Final measurements and preparations on the field
Not a day goes by or people are talking about the climate somewhere. Entrepreneurs Without Frontiers (OZG: Ondernemers Zonder Grenzen) doesn't just stick to talking, but actively searches for opportunities to counteract the results of climate disruption. They do this by combatting desertification, through reforestation projects at the edge of the desert.
Chairman Werner Sels, sociologist Halewijn Timmerman and geographer Malick Sally are currently studying the Ferlo region in Senegal, particularly the sites Ranérou and Mbar Toubab. They are completing the feasibility study and are preparing the reforestation. This is OZG's first time in Senegal, following the example of what they achieved in Burkina Faso.
Follow their story here in the next few days.
On Monday, Werner and the Senegalese OZG team went into the field with Sergeant Ndiaye from Eaux et Forêts (E&F). They took care of the manual construction of the half-moons: reservoirs in the hard ground to hold water. This in anticipation of an automated system with Delfino ploughs.
Later that day, they went to measure up the damage to the long extended fence around the site. In many places it has been trampled flat, but it is important to keep it upright to keep the cattle out during the young trees' first years. This fence will soon be repaired by the UNCCD (United Nations) and E&F.
OZG also visited E&F in Linguère to check the condition of two old Delfino ploughs . Joined by a mechanic, they made an estimate of what is needed to make these ploughs operational again.
Finally they visited the first stone laying of the UNCCD base, just next to the Great Green Wall (GGW). In the future, OZG will also be able to operate from here.
Promising signals, a constructive day! Scheduled for the next days:
- Appointments with the chefs
- Protocol preparations with UNCCD and Eaux et Forêts
- Presentation of OZG at the Belgian Embassy in Dakar
