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BF007
Lake Kompienga
Location Burkina Faso, Kompienga
Central coordinates 0o 37.00' East  11o 8.00' North
IBA criteria A3, A4iii
Area 48,000 ha
Altitude 149 - 180m
Year of IBA assessment 2001

Fondation des Amis de la Nature (NATURAMA)



Ornithological information 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.

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.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species Season Period Population estimate Quality of estimate IBA Criteria IUCN Category
Senegal Parrot Poicephalus senegalus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Blue-bellied Roller Coracias cyanogaster resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Bearded Barbet Lybius dubius resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Yellow-billed Shrike Corvinella corvina resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Rufous Cisticola Cisticola rufus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Senegal Eremomela Eremomela pusilla resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Purple Glossy-starling Lamprotornis purpureus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver Plocepasser superciliosus resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Bush Petronia Petronia dentata resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Black-rumped Waxbill Estrilda troglodytes resident  1998  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
A4iii Species group - waterbirds unknown  1998  20,000 individuals  unknown  A4iii   

Habitats

IUCN habitat Habitat detail Extent (% of site)
Artificial landscapes (terrestrial)   53%
Wetlands (inland)   20%
Shrubland   25%

Land use

Land-use Extent (% of site)
agriculture -
fisheries/aquaculture -
water management -

Other 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.

Management considerations 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.

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Lake Kompienga. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/06/2013

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