As part of the implementation of the Programme for the Conservation and Management of National Parks (PCGPN) of Benin (PCGPN), the National Center for the Management of Wildlife Reserves (CENAGREF) benefits from the support of the European Union for the component “project for the conservation and management of the W National Park complex complex” component. This component included in the Regional Project Park W Protected Ecosystems of Africa Soudano-Sahelian (ECOPAS) aims to reverse the process of degradation of natural resources in the Park for the benefit of local populations. To achieve this objective, several activities including ecological monitoring are implemented.

Thus, as part of the ecological monitoring of W National Park, annual counts are planned. At the end of April 2002, a first operation was carried out. During the same period in 2003, the second edition of this activity was carried out,

The objective of the prospective count is to have a qualitative and quantitative view of the fauna of the W National Park Complex for a basis for planning activities. Specifically for this preliminary report, it was necessary to have data on the species richness and the rates of encounter of the various species. The count concerned five areas of the Park W complex, namely: the Mékrou hunting area, the south-western zone of the Park having the shape of a “triangle”, the zone between Koudou and the triple point in the Park (Sapingou Zone), the Djona hunting area.

This report provides a brief overview of the Park W Complex, outlines the methodology for data collection and processing, and presents the results of this prospective count.