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co                     Nurturing the Environment
t \                     on Senegal's West Coast
The Natural Reserve of Ker Cupaam    were clearly required to restorc its
Tis situated in the "Petite C6tc" re-   ecology and attract the sort of tourist
gion of Senegal, 45  kilometers   activity that would benefit the local po-
_      south of Dakar along the Atlantic   pulation. That, in any case, was the
coast. This fragment of a former na-   conclusion reached by a group of
tional forest covering roughly 100 hect-   women from the village of Popenguine,
ares was sct aside by government de-   who decided in 1988 to crcatc the As-
_ea cree in the early 19SOs in order to pro-   sociation of WNomen of Popenguine for
tecet the wintering site of the blue   the Protcetion of the Environment (Re-
grackle and the rock graclde, two en-   groupernent des Feinines de Popenguine
dangered species, and to sheltcr the   poutr la Protection de la Mature or
migratory route of birds that follow the    (RFPPN>'). The group was composed
x  I  x     Atlantic coast of WVcst Africa. The cliffs   initially of 119 women and one man,
that border the seashore in this region    who just happened to be present at the
of the coast provide prized nesting and   inaugural mecting. They sclected as
feceding grounds for many species.    their matron  dcity Alani  Cum?lba
Both the flora and the fauna of this   Cupaam, Kthe guiding spirit of coastal
area had been severely damaged over   fisherman.>
preceding years by the  effects of       During the followNing eight years, the
drought,  increased   grazing,  and    RFPPN used first its own resources and
firewood  harvest. The  coast near   then additional ones provided by donor
Popenguine nonetheless is a favorite   organizations interested in this novel
tourist destination for people from Da-   form of natural resource management
kar as well as a rcnowned centcr of   to restore the vegetation of the rcservc
No. 8                   religious pilgrimagc for Catholics. But   and   the   surrounding   territory.
May 1999                   this activitv has not greatly benefited
local people, and a growing population
has  put  hcaNier  pressure  on  a      IK Notes reports periodically on Indig-
enous Knowledge (OK) initiatives in
deteriorating resource base.            Sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by
the Africa Region's Knowledge and
Learning Center as part of an evolving
Talikmng up the challenge              IK partnership between the NVorld
Bank, communities, NGOs, develop-
ment institutions and multilateral orga-
* <XON*t ~              Though constitution  of the nature      nizations. The views expressed in this
reserve in the early 1980s helped to    article are those of the authors and
should not be attributed to the NVorld
stop  further  degradation  of  the     Bank Group or its partners in this ini-
of. c                       environment, the vegetation of the      tiative. A webpage on IK is available at
region had already been so severely    http://wwwworldbank.org/aftdr/ik/
default.htm
damaged that more intensive efforts



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Mcasures implemcnted by thc association included constitu-   *  Second, thev established a village tree nursery and a
tion of green firebreaks around the entire perimeter,         community forest to begin enhancing the supply of local
replanting of native species furnished by a nursery that the  combustibles.
women established at the same time, and organization of   *  Finally, they organized the collection of household
workshops where young volunteers from neighboring rural       wastes and trash for composting both in order to stem
and urban arcas were brought in to learn nature conservation  public health threats arising from inadequate disposal
and perform much of the physical labor required.              facilities and to produce compost for the nursery.
In this manner, the women not only succeeded in
progressively reconstituting local bio-diversity and restoring
the natural vegetation of the area, but their efforts also
In addition, RFPPN members rapidlv put their finger on the
apparently contributed materiallv to the reappearane of ani-
leading threat to restoration  and preservation of the   ma] species not seen in those parts for years: numerous types
environment: deforestation due to collection of firewood by
-   of birds plus porcupines, mongoose, the patas monkey,
the population of villages throughout the area. The women   jackals, eivet cats, and even antelope.
resolved on a series of mcasures to provide alternate sources
of energy and make their communitics self-sufficient in    Building a network
cooking fuel.
eFirst, thev established a cooperative distribution network
*  First, theyestablishedacoopertivedistributionnetwork Their efforts soon reached a level where restoration of the
for wood, charcoal and gas to regulate consumption and   regional environment could not be guaranteed without
help their members provide for household needs,       broader participation  from  surrounding  villages. The
program and the example of RFPPN had, in fact, awavkened an
increasing amount of interest among people in neighboring
IK        N    o tes                                      communities. Rather than simply expand the RFPPN,
would be of interest to:                                  mcmbers of the Popenguine association decided to encou-
rage women in nearby villages to start their own
Name                                                      organizations and establish their ow,n nurseries, work details
Institutin .and fuel distribution networks. Eight communities eventually
affiliated  with  Popenguine  under the  guidance  of a
commonly-clected coordinating committee, and the overall
Address                                                   membership grew from the 119 members initially involved to
over 1500. Tens of thousands of new tree seedlings are now
produced each year by this network of associations.
At the same time, the women's groups added new dimen-
sions of activity to their program. Three complementarv di-
-5 -    E            -.; -      .                   rections have developed, thanks in part to substantial sup-
port from the European Economic Community (EEC).
*  Credit and banking: To help alleviate the pervasive
poverty that lcd to  repeated  degradation  of the
en,vironment, the associations began creating cereal
banks, credit mutuals and small irrigated vegetable
farming enterprises in cach village. The last provided an
additional incentive to keep up the waste collection and
composting effort.



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*  Tourist and training infrastructure: Given the growing   A model to emulate
interest in the Popenguine experiment throughout
Scnegal and even abroad, the women decided to build a   The reserve and the surrounding protected areas now cover
simple infrastructure  for hosting  delegations and   over 50  square  miles and  provide  more  economic
visitors, followed by the development of a fCentcr for   opportunities for all the bordering communities. This coexis-
Training in Ecological Management.> They have now had   tence between an African national preserve and its human
groups of visitors from  several forcign  countries   neighbors is at the same time emblematic of a new and
intrigued   by   this   example   of   successful   hopeful style of environmental conservation. The RFFPN has
<ecodevelopment.>                                    offcred Senegal and interested groups in other African
*   ibuth employmnent: To help stem the out-migration of   countries a model of ecological stewardship developed with
school leavers and remedy the lack of opportunity for   and by the local population, and one that yiclds short-term
productive employment of young people throughout the   benefits for both the environment and the people within it.
region, the associations put a premium on inducting
youth into the various functions and economic activities
created around the new  reserve. Volunteers from
surrounding villages and nearby urban areas have been
recruited to help wNith restoration of the reservc and
learn principles of good ecomanagement, in many cases
leading to new  lasting employment. Much of the
recruitment is handled by Senegalese young people's
clubs affiliated with the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, a
French NGO dedicated to environmental preservation.
This article is based on research conducted by Senegalese researchers with the support and technical sutpervision of
Peter Easton, Associate Professor, Graduate Studies inAdult Education, Florida State Unliversity, uith the active collabora-
tion of the concerned African communities. The research twas carried out under the joint aegis of the Club du Sahel/OECD,
the CILSS and the Associationfor the Development of Education in Africa ( ADEA ).