ENVIRONMENT-COTE D’IVOIRE: Acacias Come to the Service of Mangroves

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Fulgence Zamblé and Michée Boko

ABIDJAN, Aug 12 2007 (IPS) - Mangroves, it could be said, have perfected the art of multi-tasking. Found along tropical coastlines, these trees and shrubs may prevent soil erosion, while their roots create breeding places for various marine species. So, when a particular mangrove forest is shown to have been reduced by two thirds in less than 20 years, there is major cause for concern.

At the start of the 1990s, the mangroves around Ebrié lagoon in southern Côte d’Ivoire extended over 15,000 hectares. By last year, the area of the forests had shrunk to 5,000 hectares, according to government figures – a loss attributed to the growing demand for wood on the part of coastal communities.

“The overexploitation of the mangroves of Abidjan (the commercial capital) has led to the disappearance of numerous plant and animal species,” says Environment, Water and Forests Minister Daniel Ahizi Aka.

However, a non-governmental organisation based in Abidjan, SOS Forests (SOS Forêts), is trying to stop this destruction, through the ‘Restoration of the Biodiversity and Planning of Coastal Zones’ project.

The initiative is aimed at planting five hectares of acacia trees at each village around the lagoon to provide communities with an alternative source of wood, so that residents will no longer be dependent on mangroves for their domestic energy needs.

“We have chosen the acacia because it’s a species that grows quickly. Communities will therefore be able to use the wood after a few months to satisfy their needs concerning wood for cooking,” Mathieu Egnankou of SOS Forests told IPS, adding that this would enable mangrove forests to be restored, while “fish species in the process of disappearing will be able to reproduce, and the crocodiles will be able to return.”

After a pilot phase of more than a year, the project is now being extended – and has already started to yield results in the village of Abatta.

A recent visit by IPS to this community found a group of young men and women busy collecting dead wood in the new plantation, a measure to ensure that it too is used sustainably.

For the moment, explained one of the youths, they “are…banned from uprooting or chopping down trees. Each family of the village comes here to gather wood for the week; it’s now our only source of energy.”

Initially, there was some resistance to the venture, with village residents fearing that they would find themselves without wood.

“But as the project evolved, we became aware that it was important for us and for the future of our children to participate in the project, to contribute to protection of the environment,” Charles Agba, a member of the initiative’s pilot committee in the Abatta area, told IPS.

Seven other villages are also being targeted for acacia planting.

In addition, the ‘Restoration of the Biodiversity and Planning of Coastal Zones’ project aims to have communities start using stoves that are more energy efficient – this amidst widespread reluctance to make greater use of gas, considered both dangerous and expensive.

“It costs between 20 and 50 dollars to buy a cylinder of gas, which is excessive for many Ivorians. We are already…used to firewood, and this suits us well,” said Bernard Kassi, who lives in Bingerville, in the south.

According to the 2006 United Nations Human Development Report, almost 15 percent of Ivorians live below a dollar a day – and close to 50 percent on less than two dollars per day.

Energy-efficient stoves enable two pots to be warmed by a single fire, the heat of one pot being transmitted to the second. According to Egnankou, families can reduce their consumption of wood by half with the improved stoves.

The project has a cost of 45,800 dollars, and is being financed by the United Nations Development Programme though the Global Environment Facility – a fund that assists developing nations with environmental protection.

Egnankou warns, however, that much more needs to be done to guard Côte d’Ivoire’s plant and animal life.

“There is practically no policy for protection of the environment in Côte d’Ivoire today,” he said, also bemoaning the country’s inability to ensure implementation of environmental policy.