Parks for people — a case study from the Air Mountains of Niger John E. Nfewby The Air Mountains of north-central Niger are relatively unspoilt and contain some of the last remaining populations ofaddax Addax nasomaculatus, ostrich Struthio camelus and dama gazelle Gazella dama in West Africa. The Air Mountains are also home for some 5000 Twaregs, half of whom are cultivators and the other half herders. The Air and Tenere National Nature Reserve, which was gazetted in 1988, covers more than 77,000 sqkm.lt was inspired by concern for the region's unique and increasingly threatened wildlife, but its role and objectives take into account the human dimension of the area's ecology. The Nigerien Wildlife Service and the IUCN/WWF project that supports the reserve are attempting to reconcile conservation with development through a broadly based programme geared to protection, restoration and sustainable use of the area's natural resources. Introduction arid with temperatures ranging from just below freezing in January to around 50°C in The Republic of Niger is a vast, land-locked, May and June. The average annual tempera- Sahelian nation with a population of over 7 ture is about 28°C. Lying as the region does at million inhabitants. For the majority of these the northernmost reaches of the Intertropical people life depends on the country's limited Convergence Zone, rainfall is both sparse and natural resources: soil, surface or shallow seasonal in occurrence. Furthermore, its distri- water tables, pasture and a variety of forest bution and therefore that of any resultant pas- products, including timber for fuel and con- ture, is totally unpredictable. Rainfall varies struction. Agriculture is predominantly sea- from 0 to 125 mm annually, depending on the sonal and herding extensive, with both taking locality and the year (Newby, 1990). As an place under a climatic regime that heavily indication of aridity and water deficit, underlines their subsistence nature. Whilst measured evaporation is in the order of socially and economically the only realistic 3000^1000 mm annually. Perhaps more impor- options available for the time being, these tant than rainfall, is the concentrating effect of activities are not only prone to the effects of the drainage patterns on the large volumes of drought, poor land use and desertification, but water that run off the rocky slopes and moun- they also contribute to their propagation. tain sides after even the briefest of showers. The Air Mountains are situated in north- As a consequence, the vegetation of the larger central Niger and cover some 125,000 sq km of wadis is more typical of areas benefiting from arid terrain, ranging from granitic and vol- higher rainfall (de Mire and Gillet, 1956). canic peaks (up to 2000 m), through stony Because of its location, bridging the Sahara plateaux, and into the sandy, desert country of and the Sahel, and mountainous nature, the the Sahara (Figure 1). Drainage features are Air is both topographically and biologically prominent within the landscape, and with more diverse than the lowland, desert and their relatively dense vegetation contrast sub-desert habitats surrounding it. As a result, starkly with the largely abiotic surroundings. the Air has consistently attracted the attention The climate of the Air is hot and extremely of travellers and scientists. The technical notes 19 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.139, on 25 Sep 2021 at 21:14:13, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300023188 ORYX VOL 26 NO 1 JANUARY 1992 made by Barth during travels in the region in and Jones, 1980; Dulieu, 1981; Grettenberger et 1850 (Barth, 1857-8) have been supplemented al., 1984; Monson, 1985; Newby and by the writings and collections of a number of Grettenberger, 1986; J. Watkins, 1986; L. authors, including Foureau (1902), Buchanan Watkins, 1986; Grettenberger, 1987; Newby et (1921), Rodd (1926), Chopard and Villiers al., 1987; Grettenberger and Newby, 1990a,b; (1950), Lhote (1961), Fairon (1975), Peyre de Magin, 1991 a,b,c,d. Fabregues and Lebrun (1976), and Morel To date, some 40 species of mammal, 160 (1985). species of bird and 350 species of plant have Since 1979, the biology of the Air has come been identified. Besides regionally rare mam- under the close scrutiny of both WWF (The mals, like the addax, cheetah Acinonyx jubatus World Wide Fund for Nature) and IUCN (The and dama gazelle, the Air harbours small pop- World Conservation Union). Attracted by the ulations of the wild relatives of several crops: area's relatively unspoilt nature, and more olive Olea lapperinei, millet Pennisetum glaucum specifically by the need to protect some of the and sorghum Sorgho aethiopicum (Newby, 1986; last remaining populations of addax Addax Ingram, 1990). nasomaculatus, ostrich Struthio camelus and Archaeological research has shown that the dama gazelle Gazella dama in West Africa, sci- Air and Tenere have been occupied for at least entists have added considerably to knowledge 30,000 years (Durand et al., 1983; Roset, 1989). on this unique area's fauna and flora (Newby The area is rich in stone-age sites, many of 21 Republic of Niger (420 Air Mountains 'vV-:••£'•.