APA-Dakar (Senegal) Nestled in the heart of the natural region in the central-western part of Senegal, the Palmarin Community Reserve is a sustainable solution to the rapidly advancing ocean waters.
After the rain, comes the good weather. This meteorological metaphor is well suited to the Saloum. At the end of October 2022, the winter season is coming to an end. The sun is shining. Here and there, mature peanut, millet or sorghum crops are spread out over modest fields.
All along the road leading to the community reserve of Palmarin, located a little more than 175 kilometers southwest of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, a lush vegetation unfolds under roast trees that look up to the sky.
It’s a picturesque landscape!
It is past noon when we enter the town of Palmarin. A dry wind tickles the nostrils. The trees bordering the road look very beautiful. Faced with this enchanting scene, we are far from imagining that a few blocks away, one of the worst manifestations of climate change is already taking place: the advance of the sea. In this corner, the inhabitants watch helplessly as the waves claw back portions of land every day and invade their homes.
“When I was younger, there were at least 200 meters between the place where we are now and the sea. My parents used to tell me that there were even fields almost everywhere here and they were used to graze their
cows. But the sea has swallowed everything. And all these houses are reduced to rubble. Their owners had to move away,” explains a nostalgic Pere Seck, the village chief of Palmarin-Sessene, one of the three villages of the commune.
This situation is far from being an exception on the Senegalese coast.
From Saint-Louis (North) to Ziguinchor (South) through Dakar (West), the sea is gaining ground on the continent.
In their retreat, the waves are doing a lot of damage. Even more worrying, the marine waters disfigure the hinterland, a real threat to agriculture and the availability of drinking water.
To face this, the Senegalese state as well as several companies and organisations have launched initiatives to restore the degraded environment.
The mangrove reforestation campaign in the Palmarin community reserve is one example. This project, carried out by the ‘Societe Nationale des Telecommunications’ (Sonatel) in partnership with the NGO Nebeday Senegal, aims to repopulate with mangroves areas conquered by salt water.
The propagules of hope
After the usual greetings at the town hall, a procession of carts set off along the paths of the reserve. The crowd is in a good-natured mood. Questions from young people, most of whom are leaving Dakar for the first time, come from everywhere. They ask the carters about the presence of snakes and other animals in the brush. Suddenly, we see a jackal in the distance. Here, nature, still wild, is a refuge for several species of fauna.
At the end of about 30 minutes, we finally leave this bushy vegetation and begin a journey on muddy lands and vast expanses too salty to be cultivated.
“After the water evaporates, the owners come to harvest the salt,” explains the young cart driver, Modou Diouf, pointing to one of the many artificial sea water retention ponds in the area.
A few more minutes and we finally arrive at our destination. Huge bags filled with mangrove propagules and small black buckets have already been transported.
“Who can tell me how to reforest”, asks Ndong Achille Correa of the NGO Nebeday Senegal. Faced with the
silence of the visitors, he explains: “I remove the cap of the propagule, I take a third and I plant. As soon as my fingers touch the ground, I let go. Then I take one or two steps and repeat the same process to the end of the line.”
In small groups, the hosts separate the propagules from their caps and put seventy in each bucket. Once done, the reforestation can begin.
Enthusiastically, the crowd scatters over the muddy tans. Ndong Achille Correa’s explanations are followed to the letter, much to the delight of his colleagues who continue, under a blazing sun, to draw the lines as the reforestation proceeds.
For environmental activist, Abdou Toure, this year’s edition is exceptional. “In our previous campaigns, we used to plant between 20,000 and 30,000 propagules. But this year, we want to reach 50,000,”he says.
An activity with multiple benefits
If over the years the promoters of this initiative want to break records, it is because mangroves play an important role in the adaptation to global warming. “The mangroves, once mature, allow fixing the soil and preventing the flooding of the surrounding villages. These plants also capture carbon released into the atmosphere and store it in the soil,” Abdou Toure says.
In addition, they contribute to economic and food security: “All the populations around these mangroves live off the resources that come from this ecosystem. There are women who are active in the collection of oysters and other shellfish. There is also the cultivation of honey, which is highly prized on the international market,” he adds.
According to Mr. Toure, promoter of Quartier Vert Challenge, it is a circular economy “because the women who exploit these resources manage to bring their children to school, to take care of them, to satisfy other needs and even to save or invest in other activities such as market gardening.”
Aware of the importance of reforestation, several local people are supporting the project. This is the case of Medoune for whom this activity is beneficial. “These mangroves produce seafood. Our grandmothers used them to prepare sauces for couscous. The roots were also cut and offered to visitors as gifts. Fish also reproduce there.
This shows how crucial it is to preserve this ecosystem for the people,” he says.
Strong children’s involvement
The climate threat requires the mobilization of all. For this edition, many came with their families. “Children are the future leaders of this world. That is why it is normal to involve them in such initiatives. The objective is to make them understand the importance of the environment,” says Abdou Toure.
The engineer at Sonatel, Ada Koundoul, believes that “we must instill the environmental culture from an early age to children. This will motivate them to continue what we are doing today.”
“Planting trees is an obligation. But we have to do it every year. The children have seen how easy it is to plant trees. If they plant trees now, they will do it as teenagers and adults,” Correa adds.
In half a day, more than 30,000 propagules were planted. Thus, Sonatel and its partners are contributing to the restoration of one of the most sensitive sites in the Saloum Delta Biosphere Reserve, listed as a wetland of international importance.
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