Lake Kompienga (6029)
Burkina Faso, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2001
National site name: Lake Kompienga
Central coordinates: Latitude: 11.1333, Longitude: 0.6167
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 149 to 180
Area of KBA (km2): 831.6443
Protected area coverage (%): 23.17
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Located in the south-west of the country close to the international border with Togo, the hydroelectric dam at Kompienga, built in the 1980s, is one of the largest in the country, with a capacity of 2,000,000 m3 of water. The sites includes the lake and a 5-km strip of surrounding savanna, the vegetation of which is typical of the Pendjari–Mékrou sector of the southern Sudan savanna while, in places close to the lake shore, the shrub- and tree-savanna is now developing into gallery forest.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: See Box and Table 2 for key species. There is, as yet, little ornithological information available; it is, however, thought more than 20,000 waterbirds regularly occur, amongst which Phalacrocorax africanus, Egretta garzetta and Bubulcus ibis are common. Non-bird biodiversity: There is little information but it is known that Loxodonta africana (EN) and the occasional Damaliscus lunatus korrigum (LR/cd) come to the lake during the dry season.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | fisheries/aquaculture | water management
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shrubland | 25 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 53 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 20 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Livestock and cultivation are quickly building up around the periphery of the lake. A large number of local fishermen have been joined by migrants from Mali, Niger, Togo and Benin. Although a management plan was drafted prior to the construction of the dam, until recently little effort had been made to implement it. Government has now begun to take action but much still needs to be done to regulate wood-cutting, fishing and hunting. A sport-fishing camp has been built on the edge of the lake from which the hunting of gamebirds is also based. A corridor needs to be established to link the eastern lake shore with the Arli–W–Singou complex (IBA BF008), nearby to the east.