Lake Chad Chad Game Reserve, which covers half of the area next to the lake that belongs to Nigeria. The whole lake has been declared a Ramsar site of international importance. Speaking at the United Nations 73rd General Assembly, the President of Nigeria urged the international community to assist in combatting the root causes of conflict surrounding the Lake Chad Endorheic basin. Recent violence in the region has been attributed to competition between farmers and herders seeking irrigation for crops and watering of herds respectively. Plans to divert the Ubangi River into Lake Chad were proposed in 1929 by Herman Sörgel in
Rail transport in Chad Imperial expansionist policy known as Mittelafrika. In the 1950s a line through Chad from Port Sudan to Nigeria was proposed but opposed by Chad governmental organisations. In 1958 plans for a line from Cameroon the "Société Civile d'Études du Chemin de Fer Douala-Tchad" (SEDOT) was formed, and continued planning led to start of construction in 1964 - the line was constructed as far as Ngaoundéré in Cameroon (the Trans-Cameroon Railway, completed 1975.). Initial plans were for an extension to Moundou in Chad, but this was not completed. In 1959 a multinational agency, the "Agence Transéquatoriale des Communications" (ATEC) was formed