Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:23:32.081Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Human Dimension in Natural Resource Conservation: A Sahelian Example from Niger

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

John E. Newby  and
John F. Grettenberger
John E. Newby
Affiliation:
Boîte Postale 10933, Niamey, Republic of Niger
John F. Grettenberger
Affiliation:
Box 734, Stevenson, Washington 98648, USA.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Republic of Niger is establishing a vast national nature reserve in the Aïr Massif and Ténéré Desert. With its 77,360 km2, the reserve will cover a wide variety of arid-land habitats. Both rainfall and vegetation are sparse, but the area harbours a varied fauna that includes a number of threatened species. The Twareg inhabitants of the reserve subsist by raising livestock, by irrigating small gardens, and by caravanning. Their day-to-day existence relies heavily on natural resources, and their continued existence will depend on the conservation of those resources. Drought, desertification, and abusive use, are all responsible for the deterioration of those resources.

Although highly necessary, the rational management of the area's natural resources will conflict with current landuse practices. Examples of where this happens are presented, and some proposals are put forward for their solution. Ideally, a flexible management system needs to be elaborated that will satisfy both the aspirations of the zone's managers and the immediate needs of its residents. The Authors hope that work in Niger will find its application elsewhere in the Sahel, and meanwhile emphasize the need to reconcile conservation with development.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1986 , pp. 249 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anon. (1985). Projet de Décret portant Classement de la Réserve Naturelle Nationale de l'Aïr et du Ténéré el de la Réserve Intégrale dite ‘Sanctuaire des Addax’. Direction des Foreês et de la Faune, Niamey, Niger: 20 pp. + 1 map (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Grettenberger, J.F. & Newby, J.E. (1984). Proposition pour un Plan-directeur d'Aménagement pour la Conservation et l'Utilisation des Ressources Naturelles de la Réserve Naturelle Nationale de l'Aïr et du Ténéré. Direction des Forêts et de laFaune, Niamey, Niger: ii + 21 pp. + 7 maps (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Grettenberger, J.F., Newby, J.E. & Monson, K. (1984). Observations sur l'Etat de Conservation et l'Ecologie de la Grande Faune de la Réserve Naturelle Nationale de l'Aïr et du Ténéré, et Ebauche d'un Système de Classification des Habitats Principaux. Direction des Forêts et de la Faune, Niamey, Niger: i + 30 pp. + 21 figures (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
McShane, T.O. & Grettenberger, J.F. (1984). Food of the Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) in Central Niger. Afr. J. Ecol., 22, pp. 49–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newby, J.E. (1982). Avant-projet de Classement d'une Aire Protégée dans l'Aïr et le Ténéré (République du Niger). IUCNWWF, Gland, Switzerland: xii + 122 pp. + 26 figures.Google Scholar
Newby, J.E. (1984 a). The role of protected areas in saving the Sahel. Pp. 130–6 in National Parks, Conservation, and Development (Eds NcNeely, J.A. & Miller, K.R.). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: xiii + 825 pp. illustr.Google Scholar
Newby, J.E. (1984 b). Large Mammals. In Sahara Desert (Ed. Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L.). Pergamon Press, London, England, UK: ix + 348 pp., illustr. [Not available for checking.]Google Scholar
Newby, J.E., Gretteneberger, J.F. & Watkins, J.H. (in press). The Birds of the Northern Aïr, Niger. Malimbus.Google Scholar