SEO Riders:
– Government validates new SOPs for secure ivory storage amid regional anti-trafficking push.
- – Supported by EPI Foundation and UK’s IWT Challenge Fund across five West African nations.
– SOPs align national law with CITES, emphasizing transparency, marking, inspections, and legislative review.
In June 2025, Burkina Faso officially endorsed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the secure handling, storage, and disposal of ivory and seized wildlife products at a two-day workshop in Ouagadougou. Organized by the Direction Générale des Eaux et Forêts in partnership with the EPI Foundation and Les Anges Gardiens de la Nature, the workshop brought together government officials, NGOs, and international partners to address persistent challenges in stockpile mismanagement that often lead to ivory leakages into illegal markets.
These SOPs—part of a broader regional initiative supported by the UK’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund—are being rolled out in five West African countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone). Key measures include using coded markings, inspection protocols, digital inventory systems, and improved legal alignment with CITES standards. Officials emphasized that maintaining transparency and accountability in ivory storage is critical to closing domestic ivory markets and curbing wildlife trafficking. The validation sets the stage for infrastructure upgrades, nationwide implementation, and legislative reforms that could significantly fortify Burkina Faso’s wildlife crime response.
