Matam, Feb 17 (APS) – The coordinator of Senegal’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) support project, Gabriel Ndiaye, on Friday invited the populations of the Matam region (north) to plant trees to mitigate the heat from greenhouse gas emissions.
“Reforestation is one of the solutions to mitigate this expected climate, which will be very difficult to bear, with very high temperatures. Reforestation is a […] solution, because the tree has the ability to sequester carbon dioxide,” said Mr. Ndiaye.
Speaking at the end of a workshop on the vulnerability of the Matam region to climate change, he said the heat might be “increasingly intense” in this part of the country.
The Matam region, like that of the groundnut basin (center), is vulnerable to climate change because it is “a silvopastoral zone”, he pointed out.
“As scientists, we recommend that reforestation be more of a priority for the region”, insisted Gabriel Ndiaye, in the presence of Aïssatou Ndiaye Diallo Bodian, the deputy governor of Matam in charge of development issues in the region, and several department heads.
At the same time, Mr. Ndiaye invited the populations to stop cutting the wood in the region.
A report on the risks and impacts of climate change on the livestock, health, agriculture and infrastructure sectors was presented to the workshop participants.
“Climate change is indeed responsible for certain effects observed in recent years,” added the coordinator of the Senegal NAP support project, citing the decline in agricultural yields, pastures and land degradation.
“For infrastructure, we can list the problem of floods, which impact roads. For health, we noted that certain diseases such as malaria and Rift Valley fever might be frequent in the coming years,” said warned Mr. Ndiaye.
