Biological Diversity Conservation through Participatory Rehabilitation of the Degraded Lands of the Arid and Semi-Arid Transboundary Areas of Mauritania and Senegal

The project will address the root causes of biodiversity loss from land degradation in the five critical, upland and floodplain ecosystems of a 60,000 km2 portion of the trans-border Senegal River Valley in Senegal and Mauritania. The project will improve on techniques for rehabilitating the natural ecosystems of these degraded lands. It will develop and apply participatory resource management systems, especially those that generate resource-based income and consequent economic incentives for sustainable management. Fire prevention and suppression of fire-sensitive ecosystems will be strengthened. Measures to decrease pressures on the forest and range resources will be undertaken. Ecosystem restoration and improved fire control will have the double benefit of enhancing carbon sinks. Institutional capacity will be strengthened at all levels from the village to the cross-national.