La Mare aux Hippopotames (faunal reserve / Ramsar site / UNESCO Biosphere Reserve)

Freshwater lake and floodplain on the Mouhoun (Black Volta) River, ~60 km north of Bobo-Dioulasso, Houet Province. A classified faunal reserve (1937), the only UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Burkina Faso (1977) and a Ramsar wetland of international importance (1990, site 491). As an 'aire de protection faunique', fishing here is allowed only under the special regime of Art. 205 of the 2011 Forest Code (licensed fishing guide), and the national ban on firearms/bladed weapons for fishing (Art. 175) excludes spearfishing. A concrete, mappable instance of the existing generic 'special protection areas' prohibited category.