WCN’s Solar Project, dedicated to providing solar energy to conservation projects in the remotest corners of the world, has partnered with the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF), an international non-profit organization dedicated to conserving wildlife in the Sahara desert—to save the North African ostrich.
With the exception of a few small savannah populations, the North African ostrich has completely disappeared from its previously vast Sahelo-Saharan range. The Solar Project aims to support SCF’s efforts to recover this regal and lesser known sub-species of ostrich through the North African Ostrich Recovery Project. They have recently completed building the first solar-powered field laboratory, custom engineered to restore and repopulate the North African ostrich in the wild. This “mobile” lab will be shipped to Niger in April.
“Nigeriens who have been caring for the last five breeding pairs of North African ostriches reached out to us about how we could help”, said John Newby, Sahara Conservation Fund Director. “The survival of the North African red-necked ostrich depends upon this project. The resources needed to implement our three-pronged plan, including protection, captive breeding, and reintroduction depend upon reliable power and water to cool the laboratory in the Sahara Desert.”
By converting four shipping containers into a sustainable camp, the architects and engineers for the North African Ostrich Recovery Project created a hatchery, incubation lab, office, and solar power plant equipped to operate sustainably with only minimal water from a well one mile away. Through this partnership, we hope to safeguard the future of these unique flightless birds.
Read the complete press release here.