Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve
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How it came to be
The Aïr and Ténéré reserves spread north of Agadez in northern Niger. On 1 January 1988 two areas were created together, a national nature reserve and a strict sanctuary for the addax antelope. At 7,736,000 ha in total, they form one of the largest protected areas in Africa.
In the east the Aïr mountains, rising to about 2,000 m, are an island of Sahelian plants and animals inside the Sahara. In the west the Ténéré holds dunes that keep moving and reshaping the land. Few people and great isolation let wildlife survive here after it had vanished from other parts of the Sahara and Sahel.
The site was inscribed in 1991. In 1992 it was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of political instability and dissension among the population, and it remains there. A 2023 report noted that the addax had not been sighted for 20 years.
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