The Pendjari National Park is an area of 275,500 ha in the far north-west of Benin. The park is contiguous with the Arli-W-Singou complex which is a vast protected area in Benin-Burkina-Niger. The hills and cliffs of the Atakora range make the north-west one the most scenic areas of Benin. They provide a wonderful backdrop to the Pendjari National Park, which, in its isolation, remains one of the most interesting in West Africa.

The rocky cliffs of the area are sparsely wooded with Burkea africana, Detarium microcarpum, Lannea acida, Sterculia setigera and Combretum ghasalense. On the deep soils of some of the summits and the Atakora escarpment one finds a greater variety of plant species with Isoberlina doka and Afzelia africana. The Pendjari River has an impressive gallery forest.

The park includes both Sudan and Northern Guinea savannas, with areas of grassland dominated by Acacia sieberiana and Mitragyna inermis or Terminalia macropter. There are also large stocks of game including Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Roan Antelope, Hippopotamus etc. There is a high annual rainfall of c1,100 mm and the Park is closed from May-December during which time it is flooded.