The military junta in Mali has taken a major step in its territorial reclamation strategy. A ministerial decree published on Friday, June 5, 2026, establishes military interest zones covering about forty forests scattered across the country. These areas are now reserved exclusively for operations by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and strictly off-limits to any civilian presence. The measure explicitly targets presumed hideouts of jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State in the Sahel and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
A security map reshaping land use
The decree provides a precise list of the affected forested areas, spread over several regions. Woodlands in the centre and south, long used as fallback bases by armed fighters, feature prominently in the plan. By locking down access to these zones, the junta aims to sever the logistical lines of katibas and enable safer aerial targeting without endangering civilians.
The choice to regulate forests is no coincidence. For over a decade, these wooded areas have served as grey zones where subsistence economies, smuggling and insurgent activity intermingle. Villagers collect firewood, medicinal plants and game, while herders move their livestock through them. The new legal regime upends this balance by placing these resources under de facto military control.
In practice, any civilian entry becomes punishable, and sweeping operations can be carried out without notice. The text continues the hardline doctrine displayed by the colonels in power since the double coup of 2020 and 2021, which cut ties with the French military presence and shifted the security architecture toward Russian partners.
A military gamble with heavy humanitarian costs
The tactical effectiveness of this measure will depend on the FAMa and their auxiliaries’ ability to hold the forest terrain long-term. Helicopter-borne operations and targeted strikes, central since the departure of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2023, now have a broader legal framework in these banned zones. For Bamako, it also signals to public opinion a regained initiative against an insecurity that has spread southward, right up to the outskirts of Bamako and Kayes.
Yet the social consequences could be severe. Tens of thousands of people live near these forested areas and derive a significant portion of their income from forest exploitation. The ban risks destabilising rural communities already battered by drought, food inflation and closed cross-border markets. The precedent from Burkina Faso, which set up similar military interest zones in 2023, shows a correlation between expanding militarised perimeters and large-scale internal displacements.
A Sahel-wide convergence around militarisation of spaces
Mali’s move is part of a broader regional dynamic. Burkina Faso and Niger, partners within the Sahel States Confederation (AES), have since 2024 multiplied exceptional territorial measures to regain control against armed groups. This doctrinal convergence reflects a shared vision of security sovereignty, based on physical control of peripheral spaces and the temporary suspension of certain customary use rights.
International partners watch this shift warily. Human rights organisations have repeatedly documented abuses in areas under enhanced military rule. The junta’s ability to balance operational effectiveness with respect for civilian populations will be closely observed, notably by West African neighbours and donors still active in the country.
Economically, establishing these perimeters could also affect artisanal mining concessions and some gold operations on the edges of the targeted forests. The government has not yet specified how compensation or reassignment of affected populations will be handled. The ministerial decree was published on June 5, 2026, and concerns nearly forty forests across the nation.
