How protected are protected areas? What monitoring birds tells us about park management in Togo, West Africa

18 July, 2025

By Nico Arcilla and Lin-Ernni Mikégraba Kaboumba

A Double-toothed Barbet (Pogonornis bidentatus) in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, Togo. Photo by Sylvain Uriot.

Originally published at: https://phys.org/news/2025-07-areas-birds-togo-west-africa.html

Protected areas are crucial for wildlife conservation, but many are under unprecedented pressure associated with exponential human population growth in West Africa. In Togo, two national parks that previously hosted iconic African wildlife have been almost entirely destroyed by human activities related to domestic political conflicts. However, Togo’s largest protected area, Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, has managed to escape this fate – until now.

A Red-throated Bee-eater (Merops bulocki) in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, Togo. Photo by Sylvain Uriot.

Prior to 1990, Fazao-Malfakassa National Park was uninhabited and had around a dozen villages in its vicinity. However, subsequent immigration and proliferation of settlements inside and around the park boundaries resulted in the number of villages more than tripling within two decades. As a result, the park has come under increasing pressure associated with human activities.

The Fazao mountains in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park. Photo by Sylvain Uriot.

Many wildlife species historically present in Togo now survive only in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, including both African forest elephants and African savanna elephants. Starting in 1990, a private foundationbased in Switzerland protected and managed the park, but since 2015, the park has been managed by the state. Unfortunately, this transition has resulted in widespread poaching, according to news reports. However, few scientific studies have investigated wildlife in the park to date.

The Kamaka River in the dry season, Fazao-Malfakassa National Park. Photo by Nico Arcilla.

We investigated the conservation status of Fazao-Malfakassa National Park using birds as indicators of biodiversity conservation, and recently published the results in the journal Land. Working with an international team including students and faculty at the University of Lomé, Togo, we conducted 90 days of bird surveys in the park between 2022 and 2024. Previous bird surveys documented 199 species in the park, including one new species for Togo, the White-browed Forest Flycatcher. We documented a total of 240 bird species, including 34 species new to the park. Exciting discoveries included the first record of Emin’s Shrike in Togo, and the first sighting of the Great Blue Turaco since 1990.

Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata). Photo by Tom Tarrant, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikipedia Commons.

Unfortunately, we also found abundant evidence that Fazao-Malfakassa National Park’s exceptional biodiversity has come under increasing assault. The apparent extirpation of endangered species including the White-backed Vulture and declines of the endangered Bateleur and Martial Eagle indicate that current conservation strategies are failing to adequately protect wildlife in the park. Moreover, we were unable to document 91 bird species previously reported for the park, suggesting a significant decline in bird species compared to historical records.

Illegal charcoal production in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park means that ongoing incineration of mature trees destroys vital nesting areas, habitat, and food resources for wildlife. Photo by Nico Arcilla.

Road building, commercial crop plantations, poaching, logging, charcoal production, cattle grazing, and the widespread destruction of trees to harvest honey are among the major drivers of wildlife declines. Left unchecked, such activities will result in ongoing extinctions in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, despite its official protection. In many areas where we made sightings of rare birds, we also witnessed evidence of intensive poaching and extensive burning by poachers to clear vegetation. No place appears to be safe from illegal actors, as there were signs of their presence everywhere we visited, including in the heart of the park.

An illegal charcoal producer in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park explains to IBCP research team members and a park ranger that he is working for an organized network of well-connected business people, and that he is cutting down trees in the protected area because he was unable to find any large trees anywhere else. Photo by Nico Arcilla.

The declines in birds of prey and apex scavengers we found are alarming, as there is a lucrative regional black market trade in vultures, eagles, owls, and other wildlife for belief-based use in regional voodoo and “fetish” markets. These declines also mirror declines of mammals reported by park rangers, many of whom have witnessed the collapse in wildlife populations in the park since 2015. Areas where tourist safaris took place years ago are now virtually empty of large mammals, and the few mammals we encountered in our surveys fled in terror at our approach.

Wildlife products offered for sale at a “fetish” market in Togo. Photo by Nico Arcilla.

A recent mammal study in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park used camera traps to identify several new species for the park, including the African palm civet, and resulted in the first photo of Walter’s duiker, one of the world’s most elusive mammals, in the wild. Fortunately, Togo’s last populations of endangered and critically endangered mammals including African elephants and white-thighed colobus, which we observed during our fieldwork, also survive in the park.

Male African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), the largest terrestrial animal on earth, in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, Togo. Photo by Nico Arcilla.

However, no recent evidence has been found of African lions, leopards, and many other mammal species that previously called Togo home. Moreover, the recent camera trap study in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park found only 27 of the 52 mammals previously documented in the park, suggesting a ~48% decline of mammal species richness in the park compared with historical records. One of many consequences of wildlife declines is that there is less prey for predators and scavengers. Fewer mammals means less food for raptors such as eagles, hawks, and vultures, and other large birds such as the Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill, a once-widespread bird currently on the brink of extinction in Togo, which we were lucky to observe!

Female Abyssinian Ground-Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus). Photo by Malcolm from the Frozen North, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikipedia Commons.

Park rangers are on the front lines of defense for wildlife in vulnerable protected areas. However, at the time of our surveys, most rangers in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park did not have access to critical equipment or other support necessary for effective patrols, including patrol vehicles, fuel, and supplies. Moreover, some attempts at law enforcement by rangers are undermined by powerful actors acting on behalf of offenders due to corruption. Rangers are thus effectively discouraged from protecting the park. As a result, much of the park is being left to the mercy of poachers, illegal charcoal producers, cattle herders, and others whose activities are collectively destroying its wildlife, trees, and habitat.

A view of a former community forest at the boundary of Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, whose protection was funded by the European Union, but which was illegally bulldozed and converted into a cornfield. Photo by Nico Arcilla.

Fazao-Malfakassa National Park represents a last refuge in Togo for many iconic and endangered species, emphasizing the park’s national and international importance. Our findings demonstrate both that the park’s avifauna is richer than previously realized, but also highly threatened. Currently, illegal actors exploiting the park’s resources for private, short-term economic gain are placing Togo’s last large national park in peril, as demonstrated by extirpations and declines of large raptors and 91 “missing” bird species.

Common Wattle-eye (Platysteira cyanea) in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park. Photo by Sylvain Uriot.

Funding from the European Union, United Nations Development Program, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature offers a lifeline of support to the park in the form of millions of US dollars. It is urgent that such much-needed support reach the rangers who protect the park. Returning the park to private management could ease the burden on the state, improve the situation of the rangers, and improve the prospects of survival of Togo’s magnificent natural heritage.

IBCP and University of Lomé, Togo, research team members Lin-Ernni Mikégraba Kaboumba and Komlan Afiademanyo in Fazao-Malfakassa National Park. Photo by Nico Arcilla.