Introductory Comments

The Sahara Desert Environs, As A Terrestrial Ecoregion Is Collectively Known As ‘PALAEOARCTIC DESERT & XERIC SHRUBLAND’. It Seems Rather Technical And Surprising Term For Those Not In The Know, As Those Who Know The Meaning Of The Word Would Say How Can The Sahara Desert Be So Hot But Still Be Called Palaeoarctic? A Good Question, But It Basically Means That The Sahara Was Established As We Know It Sometime During The Last Glacial Maximum.

Of course, it is also known that throughout geological time the Sahara Desert has been variously desert, verdant grassland, and forested, but for the purposes outlined here, its definition of a palaeoarctic ecoregion is actually quite a useful analogy in a way.

The Sahara in its more ‘recent’ history, say its last 5-6,000 years, has been a desert for this long, but only really desertified in say, the last 3,000 years.

It is an extremely fragile ecosystem, and is extremely arid and hostile to man, but humankind has lived in the Sahara of thousands of years, as evidenced from the thousands of cultural artefacts (bone tools, stone implements, ceramic pottery and shell use) and creative expression.

The various indigenous tribal groups have also lived in the desert for at least 5,000 years - rock engravings and paintings are now reliably dated to 9,000 years ago, and the dates are being pushed back regularly as new findings and developments change our world view.

Desert people have existed side by side within this environment for as long as can be remembered, and the wildlife they share their lives with has been a major source of economy for them, food, vegetable and animal food produce, hides, stone and bone tools for thousands of years.

Indigenous groups have existed alongside a regionally quite diverse habitat and most have lived within the means by what is available for them in their environment.

Biodiversity and human interaction in the Sahara, although seemingly very separate subjects, should be classed as interdisciplinary in the sense that the survival of both wildlife and humankind depends intimately on one another; the two are not separate entities.

Wildlife Conservation

The following links will provide additional information on some of the organisations that are involved in Saharan wildlife conservation.  The SAHARA CONSERVATION FUND are involved in re-introducing and protecting species that are witnessing a ‘silent extinction’.  The desert is a very sensitive and fragile eco-sytem and moves to protect the Sahara are slow in coming from the international community; effectively its demise is ignored because no-one wants a desert...and yet it is a unique diverse habitat, home to species that have existed and survived in the Sahara for hundreds of years.  Moves to protect the unique Sahara Desert habitat in the UK is being done by the MARWELL CONSERVATION Group, based in the SW of England.

Links will be added constantly on Saharan Conservation themes.

Most of the trusts/charities/projects are based in the USA, with only a few in Europe or the British Isles. Keep visiting frequently, and bookmark this page

ETHIOPIAN WOLF CONSERVATION Programme (UK)

BORN FREE FOUNDATION (UK)

NILE TRANSBOUNDARY ENVIRONMENT (Sudan)

PEREGRINES (USA)

TUSK TRUST (UK)

SUDANESE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION SOCIETY (Sudan)

TRAFFIC

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY (USA)

IFAW (USA)

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