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The Termit Massif Total Reserve is a nature reserve in the southeast of
Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesAfrica Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. The area provides habitat for many critically endangered species. Prominent among them is the
addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...
antelope, which is categorized under the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...
as one of the rarest and most endangered species in the world; about 300 of them are reported in the reserve. A conservation effort has been launched by the Government of Niger in collaboration with many international conservation agencies. The reserve has also been declared an
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
for the biodiversity value of the Termit Massif and surrounding Sahara Desert and for the cultural value of its archaeological sites. The reserve has 30 species of mammals, several species of reptiles and more than 150 species of birds; among the bird species recorded is the threatened lappet-faced vulture which breeds in small pockets in several areas of the reserve.


History

The earliest reported exploration of the Termit Massif reserve area was by Saharan explorers
Dixon Denham Dixon Denham (1 January 17869 June 1828) was an English soldier, explorer of West Central Africa, and ultimately Governor of Sierra Leone. Early life Dixon Denham was born at Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London on New Year's Day, 1786, the ...
and
Hugh Clapperton Bain Hugh Clapperton (18 May 1788 – 13 April 1827) was a Scottish naval officer and explorer of West and Central Africa. Early career Clapperton was born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, where his father, George Clapperton, was a surgeon. He gained s ...
,
Heinrich Barth Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar. Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...
,
Gustav Nachtigal Gustav Nachtigal (; born 23 February 1834 – 20 April 1885) was a German military surgeon and explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His missio ...
, Vischer and Buchanan who recorded the enormous amount of game found in the reserve. In recent years the decline in the wildlife of the region has also been noted, and some of the species have been photographed by renowned wildlife photographer Alain Dragesco-Joffé. This led to initiation of action to preserve the wildlife in the area through suitable legislation passed by the Government of Niger on 1 January 1952, covering an area of . This has been further enlarged recently to cover an area of . Awareness of the unique wildlife of the reserve has been facilitated by the Sahara Conservation Fund since 2001. The proposal to declare this reserve as UNESCO World Heritage Site was submitted on 26 May 2006 under Criteria of Natural vii, on account of its biodiversity values and its cultural importance.


Geography

The reserve is a Total Faunal Reserve IUCN type IV, established 1 January 1962, covering over 700,000 hectares of the
Termit Massif The Termit Massif (Termit Mountains or simply the Termit) is a mountainous region in southeastern Niger. Just to the south of the dunes of Tenere desert and the Erg of Bilma, the northern areas of the Termit, called the Gossololom consists of ...
, which includes the ''Termit Massif Faunal Reserve Buffer Zone'', forming a half ring around the southern border of the larger Termit Massif Reserve. The rocky
Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...
highlands on the southern edge of the
Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
are known for their endangered
antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...
populations. Termit has both desert and mountain terrain. WWF has classified this reserve as part of the larger ecoregion of the South Saharan Steppe and Woodlands ecoregion that includes a strip of desert land which extends from central
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
,
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
, southwestern
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
, Niger,
Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
, and across
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
to the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
, and borders southern fringes of the
Sahara Desert , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
along the Saharan-Sahelian region, where the climate progressively becomes semi-arid. In the highly arid climatic conditions, annual average rainfall hovers around 100 mm, (highly temporal with spatial variation) which is generally during July and August. The ecoregion has two seasons - the dry season from November to May and the rainy season lasting from June to September. People's sustenance in the region is largely dependent on
pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands ( pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...
, rainfed agriculture, irrigation near oases and cattle grazing. Termit Massif is the central core of the reserve. The topography of the massif's southern part includes long eroded slopes of black sandstone formations which have valley formations, gullies and hillocks of conical shape. The northern part, called the Gossololom region, has rock outcrops rising out of the sand. The masiff is surrounded by a landscape of black rocks and ochre coloured sand. The peak elevation of the massif is 710m. The massif is home for human settlements of tribes of Toubou people whose basic vocation is farming (livestock and agriculture) with rearing of camels, goats and a limited number of sheep. The Gossololom region has notable archaeological finds from the Paleolithic and post-Neolithic periods. The tools found are
Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...
stone tools: microliths, bifaced tools, chopping tools, axe heads, and remnants of pots. Many carvings on stones of giraffes and cattle have also been found. The soil formations recorded in the reserve in the sequence from south to north are; the ancient dunes of the
Quaternary age The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million ye ...
consisting of soil and clay; sand dunes running longitudinally; the newly deposited layers of sand dunes; a mixture of old and new dunes in the north; formations of clayey sandstone as bedrock; and the sandy
alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...
of the Quaternary age in the dry valley of Dillia. In the dry valley of Dillia, and in basins and valleys cutting the massif, there are only eight temporal ponds which are filled for 3 months of the year. In the foothills of the massif, deep wells of 16 to 40 m depth are the only other source of water.


Wildlife

The reserve is a faunal reserve and hence all emphasis is on its fauna. Its flora consists mainly of Sahelian savanna of small, twisted trees, and trees with thorn and bushes.


