Fight against climate change: FAO and the Ministry of Water and Forests of Côte d'Ivoire support 4 villages in Grand Bereby.
FAO and the Ministry of Water and Forests of Côte d'Ivoire are accompanying 4 villages in Grand Bereby in a community initiative to restore degraded mangroves and forest islands in the future voluntary community natural reserve.
The villages of Mani-Bereby, Pitiké, Téklébo, and Kablaké, located in the sub-prefecture of Grand Bereby, aim to contribute to the reforestation of the coastal area in Côte d'Ivoire through community actions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is committing approximately USD 80,000 US dollars to support the initiative called "Restoration of mangroves in the future voluntary natural reserve of the mouth of the Dodo Grand Bereby River," presented on behalf of the village communities by the NGO Marine Species Conservation (CEM).
This initiative contributes to the implementation of component 3 of the project "Global Transformation of Forests for People and Climate: A Focus in West Africa," which supports the implementation of the ECOWAS Forest Convergence Plan adopted in 2013. The project is being implemented in 15 countries in West Africa, including Côte d'Ivoire.
A memorandum of understanding was established between FAO and the NGO CEM for this purpose in February 2023 for an amount of approximately 22 million FCFA. One year after the start of the memorandum of understanding, Attaher Maiga, the FAO Resident Representative in Côte d'Ivoire, and his team were on the ground to assess the initial results concerning the restoration activities of degraded mangroves and forest islands in this future community voluntary reserve.
Alexandre Dah, the head of the NGO CEM, which provides guidance to communities in implementing activities, reported on the activities. He mentioned that the communities have been informed about the project, the importance of the environment and its preservation, and the revival of the process of obtaining the collective land certificate. Additionally, they were trained in propagule harvesting, setting up nurseries, and restored 2 hectares of mangroves in the village of Kablaké out of a target of 5 hectares.
Furthermore, more than 20,000 mangrove propagules for restoration in Kablaké; 2,400 forest tree seedlings (fraké, framiré, niangon, mahogany) and fruit tree seedlings (ahpi, cola, pepper), as well as seeds for reforesting 5 hectares of degraded areas and creating nurseries, have been received. In terms of capacity building for the sustainability of the initiative, villagers, organized into economic interest groups (EIGs), have been trained in mangrove restoration and the creation of nurseries for forest and fruit tree seedlings. More than 16 volunteers have been trained for propagule harvesting and setting up nurseries for forest and fruit tree seedlings, and 18 volunteers have been recruited to promote ecotourism in the villages of Mani, Pitiké, Kablaké, and Téklébo since November 2023. Ultimately, this project is expected to have economic benefits for the communities with increased household income through the sale of forest and fruit tree seedlings produced by the EIGs, the sale of non-timber products resulting from the project, as well as ecotourism services.
During a meeting with the community of Mani Bereby, Mr. Attaher Maiga praised these promising results. He invited the communities involved in the initiative to be ambassadors in the fight against climate change. "Climate change is not just a slogan, it is a reality. It threatens biodiversity and even our survival. If we do not take action now to stop its progress, our very existence is also threatened," he observed. Nemlin Edwige Natacha from the village of Mani Bereby requested FAO's involvement in ensuring that the voluntary community natural reserve of the mouth of the Dodo River, whose creation is underway, becomes a reality.
Similarly, Gné Gnahoué, for his part, appealed to the competent authorities to address the constraints delaying the issuance of the collective land certificate for the 5,000-hectare block constituting the future voluntary community reserve. This initiative benefits from the institutional support of the Ministry of Water and Forests.
The original version (in French) of this news story can be found at the following links:
FAO Côte d'Ivoire: https://www.fao.org/cote-divoire/actualites/detail-events/en/c/1678452/
For more information, please contact:
Mohamadou Aw
Program Officer, Project Manager “Global Transformation of Forest for People and Climate: Focus on West Africa”
FAO Subregional Office for West Africa