Technology and trees tackle climate change in Benin
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GCCA+ project in Benin, implemented by UNDP, supports cutting-edge digital technology combined with traditional tree-planting and reforestation to help Benin mitigating the impacts of climate change.
For decades, Benin’s Ouémé river basin has been suffering from intensive farming and over-use. The forest ‘galleries’ - narrow strips of tress which line the banks of the river - have been cut down to make way for crops, to sell as timber and to use as charcoal. More recently, climate change has meant unpredictable extreme weather events including devastating flooding, especially on the lower reaches of the river.
The problem was made worse because there were no reliable maps to show just how much of the forest gallery had been lost. Without up-to-date, accurate data, it was hard to see which parts were worst affected and where to start replanting trees.
“Benin’s maps date from the colonial era and have become obsolete and useless for our project management and development requirements,” explains José Tonato, Minister of the Living Environment and Sustainable Development. “We face great challenges around flood control and other disasters, so it is important to have an early warning system based on reliable technology.”
The solution came through the Support Project for Preservation and Development of Forests Galleries and Production of Digital Basic Mapping (PAPDFGC), an €8.3 million joint project between the EU Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GGCA+) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The first task was to create a new database of maps using digital aerial photography, before turning attention to promoting the conservation and sustainable use of gallery forests in the lower valley of the Ouémé River.
Désiré Djomamou, Director of Geodesic Equipment and Mapping at Benin’s National Geographic Institute, explains: "In the 1960s, when the last national mapping project was carried out, the north of Benin was covered in dense forests. These old maps do not reflect the reality of today - the forests have disappeared because of socio-economic development. Updated maps are really important to measure the impacts of development.”
A total of 15,500 aerial photos covering the whole of Benin were taken, some of which were used to create 3D topographic models. Building on experience from previous similar projects in Senegal and Burkina Faso, a team of 45 local people was recruited and trained to process and analyse the images at a specially-built facility in the National Geographic Institute.
“We capture all the data from the aerial photos then we use local knowledge to add extra information,” says Elodie Dubois, Head of the Digital Mapping Workshop. “We talk to the mayors, the district authorities and the village chiefs. They tell us the names of places in their area, as well as the different infrastructure such as schools, health centres and roads. That way we build up a complete picture.”
With a complete set of digital maps in the database, work began to identify and restore the most degraded stretches of forest gallery. A total of 80 hectares of riverbanks along the Ouémé River and its tributaries has so far been replanted with more than 190,000 trees. The trees are planted in strips around 25 metres wide on both sides of the river.
“I have worked with the forest galleries project for two years,” says Pierre Bocco Amoussou, a nurseryman from the district of Zangnanado in the south of Benin. “We grow indigenous tree species such as Ceiba, Triplochiton, Xylopia, Kola and Milicia. Once we have grown the seedlings in the nursery, we teach volunteers from the villages to plant them and do the necessary follow-up work.”
Women are especially important to the project’s success. 7000 people from 13 riverside communities were given training in flood management - including nearly 3000 women. “It’s not just the restoration of the forest,” says Symphorien Missegbetche, Mayor of Zangnanado. “The project helps women to generate additional income, and when women are able to earn more money, they help ensure food security.”
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