Africa's largest protected reserve created
Image - Jon Sullivan
The Council of Ministers of Niger has announced the foundation of the Termit and Tin Touffa National Nature and Cultural Reserve after the effort of over a decade to make it possible. The reserve, which is now the largest single protected area in Africa, covers 100,000 km² (38,610 sq. ml) and is therefore larger than Hungary.
It is hoped that the Reserve will help with conservation efforts concerning some of the world's rarest desert species, such as the dama gazelle, Barbary sheep, lappet-faced vultures, the pale fox, cheetah, sand cats and the critically endangered Addax. There are also unconfirmed reports of sightings of the Scimitar Oryx, which was declared extinct in the wild after no confirmed sightings were made in over fifteen years, raising hopes that some specimens are still extant. The Reserve also includes a broad range of habitats, including mountains, valleys, open desert, sand seas and grassy plains.
The foundation of the Reserve has been warmly welcomed by the Sahara Conservation Fund, which has campaigned for the protection of the area since its own inception in 2004. A spokesperson described the new Reserve as "a vast new protected area whose management will benefit both wildlife and local nomadic people through improved habitat use and the development amongst others of appropriate ecotourism."
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