Since 1982, the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) and WWF (World Wildlife Fund) have developed a large-scale program aimed at conserving and managing natural resources in the regions of Aïr and Tenere, Niger, including developing a potential for tourism and the rehabilitation of degraded or threatened land and habitats. The techniques of building vaulted houses in mud brick without the use of shuttering to support the roof were introduced into Niger by Development Workshop at the invitation of ISAID, a Canadian nongovernmental organization, in 1980.