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  • North African ostrich workshop in Chad

    The North African ostrich (Struthio camelus camelus) is the biggest and one of the rarest birds on the planet. With the exception of a few small savanna populations in Chad, Sudan and Uganda, the North African ostrich has completely disappeared from its previously vast Sahelo-Saharan range.  Since its inception in 2004, SCF has been keen…

  • POROA: developments & progress report

    The Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Project (POROA) has been run by Sahara Conservation in collaboration with the government of Chad since late 2018. Co-funded by the European Union, the project aims to improve management of the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve and its biodiversity through an inclusive and transversal approach. POROA is part of a broader…

  • Achieving sound conservation

    John Watkin I knew before accepting the position that succeeding John Newby as the CEO of the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) would involve filling some very large shoes. This was not a decision I took lightly. I had previously met John 25 years ago when I was just starting out in conservation, working as an…

  • Sandscript – Spring 2019

    With spring 2019 already underway, the Sahara Conservation Fund continues to make steady progress in its projects and towards its annual goals. While a recent field mission brought 25 new Scimitar-horned oryx to the reintroduction program site in Chad, the Sahara Conservation Fund’s Niger staff helped install new facilities in Kellé on the site of…

  • Threats to Egyptian Vultures

    The Egyptian Vulture is facing an important decline worldwide, and the Balkans have not been spared: from the hundreds of pairs historically present in the peninsula, about 70 pairs only are remaining, the population being victim of a 7% decline yearly for the past 30 years. This rapid decline is hard to prevent as it…

  • Africa’s largest reserve may lose half its area to oil development

    Created in 2012, Niger’s Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve is the last region of the Sahara relatively undisturbed by human activity. But expanding oil exploration threatens this sanctuary for 130 bird and 17 mammal species, including the critically endangered addax (Addax nasomaculatus).

  • Expanding oil exploration threatens one of the Sahara’s largest nature reserves

    Created in 2012, Niger’s Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve is the last region of the Sahara relatively undisturbed by human activity. But expanding oil exploration threatens this sanctuary for 130 bird and 17 mammal species, including the critically endangered addax. https://psmag.com/environment/oil-exploration-threatens-large-nature-preserve-in-the-sahara

  • Introducing John Watkin as Sahara Conservation new CEO

    SCF is pleased to announce the appointment of John Watkin as new CEO, replacing John Newby who will continue to serve as Senior Advisor to the organization. It is anticipated that John Watkin will officially begin work on August 1, providing sufficient time to complete an orderly handover.  John Watkin is a highly experienced conservationist who has been working in…

  • Egyptian vulture conservation: latest field activities

    Vultures face many threats which vary a lot depending on their location, ranging from electrocution to poaching. As part of the Egyptian Vultures NEW LIFE project, SCF conducted a survey to understand the threats faced by the birds in Niger. Poaching had already been reported in the country, which encouraged the team to first focus…

  • Image Nation’s Back to the Wild documentary screens in Beijing

    The screening was held under the patronage of Dr Ali Obaid Al Dhaheri, Ambassador of the UAE to China and in partnership with the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and the Beijing Foreign Studies University. http://broadcastprome.com/news/image-nations-back-to-the-wild-documentary-screens-in-beijing/

  • News from the field in Morocco

    SCF recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Morocco to provide technical assistance as part of the national efforts to conserve key species of the Sahara. Fieldwork has begun and is already leading to some interesting observations. A recent field mission was conducted by Moroccan wildlife authorities as part of its national ungulate conservation strategy. From March…

  • North African Ostrich Recovery Project: setting up new facilities

    In partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), Kellé, Niger, created by Sahara Conservation a few years ago. SC’s ambitious goal to reintroduce the species into the wild. The recent installation of a solar-powered hatchery and incubation unit is now allowing the organization to get closer to this goal.  The containers have been successfully brought…

  • News from the 8 recently translocated West African giraffes in Niger

    8 West African giraffes (3 males and 5 females) ( Giraffa camelopardalis peralta ) were recently circulated from their area of ​​Kouré 60 km south-east of Niamey, to the Gadabedji Biosphere Reserve more than 800 km away. As part of Niger’s national West African giraffe conservation strategy, the aim of this operation is to provide…

  • Four Dama Gazelles Recently Observed In Niger

    The National Nature Reserve of Aïr and Ténéré in Niger is home to some iconic animal species – among which the dama gazelle (Nanger dama), one of the most endangered antelopes on the planet. Due to human activity in the valleys – the dama gazelle has found refuge on the mountain Takoloukouzet, which is located…

  • Al Ain Zoo discusses action plans for conservation of Dama Gazelle

    After five years of analysis and research, Al Ain Zoo yesterday concluded its second roundtable workshop dedicated to conserving the critically endangered Dama Gazelle, in collaboration with the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, with the support of Sahara Conservation in Chad and the Al Bustan Zoological Centre. http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302726888

  • Scimitar-horned oryx returns to Chad

    To date, more than 150 captive-bred scimitar-horned oryx have been returned to the wild in Chad’s Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Game Reserve. This vast protected area was set up in the 1960s specifically for the conservation of oryx and other desert species. https://www.safari.com/news/living-world/scimitar-horned-oryx-returns-to-chad/#

  • West African Giraffe return to Gadabedji Biosphere Reserve after 50 years of absence

