Mare aux Hippopotames

The nature reserve Mare aux Hippopotamuses was founded in 1937 as Forêt Classée, one of the internationally significant wetlands of the Ramsar Convention in 1986 and gained the status of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is located in western Burkina Faso, about 80 km north of Bobo-Dioulasso near the village of Bala and covers 16 300 ha