drinking water year-round was also installed, allowing the station to remain operational on an ongoing basis, thus limiting poaching and encouraging ecotourism
• We installed solar power systems in the park’s hospitals and dispensaries in Benin and Burkina Faso to supply electricity for lighting, medical refrigerators and radio communications. We also installed a system to provide safe drinking water to patients, nurses, and the local population. With these installations, a more stable medical infrastructure was created, improving the health conditions of both the local people and the nomadic populations using these facilities
• A new water pumping station was constructed in Benin, replacing a simple water hole in a village located close to the park’s perimeter and sparing villagers several hours of hard work each day during the dry season of carrying unsafe drinking water kilometres away

Management of the installations was transferred to the local population, who, through cooperatives based on traditional systems already in existence in West Africa, took over the ownership of the equipment and installations and the responsibility for their operation and maintenance.