Sustainable Co-Management of the Natural Resources of the Air-Tenere Complex

The Aïr-Ténéré Complex is increasingly under stress and threat of land degradation in the agroecosystems and natural expanses of the 20 million hectares of the complex. The barriers to sustainable land management (SLM) are: lack of incentives of local SLM (economic, land tenure), institutional breakdown and lack of capacities for enforcement of locally derived laws and procedures, and lack of technical options for herders and farmers to exercise sustainable agriculture, sustainable grazing and sustainable forestry. The goal of this project is to combat land degradation and to conserve the Saharan ecosystems of northern Niger by integrating the processes of local development and decentralization.