Extinction .in

This inhospitable-looking landscape is home

to some critically endangered species. The Niger government, this month,

formally decreed this whole area - the Termit Massif and Tin Toumma

desert - to be a national nature and cultural reserve. At almost 100,000

square kilometres it is the largest single protected area in Africa.

One of Earth's most inhospitable deserts is an important stop-over for

migrating wildlife, scientists say. Researchers working in the Termit

Massif and Tin Toumma desert in Niger say the whole area should be

protected, because it is a biodiversity "hotspot". The rocky massif is

home to the Critically Endangered dama gazelle.

One

of Earth's most inhospitable deserts is an important stop-over for

migrating wildlife, scientists say. Researchers working in the Termit

Massif and Tin Toumma desert in Niger say the whole area should be

protected, because it is a biodiversity "hotspot". The rocky massif is

home to the Critically Endangered dama gazelle.

The elusive Saharan cheetah, captured here by a camera trap, also lives

there. Scientists working for the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) are

working to have the area declared a National Reserve. The rainy season

transforms the arid landscape into a temporary wetland, which many

migrating animals depend on.

The

elusive Saharan cheetah, captured here by a camera trap, also lives

there. Scientists working for the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) are

working to have the area declared a National Reserve. The rainy season

transforms the arid landscape into a temporary wetland, which many

migrating animals depend on.

Thomas

Rabeil from SCF said that during their last 10 day mission to survey

the area, he and his team recorded 85 bird species. "Among these, 41

were migrants from Europe," he said. These included water birds, raptors

and some species that visit Europe's gardens in summer, including

nightingales and whinchats (pictured).

Seven of the birds that the team spotted are listed under the Convention

on the Conservation of Migratory Species. This is a global agreement to

protect migratory species, their habitats and their migration routes.

The ruff, a wading bird that visits the massif’s wetland, is just one of

the species listed.

The

team has been carrying out monthly "eco-monitoring" missions to the

area since 2006. Birds were the main focus of the most recent visit. So

far, the scientists have recorded six different raptor species in the

region, including the lanner falcon.

SCF

has mapped out an area of 100,000 square kilometres as the proposed

reserve. The organisation suggests that some zones within that vast area

should have a higher level of protection. "The massif of Termit is a

real Noah’s Ark in the Sahara," says Dr Rabeil. The addax is another of

its residents.