Termit Massif Reserve - History

History

The earliest reported exploration of the Termit Massif reserve area was by Saharan explorers Dixon Denham and Hugh Clapperton, Heinrich Barth, Gustav Nachtigal, Vischer and Buchanan who recorded the enormous amount of game found in the reserve. In recent years the decline in the wildlife of the region has also been noted, and some of the species have been photographed by renowned wildlife photographer Alain Dragesco-Joffé. This led to initiation of action to preserve the wildlife in the area through suitable legislation passed by the Government of Niger on 1 January 1952, covering an area of 70,000 hectares (270 sq mi). This has been further enlarged recently to cover an area of 100,000 hectares (390 sq mi).

Awareness of the unique wildlife of the reserve has been facilitated by the Sahara Conservation Fund since 2001. The proposal to declare this reserve as UNESCO World Heritage Site was submitted in 26 May 2006 under Criteria of Natural vii, on account of its biodiversity values and its cultural importance.

Read more about this topic:  Termit Massif Reserve

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    It is true that this man was nothing but an elemental force in motion, directed and rendered more effective by extreme cunning and by a relentless tactical clairvoyance .... Hitler was history in its purest form.
    Albert Camus (1913–1960)

    The steps toward the emancipation of women are first intellectual, then industrial, lastly legal and political. Great strides in the first two of these stages already have been made of millions of women who do not yet perceive that it is surely carrying them towards the last.
    Ellen Battelle Dietrick, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 13, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)

    Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.
    Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)