The Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves is the largest protected area in Africa, covering over 7.7 million hectares. It includes the volcanic massif of the Aïr Mountains, a Sahelian island isolated in climate, flora and fauna in the surrounding Saharan desert of Ténéré. Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves contains an outstanding variety of landscapes, plant species and wild animals. The region suffered from military and civil disturbance in the 1990s: six members of the Reserve staff were held hostage in 1992. In compliance with the request from Niger's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992. A peace agreement with rebels was signed in April 1995 and the impact of rebel activities on the integrity of the site has been found to be less severe than expected. An IUCN/WWF project has since helped to re-establish a management regime. Missions to the site in 1998 and 2001 found that the numbers of most wildlife species were recovering and the flora to be mostly intact except in some valleys over-used by the local people. Some species continue to be seriously threatened by poaching and the international trade in live animals and animal by-products and ostriches are now almost extinct on site. However, the State Party has submitted an emergency program for rehabilitation of the site and it may be considered for removal from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The reserve is in the south-central Sahara and north-central Niger, approximately 160 kilometers (km) north east of Agadez, between 08º00'E -10º57'E and 17º14'N - 20º30'N.
Two fifths of the reserve lies in the northeastern half of the Aïr Mountains, the rest is in the western half of the desert of the Ténéré du Tafassasset. The Sanctuaire des Addax lies in the Ténéré at the foot of the mountains, north of the center of the reserve and covering a sixth of its area. The Aïr and Ténéré National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve in the West African nation of Niger. It includes several overlapping reserve designations, and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It covers both the eastern half of the Aïr Mountains and the western sections of the Ténéré desert. The Aïr and Ténéré UNESCO World Heritage Site was established in 1991, and marked as endangered 1992. It was designated under criteria vii, ix, x, and is designated #573. The entire reserver covers 77,360 sq km, which made it the second largest nature reserve in Africa, and the fourth largest in the world. Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves includes the volcanic massif of the Aïr Mountains, a Sahelian island isolated in climate, flora and fauna in the surrounding Saharan desert of Ténéré. It contains an outstanding variety of landscapes, plant species and wild animals. One-sixth of the reserve is a sanctuary for addax.
The region suffered from military and civil disturbance in the 1990s: six members of the Reserve staff were held hostage in 1992. In compliance with the request from Niger's Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992. A peace agreement with rebels was signed in April 1995 and the impact of rebel activities on the integrity of the site has been found to be less severe than expected. An IUCN/WWF project has since helped to re-establish a management regime. Missions to the site in 1998 and 2001 found that the numbers of most wildlife species were recovering and the flora to be mostly intact except in some valleys over-used by the local people. Some species continue to be seriously threatened by poaching and the international trade in live animals and animal by-products and ostriches are now almost extinct on site. However, the State Party has submitted an emergency program for rehabilitation of the site and it may be considered for removal from the List of World Heritage in Danger. This is the largest protected area in Africa, covering some 7.7 million ha, though the area considered a protected sanctuary constitutes only one-sixth of the total area. It includes the volcanic rock mass of the Aïr, a small Sahelian pocket, isolated as regards its climate and flora and fauna, and situated in the Saharan desert of Ténéré. The reserves boast an outstanding variety of landscapes, plant species and wild animals.
