Extinction of Species .ORG

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.

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.