Community festival to promote the environment

As part of the "A Kop Allè No Maag Olé - La forêt de la mer" project, Océanium, in partnership with IRHA and local authorities, organized a community festival focusing on the preservation of local resources and the restoration of the mangrove swamp. The event took place on Saturday, December 16, in Faoye, a small village nestled in an inlet (bolong) in Senegal's Siné Saloum region.

As part of the promotion and to reach out to the wider community, the week leading up to the event saw the distribution of trees to schoolchildren in the surrounding villages, as well as the creation of murals on the water cycle and the role of mangroves.

The day of festivities was structured around three main activities: conferences on the environment followed by debates, a cooking competition using fish products (from the mangrove) and, to end on a festive note, a traditional wrestling competition.

The debates were structured around three presentations given by local players actively involved in the preservation and restoration of estuarine ecosystems:


Ndeye Rama Sy, President of the Association Sénégalaise de Gestion d'Eau de Pluie (ASGEP): Sustainable management of rainwater in the fields for territorial resilience

Mathias Sarr, Chief Commander of the Brigade des Eaux et Forêts: Importance of the mangrove's role in the Siné Saloum ecosystem

Mbaye Ana Dramé, Océanium Dakar field officer: The conocartus, a tree for reforesting the tannes, creating a link between the mangrove and inland forests.


The day was greatly appreciated by the local population, both in terms of the exchanges and the more festive part: a great communion of the population, all ages and genders united around themes that affect them daily!