Management of mangrove forests: the professionals of the sub-region at the Bissau-Guinean school

Published On - 27 July 2022

Souleymane Tiemtoré
Gestion des forêts de mangroves : les professionnels de la sous-region à l’école bissau-guinéenne

In collaboration with the co-applicants (WIA and the Collective 5 Deltas), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) organized, from 15 to 21 July 2022, an exchange and learning visit on mangrove techniques in Guinea-Bissau for the benefit of the beneficiary partners of the grant projects from the first phase of the calls for applications. A total of 25 participants from 8 countries participated in this high-level visit whose objective was to build the capacity of grant recipients to better conduct restoration activities of degraded mangrove areas and ensure their monitoring.

The activity started with a visit to the village of Apilho where the members of the local association -PEGA TESSO – gave a warm welcome to the partners. In this village, the delegation visited the mangrove restoration sites in the area, and demonstrations of the Assisted Natural Restoration (ANR) technique were carried out in comparison to the planting technique. On the site, a presentation on the identification and georeferencing of plots for the monitoring of ANR actions was made in order to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of this technique in the short, medium, and long term.

New sites restored through the installation of dikes that drain water and create or reproduce the pedological and hydrological conditions necessary for the development of mangroves were visited on the day of July 17, 2022, in the National Park of Cacheuzinho. The monitoring parameters were defined in order to observe the evolution of the actions undertaken and to take corrective measures if necessary.

Professionals of the sub-region at the Guinea-Bissau school

Following these field activities, a restitution workshop was organized at IBAP followed by a press briefing for the visibility of the project and the donors. During this last stage of the exchange visit, the following presentations were made: the PLANTA & COPPC platform, a reminder of the conditions of existence of mangroves, and the methodology of Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR). Thereafter, discussions were opened following which the participants made recommendations.

In addition, a courtesy visit was made to His Excellency Ngor NDIAYE, Ambassador to Senegal in Bissau, on Wednesday 20 July 2022. The diplomat assured his support for the improvement of the legal framework on mangroves in Guinea Bissau while working for the harmonization of laws in the SLC of the Southern Rivers.

As a reminder, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as Lead Applicant, and Wetlands International Africa and the 5Delta Collective (represented by Eclosio, Kinomé, United Purpose, and GRDR), as Co-beneficiaries, received a grant from the European Union (EU) to implement the project “Management of Mangrove Forests from Senegal to Benin” called “PAPBio C1-Mangroves.