By Dr. Rokhaya Samba Diène, Departement of Mining and Geology of Senegal

This  project is proposed by the Government of Senegal through the Direction of Mining and Mining and Geology in close collaboration with the Direction of Forest Service and Soils Conservation, the Direction of Environment, the Ecological Survey Centre and the Local Authorities.

Through this project, we are thinking of doing CO₂ sequestration with land use change and forestry in order to reduce pollution, restore the land and landscape, ameliorate the aesthetics of the environment and improve the productivity of the sites by changing the land use.

About 5000 hectares of land are concerned. The two thirds parts will be filled in and the embankment fixed by using the Vetiver system which improve the ecological environment and promote other plants to grow up; Vetiver has also a great power to sequestrate (Xu, 2002; Dyna Entreprises CD, 2002). In this area, we'll replant Eucalyptus, Mangifera, Anacardium and local species like Ziziphus, Citrus and Tamarindus.

In the third part of the 5000 hectares, we envisage to develop basins for the retention of water. Those basins are going to be surrounded by Vetiver hedges to fix and stabilize the inside slopes, to reclaim the soil and improve its productivity. We plan to install orchards and market garden for local populations. Those activities associated to beekeeping and sylviculture will generate job and finances for the collectivities who are part and beneficiaries of the project. They will received training sessions on those new technologies all long of the project.

The project is advanced in preparation and its expected lifetime is 15 years. If it starts in December 2003 with one year required before becoming operational, we estimate before 2008 to sequestrate 71 350 tons of carbon equivalent (TC) and, during entire project lifetime, 713 5005 TC.

The total project cost is 22.452.773 US $ and the financial arrangement proposed is :

q      Senegalese government : 7.000.000 US$

q      BIOCF: 3.000.000 US$

q      PCF: 9.000.000 US$

q      Local authorities and their partners: 1.000.000 US$

q      Mining companies: 3.000.000 US$

The environmental benefits expected are to re-create soil and vegetal cover, to ameliorate the soil fertility and give to the populations new lands with high productivity, activities generating money and job to reduce poverty and ameliorate their alimentation basis.