•. •;;-:-:^.lferouane. 19 Arlit • ,o;<5-.\ji|:Tin"felloust • Bilmo 18 17 Agadez 16 15 14 13 12 01 23456789 10 12 13 14 15 200 km Figure 1. Location of the Air Mountains and the Air and Tenere National Nature Reserve. 20 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.139, on 25 Sep 2021 at 21:14:13, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300023188 AIR MOUNTAINS OF NIGER The Air and Tenere Reserve contains some of the most spectacular desert scenery in the Sahara (John Newby/WWF). Camels and goats are the mainstays of the Air's pastoral Twareg (John Newby/WWF). 21 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.139, on 25 Sep 2021 at 21:14:13, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300023188 ORYX VOL 26 NO 1 JANUARY 1992 them internationally important (Adrar Bous, during the rains (Hagener, 1990). Iwelene, Areschima). The existence of numer- Although a shadow of its former self, the ous ruined settlements, abandoned over the caravan trade still contributes to the local past 200 years, testifies to a sizeable sedentary economy, providing an outlet for garden pro- population in the recent past. Historical duce and a means of procuring cereals from records (Barth, 1857-8; Lhote, 1976) indicate the grain-producing regions of Southern Niger the existence of an important trans-Saharan (Bernus and Bernus, 1973). Unfortunately, the trade route through the Air Mountains. Whilst caravan trade has been hit in recent times by undoubtedly suffering the effects of the open- the effects of drought on the pack camels and ing up of coastal trade routes, the population by competition from motorized transport. of the Air was also influenced by a number of Whereas the caravan trade used to function on other factors that include colonization, tribal a mutually acceptable and interdependent sys- warfare, drought and disease (Fugelstad, tem of barter (garden produce and meat for 1983). French colonization of the Air began in salt and dates; salt and dates for cereals and 1898 but it was not until the 1920s that the other necessities), modern commerce has region was completely 'pacified'. The period introduced a monetary dimension that from 1910 to 1920 was particularly disruptive, favours few but the rich, truck-owning mer- including not only a severe drought and epi- chants. demic of influenza, but also a civil uprising Considering the Air's environment and that was severely quashed by the French ecology, the land use currently practised (Salifou, 1973). would seem not only the most appropriate but These events appear to have had serious also by and large the most sustainable. implications for the indigenous systems of Whether due to its isolation, the sparsity of its conservation and management of the Air's resources or the rigours of its climate, there pastoral resources. Tribal ownership of the appears to exist a rude but effective balance land was irrevocably disrupted by the mass between the Air's relatively small human pop- exodus and weakening of formerly powerful ulation and its natural resources. The fact that groups. With them went the traditional mech- wildlife and stands of healthy trees can still be anisms and checks that had insured a certain seen bears witness to this. During times of degree of rational land use. plenty, the people are able to satisfy their basic needs without endangering the survival or perenniality of the resources they rely upon. In The situation today periods of drought, however, the demand on the limited supplies of water and vegetation Today, some 5000 Twaregs inhabit the increases and if prolonged, leads to crop fail- Northern Air, half of them living in and ure, widespread overgrazing, loss of livestock, around the villages of Iferouane and Tin mass exodus of the human population and not Telloust (Figure 1). Like their forebears, the infrequently, death from disease or starvation. sedentary population depends for the most Although the aridland ecosystems of the Air part on the cultivation of small plots of land exhibit a high degree of resilience to drought, irrigated by animal traction from shallow natural regeneration may take many years, wells. A variety of cereals and vegetables is even when left alone.