Reflecting On A Year Of Conservation Success
As we reflect on 2024, we are proud to share the impact of our work and your support on the Sahara’s unique and fragile ecosystems. Together, we have made remarkable steps to protect some of the world’s most endangered species, despite the immense challenges posed by climate, habitat loss and an overall unstable security context.
Milestone for Dama Gazelle conservation
This year marked the conclusion of the project “Reversing the decline of endangered fauna in Niger’s Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve” supported by the IUCN Save Our Species, co-funded by the European Union and Saint Louis Zoo, launched in 2022.
The development of a 10-year Roadmap for Dama Gazelle Conservation in the Aïr & Ténéré reserve (2023-2032), the highlight of the project, was achieved through a participatory process with wildlife authorities. Other significant outcomes included over 8,500 km patrolled by Protected Area Management Unit agents, contributing to reducing the occurrence of illegal activities, the deployment of 40 camera traps that captured 367,000 images, including 506 of dama gazelles, enhancing ecological understanding of this key population, and strong engagement from local communities dedicated to conservation.
The dama gazelle program in Chad also made a stride with the release of six individuals into the wild, for the first time in the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve (OROAFR). Post-release monitoring revealed that the gazelles quickly integrated with larger groups of wild individuals. Our captive breeding program, initiated in 2020, now comprises 32 individuals, a critical step toward rebuilding this fragile population.
Thanks to your generosity and the dedication of our partners, these efforts have provided renewed hope for a species on the brink of extinction, with probably about 100 individuals remaining in the wild in Chad and Niger.
A Holistic Approach in Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim
Our work in Chad’s OROAFR is evolving into a landscape-wide, multispecies conservation strategy.
Key initiatives this year include:
Vulture Conservation
For the first time in the region, GPS tags were deployed on six Rüppell’s and four lappet-faced vultures in OROAFR, offering invaluable data on their movements and ecology. This initiative will guide strategies to protect these vital species.
Bustards Conservation
Building on previous work, Sahara Conservation, in collaboration with the Ornithological Swiss Institute and the Zoological Society of London, carried out a mission to better understand the ecology of bustards in OROAFR. These iconic birds play a key ecological role in the Sahelo-Saharan grasslands. This critical first step will help shape future efforts to protect these iconic birds, including habitat assessments and addressing potential threats.
Healthcare Missions
Over 250 people in remote areas received medical and dental care during a mobile mission with ESAFRO, the first of its kind in OROAFR, strengthening trust and partnerships with local people.
Awareness Raising on Bushfires
This year, our teams conducted over 135 meetings with herder communities, reaching more than 6,000 individuals to raise awareness about the risks of bushfires and the importance of ecosystem management.
This summer’s heavy rains have favored dense, continuous vegetation, creating a breeding ground for fires, with no natural barriers to halt them. In response, our team worked tirelessly to combat the fires, building over 200 km of firebreaks across the reserve and successfully preventing and extinguishing numerous bushfires.
ALBIA Project
In collaboration with international and local stakeholders, this initiative is driving sustainable resource use and biodiversity protection across the reserve.
Scimitar-Horned Oryx: A Continued Recovery
Our successful partnership with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi continues to deliver outstanding results, and this year we signed a third 5-year phase of operations to ensure the program’s sustainability.
November saw another 50 scimitar-horned oryx transferred to Chad from Abu Dhabi, bringing the total number reintroduced since 2016 to 385. The species, once extinct in the wild, now counts 600 individuals thriving in the wild, and was downlisted to “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List in 2023. These ongoing efforts are a testament to what collaborative conservation can achieve.
Empowering Communities and Youth
In Niger, we initiated an innovative program using sports as a vector to raise awareness among younger generations of the need to protect the country’s biodiversity. Over 1,000 participants engaged in activities such as soccer tournaments and plastic cleanup races, empowering young people to take action for biodiversity.
Healthcare missions in Niger also reached over 400 people located in remote areas, providing much-needed medical and dental care while strengthening ties with local communities—a cornerstone of our conservation efforts.
Expanding Partnerships for Greater Impact
This year, we strengthened our collaborative efforts by signing new Memoranda of Understanding with key partners, including the National Agency of Water and Forestry of Morocco, the General Directorate of Water and Forests of Niger, Saint Louis Zoo, and African Parks in Chad. These agreements mark an important step forward in aligning our shared goals and advancing conservation initiatives across the Sahara and Sahel regions.
Looking Ahead
While we celebrate these achievements, we remain firmly focused on the challenges ahead. 2024 was a year of extreme weather, from a particularly harsh dry season to a devastating rainy season followed by numerous bushfires, underscoring the delicate balance we aim to protect.
Looking forward, we are committed to expand our landscape-wide conservation approach, strengthen partnerships with local communities and develop innovative strategies to tackle emerging conservation challenges.