Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Niger · 2012–2023

Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve: 2019 boundary change around CNPC oil blocks

Nature's voice · report
A March 2016 survey over 3,200 km of aerial transects and a 700 km ground survey found 3 addax in me; about 200 had been estimated in 2010, according to IUCN.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • Fewer than 100 addax remained in me in 2022, possibly less than half that, against about 200–300 in 2007, according to members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group. IUCN
  • IUCN named disturbance from CNPC oil installations and heavy-vehicle traffic, and poaching by soldiers assigned to guard the oil industry, as causes of the addax decline (2016). IUCN
  • Since the 2019 boundary change the addax zone in my Tin Toumma desert lies outside the protected area, according to members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group. IUCN
  • Noé estimated a decline of nearly 20% in my vegetation cover in the southern part of the reserve. EU Delegation to Niger (EEAS)
What the record lacks: 6 none on record · 3 not disclosed · 4 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
What drives the decline of the addax
  • International bodies IUCN, 2016: Disturbance from CNPC oil installations and heavy-vehicle traffic, and poaching by soldiers assigned to guard the oil industry. IUCN
  • Communities and civil society John Newby, Sahara Conservation Fund, 2019: It is not the drilling but poaching by Niger's military units protecting the CNPC camps. Mongabay
Whether the land added in the west compensates for the area removed
  • Communities and civil society Noé (Sébastien Pinchon), 2019: The land added in the west has little ecological value. Mongabay
  • Communities and civil society Sahara Conservation Fund (John Newby), 2019: The proposed land swap is not the solution. Mongabay

In June 2019 Niger's government redrew the boundaries of the Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve, excluding an area in the east that overlapped CNPC oil blocks and adding land in the west. The addax habitat in the Tin Toumma desert ended up outside the reserve.

About 50,000 km²Area excluded from the reserve in 2019, as given by members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2022)
Figures differ: Mongabay (2019) gives nearly 45,000 km² removed out of nearly 100,000 km²; the EU delegation (2023) gives a reserve area of 86,215 km².

Status As of April 2023 (EU delegation note): the reserve is recorded at 86,215 km², the addax zone lies outside it, and no addax census after 2022 is on record.

What?
In June 2019 Niger redrew the boundaries of the Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve, excluding about 50,000 km² in the east that overlapped oil concession blocks and adding land in the west; the addax habitat in the Tin Toumma desert ended up outside the reserve. IUCN
Where?
Agadez and Zinder regions, east-central Niger; the Termit massif and the Tin Toumma desert. Mongabay
When?
Reserve created in 2012; management agreement 5 November 2018; boundary change announced 26 June 2019; IUCN mission January 2020; EU delegation note April 2023. Mongabay
Who?
Gained
  • CNPC — Overlap with its oil concession blocks removed; investment of about $5 billion in wells, a 20,000 b/d refinery and an export pipeline Mongabay
Lost
  • The reserve — About 50,000 km² in the east (IUCN SSC ASG members); nearly 45,000 km² per Mongabay IUCN
Harmed
  • Saharan addax — 3 animals found in March 2016; fewer than 100 in the wild in 2022 IUCN
  • Vegetation of the southern reserve — Decline of nearly 20% in cover, per a Noé estimate EU Delegation to Niger (EEAS)
Why?
The government reclassified the boundaries 'to remove overlap with oil concession blocks', according to IUCN Antelope Specialist Group members. IUCN
How?
The Council of Ministers announced the change; the east was excluded and land was added in the west, leaving the Tin Toumma addax zone outside the protected area. Mongabay
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Termit and Tin Toumma National Nature Reserve was created in 2012, and a management agreement with the NGO Noé was signed on 5 November 2018, according to Mongabay. On 26 June 2019 Niger's Council of Ministers announced a boundary change. About 50,000 km² in the east was excluded 'to remove overlap with oil concession blocks' and the reserve was extended westward, according to members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group writing on 22 February 2022, who added that 'the addax zone in the Tin Toumma desert now lies outside the protected area'. Mongabay (2 August 2019) reported nearly 45,000 km² removed out of nearly 100,000 km², with CNPC holding exploration rights in part of the reserve and investing about $5 billion in wells, a 20,000 barrel-a-day refinery and an export pipeline.

The Saharan addax antelope was estimated at about 200 animals in 2010. An aerial survey in March 2016, covering 3,200 km of transects, and a 700 km ground survey found 3 animals, IUCN reported. In 2022 members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group wrote that fewer than 100 remained in the wild, possibly less than half that, against about 200–300 in 2007. IUCN named disturbance from CNPC oil installations and heavy-vehicle traffic, and poaching by soldiers assigned to guard the oil industry, as causes in 2016. Noé estimated a decline of nearly 20% in vegetation cover in the southern part of the reserve, according to the EU delegation to Niger in April 2023.

Mongabay reported that the EU funded reserve management with 'millions' and gave no figure. The EU delegation's April 2023 note cites the EU's PAPBIO programme and future NaturAfrica support for the reserve without an amount, and gives the reserve area as 86,215 km². An IUCN mission in January 2020, at the government's invitation, was funded by an IUCN SOS Rapid Action Grant to Marwell Wildlife, co-funded by the EU; no amount is stated.

