Management Effectiveness Evaluation of the Saloum Delta National Park Using the Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET), Senegal, West Africa

Abstract

Background: Assessing protected-area management effectiveness is essential for identifying operational strengths, persistent constraints and priorities for adaptive management. Aims: To assess the management effectiveness of the Saloum Delta National Park (PNDS), Senegal, using the Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool (IMET), through a combined multi-year (2020–2025) and comparative approach with other Senegalese national parks. Study Design: Multi-year, comparative management-effectiveness assessment based on the IMET framework (six management-cycle components), combining a longitudinal analysis across three evaluation cycles with cross-site benchmarking. Place and Duration of Study: Saloum Delta National Park, Toubacouta, Senegal; participatory evaluation workshop conducted over three days (21–23 May 2025), drawing on IMET evaluation cycles carried out in 2020, 2023 and 2025. Methodology: The methodology combined a documentary review, direct field observations and a participatory workshop, assessing the six components of the management cycle. The IMET Scaling Up module enabled a longitudinal analysis of PNDS across three cycles (2020, 2023, 2025) and a comparison with Niokolo-Koba National Park (PNNK) and Langue de Barbarie National Park (PNLB). Results: In 2025, PNDS obtained an overall IMET index of 55.65%, up from 52.07% in 2023, driven by Planning (64.6%) and Outcomes and Impacts (63.0%), while Inputs (46.7%) and Outputs (44.7%) remained the weakest components. The analysis revealed a U-shaped trajectory, concealing a continuous deterioration of Context and steady progress in Outcomes and Impacts. The cross-site comparison placed PNDS within a satisfactory range alongside PNNK and PNLB, with all three parks sharing a common weakness in Inputs. Conclusion: These findings call for securing PNDS's resources, strengthening its work programme and anticipating pressures on the ecosystem, while confirming the value of IMET for adaptive management at the park level and across the national protected-area network in West Africa.