The Pendjari-NP exists since 1961 and is part of the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve. Our most important research focus is to understand the influence of human activity on biodiversity on the one hand and the consequences of massive biodiversity losses outside the park for the provision of the local residents with formerly ubiquitous natural resources on the other hand. The interdisciplinary approach at this site covers remote sensing, climatology, biodiversity mapping, soil sciences, zoology, botany and ethnology / sociology. Work is being carried out in 14 observatories along a disturbance gradient ranging from pristine savannah to intensively used land, i.e. cotton fields. The Pendjari area and its anthropogenically altered surroundings are ideally suited for our comparative approach to detect human impact against the background of a largely natural setting. |