    Eight West African giraffe travelled over 800 kilometers in 48 hours to be safely re-introduced to the Gadabedji Biosphere Reserve in Niger, after an absence of almost 50 years. The Giraffe Conservation Foundation and Sahara Conservation Fund announce the safe re-introduction of eight highly threatened West African giraffe into Gadabedji Biosphere Reserve (recently listed as a Biosphere Reserve by…

  • Niger will use drones to protect almost extinct addax antelopes

    Oft times when we talk about endangered animals in Afrika at risk of extinction or being poached we think mostly of elephants and rhinos. This can be attributed to various factors including increased publicity around the increasing threats that rhinos and elephants face from poachers. https://www.iafrikan.com/2018/11/27/niger-turns-to-drones-to-protect-precious-wildlife

  • Sahara Conservation officially partners with Morocco to improve management of endangered mammals source populations

    After having been invited to Morocco to visit key sites for the conservation of some of the most endangered Sahelo-Saharan species during the spring of 2018, Sahara Conservation is very happy to announce the signature of a new collaborative agreement with the Moroccan wildlife authorities.  SCF and Morocco’s High Commission for Water and Forests and the…

  • New observations of dama gazelles in the wild

    The Takolokouzet Massif is located in the Aïr & Ténéré National Nature Reserve in Niger. It is home to some iconic species, including the Barbary sheep and the dama gazelle, one of the most endangered antelopes on the planet. It is on Takolokouzet’s plateaus that the reserve’s last dama gazelles find refuge from disturbance and…

  • Challenges of sahelo-saharan antelope reintroductions: depletion in the wild vs abundance in captivity

    The conservation community is facing a paradox related to the difficulties of reintroducing and/or reinforcing some species which are declining and disappearing in the wild while the number of individuals keeps increasing in captivity and overpopulation is becoming an issue, e.g.: scimitar-horned oryx and addax in zoos and private collections. Thomas Rabeil Based on the…

  • Niger to move protected giraffes as habitat shrinks

    Part of a group of a rare giraffes that has become a Niger tourist attraction is to be moved to a reserve 600km away owing to encroaching desert, farmland and increasing instances of them being struck by vehicles, officials said on Wednesday. https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/niger-to-move-protected-giraffes-as-habitat-shrinks-20181121

  • Metamorphosis – Change in the air at Sahara Conservation

    After 15 years at the helm of the Sahara Conservation Fund, John Newby, the organization’s founding CEO, will be stepping down in 2019 to take on a new role as Senior Adviser. With the organization at a critical point in its growth and development, and a brand-new strategic plan under its belt, John and the SCF…

  • Sahelian plains of Chad welcome 40 Scimitar-horned oryx calves

    The Sahelian plains of Chad have welcomed 40 Scimitar-horned oryx calves in 2018, which were born as part of an Abu Dhabi-sponsored programme. https://gulfnews.com/uae/environment/sahelian-plains-of-chad-welcome-40-scimitar-horned-oryx-calves-1.2286543

  • New artificial insemination technique successfully breeds critically endangered scimitar-horned oryx

    On June 30, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) welcomed a new scimitar-horned oryx, born to mother Rizzo after she was impregnated by an assisted reproduction procedure in October of 2017. The calf’s arrival marks the first birth of an oryx to be conceived through artificial insemination without the need for risky anesthesia. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/new-artificial-insemination-technique-successfully-breeds-critically-endangered-scimitar-horned-oryx-180969588

  • Happy World Giraffe Day!

    In May 2018, the Sahara Conservation Fund was at the Giraffe Conservation Science Symposium, which took place at the SCBI campus in Front Royal, Virginia, USA. This first-ever giraffe conservation science-related event was a new initiative of our partner the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Indeed, SCF has joined forces with GCF to save the last remaining population of West African Giraffe that lives in the…

  • Ostriches in North-Eastern Ennedi, Chad!

    Many thanks to Yves Gauthier for sharing this news with us. A French Researcher and Rock art expert, he tells how he observed, together with his team and thanks to the guide Idris Barkai, unexpected ostrich tracks in Northern Chad. Yves Gauthier We have been travelling in Northern Chad since 2012 to list rock art sites as well as…

  • Antelope conservation: exporting experience from Tunisia across the Sahara

    M. Petretto, T. Gilbert, P. Riordan – Marwell Wildlife Many thanks to Marie Petretto, Tania Gilbert, and Philip Riordan for this article giving a useful overview on the experience of Marwell Wildlife, SCF long-time partner, with antelope conservation in Tunisia and in the Sahara. Once abundant and widespread Saharan antelopes, such as scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah)…

  • Plastic pollution in Niger: an alarming snapshot

    It is an alarming scene the Sahara Conservation Fund observed, again, during its field work in Niger: plastic pollution is spoiling landscapes and seriously endangering wildlife. The ingestion of plastic by animals can indeed kill them. Non-biodegradable plastic bags are used everywhere Niger markets. In the cities, the authorities use staff to reduce pollution a little, even if many…

  • A passion for Algerian wildlife – Interview with photographer Redouane Tahri

    The Sahara Conservation Fund has been working to safeguard biodiversity in the Sahara and Sahel since the early 2000s. The flora and fauna found in this vast region are far more abundant and diverse than most people think, including biologists and other conservationists. This lack of awareness has contributed to the decline in its plants and animals. SCF…