Actions 2008
Niger, a sahelo saharian country over more than half of its territory, has been identified as a priority within the framework of the CMS SSA Concerted Action(Convention on Migratory Species), is the most important country for in situ conservation of the sahelo saharan megafauna:
- It shares with Chad the only Addax population identified as viable in the wild in the sub area;
- It contains dama gazelle, of which no population in the wild is protected in the world;
- Finally, organic integrity of some areas (Termit, Aïr-Ténéré, Gadabédji, etc.), the beauty of landscapes and the presence of a unique saharan and sahelan fauna in the sub area, which allows to set up the conservation project based on the development of an environment-friendly saharan tourism leading to local and national effects.
(sources:ASS Niger/website)
The SSA project in Niger
Our last mission in Niger was a success. The entire team at the Ministry of Environment has changed, with a new Minister (Mr Mohamed Akotey), a new Secretary General, a new Director General, a new Director General Adjoint, and new (but not yet nominated) Director of Protected Areas, and Director for Fauna and Hunting.
The new team is very keen for us to reach our objectives in Niger, and appears ready to help.
We agreed with the Minister that we will come up with definite boundaries for the future Termit -TinToumma Protected Area asap, so that he will be in a position to push with the designation process. And importantly, to avoid VIP hunting parties being sent in the area, or in its vicinity. We gave him the initial boundaries that we proposed last year, which still need some adjustment. Our team in Zinder will work on it as their first priority. As we left Niger, our first aerial survey was being completed (at a very good price, with Aviation Sans Frontières!). We should soon have a pretty good estimate of the last viable Addax population, particularly with Tim Wacher (ZSL) doing the analysis.
Our team in Zinder works under the combined CMS/SCF flag, and our partnership with SCF is now strongly reinforced. The Minister also gave us the green light to develop a new and complementary project in Gadabedji Faunal Reserve. This 75.000 ha reserve is only on the map at the moment (has been for many decades), but our hope would be to turn it into a real Sahelian PA, with great opportunities to reintroduce the Scimitar-horned Oryx, the Dama Gazelle, and other typical Sahelian critically endangered species such as the Ostrich and the Peralta Giraffe. It means also to find funds to fence most of it, the pressure from livestock grazing being important. It would be a first, as there is no Sahelian PA anywhere else.
PDF file, click here for the plugin page
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ASS Niger. Damagram n°2. Newsletter 01/2008
January 2008. in french (PDF, 604,4 kB, HTML version)
ASS Niger. Damagram n°3. Newsletter 05/2008
May 2008. in french (PDF, 604,4 kB, HTML version)
