Within a decentralized cooperation program involving Saint-Omer (plus neighboring small cities) in France and various villages of the Couffo area in Benin, urban planning has been identified as a major priority for both countries. There currently exist several planning documents at a local scale in Couffo, but no full cartography has ever been finalized.  Therefore, setting up a GIS (Geographic Information System) is a priority for improving territorial planning and land use understanding.  This is important in regard to deforestation, as it affects Benin at a level of 70,000 hectares per year.

Also, with a view to sharing information, a map, together with some pedagogic support, allows at the same time to work with no language barrier (3 languages are in use in Couffo) and to fight analphabetism. Populations can therefore be informed easily and they may even be associated to land management.

Finally, one of the goals of setting up a GIS for our African partners is to define simplified cadastral maps, in order to secure land tenure and to increase tax revenues for the cities, so that they can earn financial income that will allow them to improve various services to the population (water, hygiene, electricity, schools…).

Whereas numerous projects deal with the consequences of climate change, it is important to know how to observe, understand and work on its causes, such as unplanned urban growth.

This is why AUD (the Agency for Urban Development) has led a photo-interpretation project, coupled with ground truthing measurements. A database containing equipments, infrastructures, built areas… has been developed and is continuously updated.

As a first feedback, our partners in Benin recognize the importance of such geographic information in helping them to better manage their cities and in anticipating their development, all the more as demographic projections in Couffo plan a population growth of 40% between 2010 and 2020!

Decisions made today are non reversible and will have an impact on the next generations.  It is our duty to guide and help political decision-makers.

Our short term objective is to ensure the GIS tool durability and use.  More often than not, projects have given birth to such systems, but after a couple of years, the GIS is not in use any more…

To face this issue, 2012 will be dedicated to technical training in Couffo, on concepts, on GIS uses and on their final goals. The point will not be to transpose but to adapt GIS tools and practices to the environment in Benin.  Main objective:  update the tracking indicators of land use for instance.  To do so, Planet Action is a key component of our program and initiatives.

Moreover, our experience is attracting other African communities, namely in Mali, who wish to undertake a similar kind of program. Together with Planet Action, we would like to continue bringing in our expertise in urban planning in order to fight climate change.