The Air Tenere National Nature Reserve in the Republic of Niger, West Africa was formed in 1988 to preserve aridland fauna and their habitat. This IUCN/WWF conservation and development project was designed to work with the local Tuareg people in the management of the area through conservation, rural development, and ecotourism activities. In 1991 a civil war broke out between the Tuareg people and the Niger government. In 1992 the director of the project was kidnapped and presumably killed. After this event the project was temporarily suspended. However, local people took the initiative to restart the project once the fighting left the Reserve area. A peace accord was signed between the rebels and the Niger government in 1994, however, there are still rebel attacks in the region. These conditions have all but eliminated the flow of tourists to the area and thus most ecotourism activities. The conservation and rural development activities, however, have continued because they rely on appropriate technology and local materials. This shows the need to integrate local people and appropriate rural development technologies into the management of biodiversity conservation projects especially in politically unstable regions.