  1. 2012Reserve created
  2. 2016Aerial and ground survey finds 3 addax (March)
  3. 2018Management agreement with Noé signed (5 November)
  4. 2019Council of Ministers announces the boundary change (26 June); Mongabay report (2 August)
  5. 2020IUCN mission at the government's invitation (January)
  6. 2022IUCN Antelope Specialist Group members: addax zone lies outside the protected area (22 February)
  7. 2023EU delegation note: reserve area 86,215 km² (April)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“We are witnessing in real time the extinction of this iconic and once plentiful species”

Jean-Christophe Vié, IUCN · 2016 · IUCN

“Those with commercial interests in the desert could make important contributions to the protection of the addax”

Thomas Rabeil, Sahara Conservation Fund · 2016 · IUCN

“human pressures are increasing faster than we can adapt given the current level of resource support for the Addax”

Arnaud Greth, chairman of Noé · 2016 · IUCN

“We were shocked to learn this”

Sébastien Pinchon, Noé · 2019 · Mongabay

“It's not the drilling, but poaching by Niger's military units protecting the CNPC camps”

John Newby, Sahara Conservation Fund · 2019 · Mongabay

“The proposed land swap isn't the solution.”

John Newby, Sahara Conservation Fund · 2019 · Mongabay

“The addax zone in the Tin Toumma desert now lies outside the protected area”

Members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group · 22 February 2022 · IUCN

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Area removed from the reserve and total reserve area
International bodies
Members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2022

About 50,000 km² excluded in the east.

IUCN
Press and investigations
Mongabay, 2 August 2019

Nearly 45,000 km² removed out of nearly 100,000 km².

Mongabay
International bodies
EU delegation to Niger, April 2023

Reserve area of 86,215 km².

EU Delegation to Niger (EEAS)
What drives the decline of the addax
International bodies
IUCN, 2016

Disturbance from CNPC oil installations and heavy-vehicle traffic, and poaching by soldiers assigned to guard the oil industry.

IUCN
Communities and civil society
John Newby, Sahara Conservation Fund, 2019

It is not the drilling but poaching by Niger's military units protecting the CNPC camps.

Mongabay
Whether the land added in the west compensates for the area removed
Communities and civil society
Noé (Sébastien Pinchon), 2019

The land added in the west has little ecological value.

Mongabay
Communities and civil society
Sahara Conservation Fund (John Newby), 2019

The proposed land swap is not the solution.

Mongabay

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • A boundary change 'to remove overlap with oil concession blocks', with land added in the west
    Niger's Council of Ministers, 26 June 2019, as described by IUCN Antelope Specialist Group members · IUCN
  • Land added in the west, described by Noé as having little ecological value
    Noé (Sébastien Pinchon), 2019 · Mongabay

Recorded

  • March 2016 survey: 3 addax found over 3,200 km of aerial transects and a 700 km ground survey; about 200 estimated in 2010.
    IUCN
  • Fewer than 100 addax remained in the wild in 2022, possibly less than half that, against about 200–300 in 2007 (IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group members).
    IUCN
  • IUCN (2016) named disturbance from CNPC oil installations and heavy-vehicle traffic, and poaching by soldiers assigned to guard the oil industry, as causes of the decline.
    IUCN
  • Noé estimated a decline of nearly 20% in vegetation cover in the southern part of the reserve (EU delegation, 2023).
    EU Delegation to Niger (EEAS)
  • The EU delegation's note gives no EU funding figure for the reserve.
    EU Delegation to Niger (EEAS)

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
EU funding for reserve management ('millions' per Mongabay)—
No figure given by Mongabay or the EU delegation's note.
IUCN SOS Rapid Action Grant to Marwell Wildlife for the January 2020 mission, EU co-funded—
No amount stated.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
CNPC investment in wells, a 20,000 b/d refinery and an export pipeline (Mongabay)≈ $5bn
Currency: USD · Window: 2019. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • noe (2019): Noé's Sébastien Pinchon said the organisation was shocked to learn of the change and that the land added in the west has little ecological value. · Mongabay
  • sahara-conservation-fund (2019): John Newby said the problem is poaching by military units protecting the CNPC camps rather than drilling, and that the proposed land swap is not the solution. · Mongabay
  • iucn (2016): Jean-Christophe Vié said IUCN was witnessing the extinction of the addax in real time. · IUCN

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Area excluded in 2019
About 50,000 km²
IUCN SSC ASG members, 2022; Mongabay gives nearly 45,000 km²
Addax found in March 2016
3
Aerial survey of 3,200 km of transects and a 700 km ground survey (IUCN)
Addax remaining in the wild, 2022
Fewer than 100
Possibly less than half that; about 200–300 in 2007
Vegetation cover, southern reserve
Nearly –20%
Noé estimate, EU delegation note, 2023

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Disputed What drives the decline of the addax
  • Disputed Whether the land added in the west compensates for the area removed

Money

  • None on record EU funding for reserve management ('millions' per Mongabay) — No figure given by Mongabay or the EU delegation's note.
  • None on record IUCN SOS Rapid Action Grant to Marwell Wildlife for the January 2020 mission, EU co-funded — No amount stated.

Court

Accounts

  • Disputed Area removed from the reserve and total reserve area

Record

  • Disputed Figures differ: members of the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2022) give about 50,000 km² excluded; Mongabay (2019) gives nearly 45,000 km² excluded from nearly 100,000 km², attributed to Noé; the EU delegation (April 2023) gives a reserve area of 86,215 km².
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the decree number and date of the 2019 boundary change; only the Council of Ministers' announcement of 26 June 2019, as reported by Mongabay, is on record.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the amount of EU funding for the reserve; Mongabay says 'millions' and the EU delegation's note gives no figure.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the amount of the IUCN SOS Rapid Action Grant to Marwell Wildlife.
  • None on record None on record: a statement from the Government of Niger or CNPC on the boundary change.
  • None on record None on record: a court case about the boundary change.
  • None on record None on record: an addax census after 2022.

Did the harm stop?

None on record.

Who paid?

None on record.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ International bodies

Press and investigations

International bodies

  3. Protéger la plus grande réserve terrestre d'Afrique
    EU Delegation to Niger (EEAS) · 2023-04-18

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Institutions

IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
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