Sahelo-Saharan Project Reports Steady Progress

Bonn, 20 February 2012 - The Steering Committee of the CMS Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes project in Niger met for the third time in Niamey 16th February 2012 to review progress regarding anti-poaching and the planned designation of Termit as a nature reserve.

The Committee was chaired by Mr Mamadou Manane, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Water and Environment. The Committee is composed of members of the General Directorate of Forests, regional environmental representatives, mayors of the main communities of the Termit area, local NGOs, the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF), the EU Delegation in Niger, UNDP and CMS. SCF is a strategic partner of CMS in this project, both contributing to its implementation and also co-financing some of the activities.

The area of Termit Tin Toumma harbors the last wild population of addax in the world, as well as dama and dorcas gazelles, Barbary sheep, cheetah, Arabian and Nubian bustards, a breeding colony of lappet-faced vultures and many other species of birds, mammals and reptiles.

The Steering Committee reviewed and validated the activity report of 2011 and approved the budget and action plan for 2012. The Project team presented the main results of 2011 and highlighted the increase in poaching and human disturbance related to the oil exploration activities that are taking place in the eastern side of the area. The construction of a pipeline and associated transport infrastructure has increased the overall accessibility in the region as well as the number of vehicles and people. Poachers mainly target dorcas gazelle, but there is an increasing danger that they could seek addax as well. The human presence in the area has already caused the addax population to split into two different groups, thus increasing the risk of extinction of this critically endangered species.

Combating illegal hunting is one of the project’s main priorities. Despite the difficulties of working in the area the anti-poaching brigades have arrested 19 poachers and seized 37 carcasses of dorcas gazelles and 3 young gazelles. In October 2011 a network of poachers was dismantled by the regional brigade of Zinder. With the election of a community agent involved in the project as Mayor of Ngourti, the Project will have a key ally in an area seriously affected by poaching.

The Project has a social component which includes support to the local schools, health campaigns and restoration of the traditional wells. Almost 300 children have been vaccinated and more than 400 patients were treated in 2011. The closure of a well in the dama gazelle area at the core of the Termit massif will prevent disturbance to this species. A well has been restored in Dougoulé instead, which will allow access to potable water to 300 families of nomads. Local communities appreciate these social services which generates a very positive attitude towards the wild species in the area.

Another key objective is the formal designation of Termit as a nature reserve equivalent to Category 4 of IUCN’s protected areas classification (Habitat/Species Management Area). The process to designate the reserve is very advanced and the authorities in Niger reassured the Steering Committee that it is only a matter of weeks before the file is presented to the Council of Ministers. The dossier has been already examined by the different ministries and some amendments have been introduced to modify the boundaries of the reserve in order to exclude the area where oil has been found, as well as some local communities towards the south. Even with this reduction the future reserve will have an area of 97,000 km2 which will make it one of the largest protected areas in the African continent. With these modifications it is expected that the dossier will be adopted by the Council of Ministers without additional problems.

Conservation efforts of the Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes Project focus on the area of Termit Tin Toumma, one of the last hotspots of desert biodiversity in the region. It consists of the Termit mountain massif and the adjacent erg of Tin Toumma, which extends towards the east as far as the border with Chad. It includes the regions of Zinder, Diffa and Agadez and the communities of Tesker, Ngourti, Tabelot, Fachi and Bilma.

The Termit project was initiated by CMS and its partners in 2007 as part of the Sahelo-Saharan Megafauna concerted action. At present the main donor is the European Union and until 2010 the project also benefitted from funding from the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM).