Protecting the green lung of Pikine: turning an invasive species into an ecological opportunity
Published: 22 Aug 2024
Adaptation
Climate Finance
A feasibility study on the commercial exploitation of this invasive plant in the Grand Niaye Natural Reserve in Pikine (Senegal) confirms its potential to create jobs and be both economically and socially beneficial. This approach addresses one of the major challenges facing this crucial wetland.
Captain Abdoulaye Touré enters his office early in the morning at the old Club House of Dakar, a former golf center now converted into the headquarters of the Grand Niaye Urban Nature Reserve of Pikine and Dependence (RNUGNPD). His 40 employees and three advisers are waiting for him, including the lieutenant Aminata Dia, who is dressed in a military attire with a walkie-talkie on her belt. She informs the captain of her tasks from the previous day and whether there have been any infractions.
Dia is responsible for patrolling the wetland providing pedagogical support to visitors, students, and new guards. It is her duty to ensure that the locals understand the importance and regulations of the Reserve. "The population violates the rules because they are unaware; they don’t know that this is a protected area. Most of the time, when you explain it to them, it doesn’t happen again," Dia explains that, if this is not the case, she doesn’t hesitate to report the incidents to the police.
And its protection is relatively recent. The Reserve was established by decree in 2019, a measure aimed at rationally managing ecosystems and maintaining the ecological functions of this wetland by the Directorate of Community Marine Protected Areas (AMCP) of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Senegal. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Senegal, this ecological niche covers eight municipalities (Hann-Bel Air, Dalifort, La Patte D'Oie, Sam Notaire, Golf Sud, Pikine Nord, Pikine Ouest, and Les Parcelles Assainies, Grande Niaye) and extends over 650 hectares.
The only lung of a great urban jungle
ornithological reserve, and one of the few remaining green spaces in the Senegalese capital.
©AECID/Sylvain Cherkaoui
The area was historically connected to two lakes in the municipalities of Hann and Maristas. However, due to urbanisation and the creation of new infrastructures, like the coastal highway, these reservoirs are no longer connected. This has closed the circuit that has drained the water, causing it to stagnate and increase in volume.
The natural reservoir, which collects all the water during the rainy season. It is used by about 5,000 fishermen and 600 horticulturists who were there before the Reserve was established as a protected area and who played a key role in the legislation that preserves it.
Another important function, as explained by the captain Touré, is that the Reserve serves as a breeding and stopover site for around 239 migratory species that frequent this aquatic wildlife habitat. Additionally, it has potential for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration.
The climate emergency detected in Pikine led it to join the Covenant of Mayors for Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) in 2017. Since 2021, in Senegal, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) has been implementing and co-financing the third phase of the CoM SSA project (PACMAS III, referred to by its French acronym), and has been assisting the city of Pikine in developing and implementing its Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP).
Typha: an expanding threat
‘’This rainwater reservoir is severely threatened by several factors, especially by Typha," explains Touré. This plant, scientifically known as Typha australis, is a robust aquatic plant that grows rapidly between one and three meters tall and spreads easily. "Its growth is associated with a certain degree of water pollution," he reveals.
In Senegal, Typha is well known because the river - with the same name - which separates Senegal from Mauritania in the north, has been overrun by this plant for years. Typha is considered an “invasive plant,” and various stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organisations and private entities, have been working to eliminate it or find ways to utilise it.
So, when it began to grow in the Pikine reservoir, everyone was already aware of the threat it represented: a progressive reduction in the water level of this wetland. According to the available data, of the 650 hectares of the natural reserve, Typha now covers about 100 hectares, or 15% of the Reserve.
An indicator of pollution
The environmentalist and president of the Reserve Management Committee, Bassirou Ndiaye, identifies sewage discharged into the wetland by different entities, both public and private, in the Pikine Technopôle Industrial Zone as the main factor driving the proliferation of the Typha.
Captain Touré also points to household and small business waste, such as car garages, which suffer from poor waste management and end up in the protected area. However, Lieutenant Aminata Dia is responsible for addressing this issue.
All these forms of pollution affect the environment and ecosystems, as well as local economic activities like fishing, horticulture, forestry, and grass collection. Local authorities support these activities, as long as they are managed in a controlled manner, given that the area is designated for agricultural use.
Valorisation of a growing resource
It may seem far-fetched, but it makes perfect sense: ‘’if you can't beat the enemy, join them’’. This is the idea behind the commercial exploitation of Typha, a resource that is unfortunately expected to increase.
According to the feasibility study on the commercial exploitation of Typha led by the CoM SSA, the total estimated amount of Typha in the Grand Niaye Nature Reserve is 16.625 tons per year, which translates to 2.771 tons of dry matter (plant) available per year for exploitation.
The President of the Management Committee, Ndiaye, explains that currently, no one has exploited Typha in the Pikine reserve because cutting it requires a precise technique and doing it incorrectly could lead to an even faster spread. He knows this because all the involved stakeholders have received extensive technical training on the matter: “What is recommended is extraction, and for that, more sophisticated machinery is needed, which is not accessible to the local populations,” he asserts.
In the feasibility study three alternatives for the valorisation of the plant were studied:
- the creation of a power plant to convert Typha into electricity,
- its use as a construction material for the manufacture of insulation and bricks, and
- its conversion into Typha briquettes for use as domestic fuel.
Projects are seeking to utilize it as home insulation or cooking charcoal.
©AECID/Sylvain Cherkaoui
The Ecological Transition Program (PROTEC) of the AECID has agreed to provide financial support to the City of Pikine to the value of 900,000 euros for the development of the circular economy initiative around the utilisation of Typha.
For Ndiaye and also Captain Touré, this solution is positive and viable, as the result would be a product “that is not expensive, and that people could use daily.” They also mention that it would be a “source of employment and its transformation does not require significant resources.”
Controlled tourist exploitation
“If this happens, we could start planning,” imagines Bassirou Ndiaye.
“Reducing Typha would improve water management for agricultural use and also allow us to build small infrastructures to exploit the site for tourism. I would love to create a restaurant on piles, even bungalows to sleep over the water…” dreams the President of the Management Committee.
A walk through the wetland reveals its potential. Red laterite paths, green shrubs, and calm waters. Hundreds of birds fluttering around, contrasting with the distant noise of cars and buildings of the big city.
The Reserve staff has already planned recreational and water sports activities they would like to offer to neighbouring communities so they can benefit from this green area: sport fishing, kayaking, and canoe rides are their initial ideas. These activities form part of the 2021-2026 Development and Management Plan, which is designed to make the Reserve attractive and economically viable, while also raising awareness through ecological training tours and excursions to generate economic benefits and mitigate financial limitations.
“Currently, the area is underutilised due to a lack of resources,” explains Touré, the chief conservator. He suggests allocating more state budget and charging fees to businesses operating in the industrial zone. “In addition to the resources that will come in if we implement these income-generating activities,” he concludes. To boost tourism, they also consider the creation of a public landfill to be essential.
All stakeholders agree that, despite the challenges, it is crucial to support the conservation policy of the Grand Niaye Urban Nature Reserve in Pikine. This green lung is essential for the survival of numerous species, including humans, and plays a key role in mitigating climate change.
This article was written by Laura Feal, as part of the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) initiative.
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