Why it needs protection :
• Status : vulnerable
• The Sahara is a vast area of largely undisturbed habitat , principally sand and rock , but with small areas of permanent vegetation .
• The extreme aridity of this area is a relatively recent feature
• The flora of the central Sahara Desert is very poor- estimated to include only 500 species . This is extremely low considering the huge extent of the area .
• Considering the hyper-arid conditions , the fauna of the central Sahara is richer than is generally believed .
• Home to critically endangered animals e . g . addax and gazelles
• The most degradation is found where there is water . Here , habitats may be heavily altered by human activities . Previously existing tree cover has often been removed for fuel and fodder by nomadic pastoralists and traders .
• Is not well protected . Yet , this may be due to the low population and impracticality of defining borders over this vast area . Fewer than 2 million inhabitants reside throughout the entire Sahara Desert .
• There is also an intense pressure on any remaining populations of large mammals adapted to desert conditions . The populations of all such species have been greatly reduced by hunting for food , and also through hunting for sport and recreation .
• The stereotypical view of deserts is that they unimportant for biodiversity and this can be seen in the breakdown of scientific ecology papers published between 2000 and 2011 : v 67 % focused on forest biomes , 9 % focused on deserts v lack of concern reflected through money placed towards conservation projects : between 1992 and 2008 , only 1 % of the funding provided by the Darwin Initiative went
Management :
• Issue : land degradation in semi-arid areas , the lack of ‘ personal ’ importance of the desert to people and desertification due to human activities
• Management strategies to prevent or reverse land degradation include : v restore natural vegetation cover v improve small-scale irrigation projects v plant drought resistant shrubs and grasses to help bind the soil and prevent further soil erosion v plant more trees v control grazing v build more dams , eg in Kenya v crop rotation by farmers to allow soil to recover