Environment minister says coastal Gambia at risk

Amadou Jallow in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Banjul): The risk of climate change related damage to human and economic development in The Gambia's coastal areas is on the rise, with the compound effects of sea level rise and changes in the river discharge, erosion of coastal embankments and changes to natural sediments dynamics posing a serious threat to the natural resource base and livelihood opportunities of coastal communities including tourism.

This was disclosed by the minister of Forestry and the Environment, Fatou Ndeye Gaye, at the Paradise Suites Hotel on Tuesday, where she presided over the opening of a two-day validation workshop on the UNDP/GEF/ LCDF project preparatory grant, on the theme, 'Enhancing resources of Coastal areas and countries to climate change'. The validation is organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Policy and institutional development for climate risk management in coastal zones, physical investment in coastal protection against climate change risks and strengthening livelihoods of coastal communities at risk from climate change are the three main components of the project, and it seeks to employ a feedback loop between the three components and enable successful community-based adaptation approaches in coastal areas to be analysed and replicated in other vulnerable regions, within and outside The Gambia.

Minister Gaye said The Gambia is one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa in relation to climate change and faces a range of problems associated with flooding from sea level rise, drainage congestion and torrential rains. "Change in climatic patterns are also expected to further constrain productivity of some crops as well as forest regeneration," she added....

A ferry arriving in Banjul, shot by Grashoofd, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license