Oceanium Mangrove Restoration Project

Senegal

In Depth Coverage

Oceanium Mangrove Restoration Project

To attain these objectives, the proposed project will implement:

  • Plantations of Rizophora mangle for ecosystem restoration without harvesting objectives.
  • Awareness and technical assistance to local people for mangrove establishment, conservation and sustainable management.
  • Monitoring and management of project implementation until the end of the Project.

The proposed project will establish approximately a total of 2000 Ha. The plantation will improve ecological conditions and mangrove productivity (fish, shellfish, oyster and crab).

  • Link With Climate Change

    Open

    The project aims to be registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

    The project is a reforestation project that will contribute to the mitigation of Climate Change through the removals of green house gases form the atmosphere. By the photosynthesis mangrove will get of the CO2 from the air to store it in the biomass.

  • Objectives

    Open
    • To restore degraded wetlands and to improve productivity and environmental condition through reforestation, restoring ecological, economic and social services of a significant part of the degraded Senegalese mangrove.
    • To mitigate Climate Change by the removal of GHG due to biomass growth.
    • To reduce poverty of the local communities through employment creation in the short-term and through the improvement of sustainable collection of mangrove products at the mid-term.

  • Work plan

    Open

    To attain these objectives, the proposed project will implement :

    • Plantations of Rizophora mangle for ecosystem restoration without harvesting objectives.
    • Awareness and technical assistance to local people for mangrove establishment, conservation and sustainable management.
    • Monitoring and management of project implementation until the end of the Project.

  • Schedule

    Open

    See in the following   table, as an example, the schedule of 2009 mangrove reforestation   campaign:
     

      F M A M J J A S O N D J F M
    I. Teams recruitment and headquarter equipment
    Activity 1.1. : Ground mission and recruitment   X X X                      
    Activity 1.2. : Equipment   X X                      
    Activity 1.3. : Teams training      X                      
    II. Awareness program
    Activity 2.1. : Material preparation     X                      
    Activity 2.2. : Awareness campaign and identification of area managers      X X X                  
    Activity 2.3. : Training local population       X X                  
    Activity 2.4. : Coordination meeting         X                  
    III. Reforestation Campaign
    Activity 3.1. : Propagule collection and support to the local people           X X X X          
    Activity 3.2. : Financial support to local population for the reforestation           X X X X          
    Activity 3.3. : Technical and logistic support to local populations during the reforestation           X X X X          
    Activity 3.4. : Communication  X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
    Activity 3.5. : General assemblies and participatory analysis of the campaign                   X        
    IV. Plantation monitoring
    Activity 4.1. : Monitoring protocol                   X        
    Activity 4.2. : Training local population for monitoring campaign                   X X      
    Activity 4.3. : Oceanium support for the monitoring                   X X X X X
    Activity 4.4. : Monitoring report                   X X X X X

  • Technical and Scientific Approach & Methods Proposed

    Open

    The CDM project will follow all the rules of the UNFCCC. The reforestation will be performed taking into account the following activities:

    Site preparation: During plantation there will not be pre-existing vegetation clearance and soil preparation. All plantation activity will be performed manually.

    Site selection: Three criteria were taken into account during planting plots selection:

    • Soil conditions (texture, salinity and acidity): Favourable when soils are muddy, silty-loamy (with presence of peat and clay molle “poto poto”), with a salinity rate below 44 ppm and acidity with a pH between 4.5 and 6.5.
    • Grade and period of immersion: Favourable areas must be in the intertidal zone immerged at least four hours a day during the wet and the dry seasons.
    • Ecological characteristics: Good ecological conditions will be demonstrated a good state of health of the mature mangrove and dominance of the selected species in the mature mangrove.

     

    Training and awareness

    Oceanium works on the sustainable management of natural resources. Its method of intervention is based on the Social Communication and the Participative management. To reach a rigorous management of the resource by the local populations, it is imperative to train them in order to appropriate the method. The intention is change the approach and behavior of local populations.

    To reach this intention and have an optimum efficiency on the ground, it is indispensable to diversify the tools of raising awareness. Oceanium uses a panel of social communications tools such as:

    • Cinema/meeting with an itinerant truck
    • Awareness meetings
    • Community radio
    • Awareness material (posters, t-shirts, etc.)
    • Media promotion

     

    Seedlings preparation:

    Not seedling preparation will be necessary, propagules will be collected directly from the mature mangrove (already fallen or directly from the tree). When available, propagules will be collected near the plantation sites and transported by the planting team. If there are not propagules in the area they will be collected and transported in bags with vehicles (trucks, boats, etc.) from other regions with similar ecological conditions.

    Preferably, propagules should be planted the same day they are collected. When this is not possible, then they will be stored in closed sacs, inside the water and in a shady place during a maximum period of one day.


    Plantation:

    Good propagules will be selected, discarding those in bad conditions (broken, dry, etc) and then planted manually in a straight position, perpendicular to the ground. Around 1/3 of the propagule will be buried in the ground.

  • Results

    Open

    In 2008, 6 302 000 Rizophora were planted in 12 areas (110 villages) of Casamance. This operation took place in the record time of only 43 days. The surface of plantations is being collected now. We will be able to give the exact surface in one or two month.

    In 2009, approximately 36 700 000 of Rhizophora were planted what corresponds approximately at 2000 hectares.

  • Deliverables

    Open

    More than 2000 ha of mangrove restored, local communities awarded on environmental conservation and a Project design document (PDD) necessary for the project registration under the CDM.

  • Use of Satellite Imagery and GIS Solutions

    Open

    The use of satellite pictures for the success of the project is indispensable for several reasons :

    1. GPS errors correction: the project boundary needs to be measured with GPS. Recent satellite images area necessary to correct and adjust the polygons measured in order to correct the potential errors of the GPS job.
    2. Eligibility of lands: under the CDM rules the eligibility of lands needs to be assessed. This means that in needs to be demonstrated that the project lands were not forest (according to the national forest definition) in 1989 and when the project started (2008-2009). For this reason it will be necessary to analyze the project boundary with satellite images of 1989 and 2008/09.
    3. Elaboration of the PDD: to write the PDD, it is necessary to realize maps of the project localization and of the method used for realized the eligibility study of plantations. GIS will be used to generate all the project maps.

  • Local Actions

    Open

    As above mentioned, the project is implemented by local communities and the project activity will contribute not only to environmental protection but also to socio-economic improvement in the rural area including: capacity building of local people, employment creation and increase of mangrove productivity. Several activities will take place to improve the knowledge of the local communities on environment conservation, mangrove restoration and management. During the implementation of the project, short term employment will be generated for the management of the plantations and during the monitoring process. The mangrove restoration will improve the mangrove production leading to a potential income increase for local people.

  • Miscellaneous information / interesting details on project

    Open

    The project activity will contribute not only to environmental protection but also to socio-economic improvement in the rural area including: capacity building of local people, employment creation and increase of mangrove productivity. Several activities will take place to improve the knowledge of the local communities on environment conservation, mangrove restoration and management. During the implementation of the project, short term employment will be generated for the management of the plantations and during the monitoring process. The mangrove restoration will improve the mangrove production leading to a potential income increase for local people.

  • Region Name

    Open
    The proposed project is located in the degraded mangrove lands of the Sine Saloum and Casamance deltas, at the southeast Atlantic coast of Senegal.

  • Partners involved in project

    Open
    The local NGO Oceanium
    The Danone Group
    The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
    The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)