<
https://www.birdlife.org/news/2023/07/24/reviving-hope-and-sustainability-in-senegals-tocc-tocc-community-nature-reserve/>
"Seated under a Baobab tree, Rougui Sow is among a group of five women
winnowing rice. Rougui works diligently, separating the rice from the huskies,
pouring the grain from large, flat bamboo trays as the aroma of freshly
winnowed rice permeates the sunny morning.
“In a day, we can process up to 20 bags”, Sow remarks loudly amidst the din of
the rice processing machine in the background. She is part of a Women Group in
the 273 ha Tocc Tocc Community Nature Reserve in Northern Senegal, which has
benefited from the Alston funded project, implemented by Nature Communauté et
Développement (NCD), BirdLife Partner in 2022.
The
Participatory reforestation and green enterprises supporting community
resilience project aimed at addressing environmental degradation due to human
activities and climate change, leading to negative socio-economic impacts on
local communities. It also focused on building local community resilience
efforts through the restoration of ecosystems, capacity building on sustainable
management of natural resources, and promotion of green entrepreneurship.
As part of restoring the ecosystem, the project focused on the removal of Typha
(an Invasive weed) in seven ha of the reserve, converting it into bio fuel
briquettes, supplementing fuel source in the local communities, in a country
where “wood energy represents around 80% of the household’s energy consumption.
The weed, was also used to construct fences for the women’s’ rice field”,
explains Moussa Ka, NCD’s Northern Zone representative.
Reforestation was another key aspect of this project. More than 7000 high-value
tree seedlings including
Acacia radiana,
Nebeday,
Balanites aegyptiaca,
and
Acacia Senegal were reforested. In addition, a tree nursery was
established with native tree seedlings including acacia, lemon, mango, papaya,
filao, moringa and eucalyptus. Awareness creation was an integral part of this
project. Through outreaches, at least 115 people were made aware of the
importance of biodiversity and wetlands and have committed themselves to
working for their sustainable conservation."
Via
Future Crunch:
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-clean-energy-aids-big-cats-africa/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