Fauna

The reserve habitat is isolated, conditions which have helped create the rich congregation of desert fauna. Many IUCN Red Listed endangered species such as
addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...
, dama and
Dorcas gazelle The dorcas gazelle (''Gazella dorcas''), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about at the shoulder, with a head and body length of and a weight of . The numerous subspecies survive on vegeta ...
s,
Sudan cheetah The Northeast African cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii'') is a cheetah subspecies occurring in Northeast Africa. Contemporary records are known in South Sudan and Ethiopia, but population status in Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan is ...
,
Barbary sheep The Barbary sheep (''Ammotragus lervia''), also known as aoudad (pronounced �ɑʊdæd is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus ''Ammotragus'', six subspecies have been descri ...
and striped hyena survive in large numbers.
Bustards Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bust ...
, of both the
Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...
and Sudan species, and also
tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...
(desert-adopted spur type) are also found in large numbers;
vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
, small
carnivora Carnivora is a Clade, monophyletic order of Placentalia, placental mammals consisting of the most recent common ancestor of all felidae, cat-like and canidae, dog-like animals, and all descendants of that ancestor. Members of this group are f ...
ns, including
canids Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', " dog") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). There are three subfamilies found within ...
(such as fennec,
pale fox The pale fox (''Vulpes pallida'') is a species of fox found in the band of African Sahel from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. It is one of the least studied of all canid species, in part due to its remote habitat and its sandy coat th ...
,
Rüppell's fox Rüppell's fox (''Vulpes rueppellii''), also called Rüppell's sand fox, is a fox species living in desert and semi-desert regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List ...
and golden wolf) and small cat species ( Saharan sand cat and
African wild cat The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species native to Africa, West and Central Asia up to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang in China. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2022. In Cyprus, an African wi ...
), are also reported in the reserve. While details are difficult to establish, some researchers believe Termit may be home to the last self-sustaining population of the critically endangered
addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...
, which at one time made regular migrations from what is now the Aïr and Ténéré Addax Sanctuary on the edge of the
Ténéré desert The Ténéré (Tuareg: Tenere, literally: "desert") is a desert region in the south central Sahara. It comprises a vast plain of sand stretching from northeastern Niger into western Chad, occupying an area of over . The Ténéré's boundaries are ...
. Several hundred
dama gazelle The dama gazelle (''Nanger dama''), also known as the addra gazelle or mhorr gazelle, is a species of gazelle. It lives in Africa, in the Sahara desert and the Sahel. A critically endangered species, it has disappeared from most of its former r ...
are noted here. Though the
slender-horned gazelle The rhim gazelle or rhim (''Gazella leptoceros''), also known as the slender-horned gazelle, African sand gazelle or Loder's gazelle, is a pale-coated gazelle with long slender horns and well adapted to desert life. It is considered an endange ...
had previously been reported here, it was unknown by 1999 if it was still found in the area. The Saharan cheetah is reported to be very few in number, about 10. They have adopted to the searing heat of the Saharan Desert and can survive without a perennial source of water. Air Barbary sheep are also found here.


Flora

The reserve's vegetation consists of steppe of '' Acacia-Panicum'' species on the western and southern sides of the massif. Grassy steppe species ''
Panicum turgidum ''Panicum turgidum'' is an old world clumping desert bunchgrass of the genus '' Panicum''. It is a plant of arid regions across Africa and Asia, and has been introduced to other parts of the world. Description ''Panicum turgidum'' is a perennia ...
'', ''
Indigofera sessiliflora ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description Species of ''Indigofera'' are mos ...
'' or ''
Danthonia forskalii ''Danthonia'' is a genus of Eurasian, North African, and American plants in the grass family. Members of this genus are sometimes referred to as oatgrass, but that common name is not restricted to this genus. Other common names include heathgrass ...
'' dominate the eastern part of the reserve. Other specific floral species recorded include: ''
Acacia raddiana ''Vachellia tortilis'', widely known as ''Acacia tortilis'' but now attributed to the genus ''Vachellia'', is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as ''umbrella thorn'' and Israeli babool, a medium to large canopied tree native to most of Afri ...
'' and ''Panicum turgidum'' in the western and southern valleys, ''
Acacia raddiana ''Vachellia tortilis'', widely known as ''Acacia tortilis'' but now attributed to the genus ''Vachellia'', is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as ''umbrella thorn'' and Israeli babool, a medium to large canopied tree native to most of Afri ...
'', ''
Maerua crassifolia ''Maerua crassifolia'' is a species of plant in the Capparaceae family. It is native to Africa, tropical Arabia, and Israel, but is disappearing from Egypt. Foliage from this plant is used as fodder for animals, especially camels, during the dry ...
'', ''
Salvadora persica ''Salvadora persica'' or the toothbrush tree is a small evergreen tree native to India, the Middle East and Africa. Its sticks are traditionally used as a natural toothbrush called ''miswak'' and are mentioned by the World Health Organization f ...
'', ''Panicum turgidum'', '' Chenbergiana'' and ''
Leptadenia pyrotechnica ''Leptadenia pyrotechnica'' ( hi, खींप; pa, ਖਿੱਪ) is the botanical name of a desert herb of the family Apocynaceae. It is widespread from Senegal to India. It is known as in Hindi and Urdu, and in Punjabi.L. R. Burdak (1982): R ...
''.


Conservation

The faunal reserve has been subject to intense hunting of endangered species. The
addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...
species remaining in the Termit region is considered the only place in the world with sustainable numbers. Hence, its conservation has received the active support of the Termit regional programme jointly funded by the
Government of Niger The government of Niger is the apparatus through which authority functions and is exercised: the governing apparatus of Nigerien state. The current system of governance, since the Constitution of 25 November 2010, is termed the Seventh Republic ...
, the
Convention on Migratory Species The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention, is an international agreement that aims to conserve migratory species throughout their r ...
(CMS), the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM), the Association Française des Volontaires du Progrès (AFVP) and the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF). This project is integral to The Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes (SSA) initiative undertaken by the "CMS Concerted Action for Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes" launched in 1998, which is called a "flagship project"


References

{{authority control National parks of Niger Protected areas established in 1962 1962 establishments in Niger