Carbon Sequestration - One of Many Tools in ERI's Climate Change Programs
Climate Change Initiative for Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali
Since 2009, Earth Rights Institute's West Africa Office, under the direction of Professor Dramane Toure Nable, has been working on climate change projects to address the challenges faced in the northern region of the Ivory Coast as well in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. As part of the Climate Change Initiative for Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali (which all 4 nations approved), we are introducing several projects specifically geared towards carbon sequestration.
OVERVIEW
In conjunction with ERI USA and Europe, Professor Toure will be leading our role as the NGO for the implementation of our Climate Change Initiative, which includes the Green City Proposal for the neighborhood of Cocody in Abijdan, Ivory Coast. Together with the USA West Coast team, Professor Toure has been actively working to develop partnerships and engage with many local rural communities in our ERI carbon sequestration program. Some project examples we will be implementing include production and dissemination of more efficient stoves and solar dryers for rural households; planting trees along roads and highways; and reforestation through bee pollination.
Though the upheaval after the national elections in 2010-2011 interrupted our tree planting projects, today we are back at work rolling out our program in Cocody. Our partnership with the government of the Ivory Coast is solid as we prepare to work with the civil societies that contribute to this huge program.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Our overall goal in West Africa is to fight against climate change and the many evils it brings with it: poverty, desertification, hunger, and terrorism. To do this, the first projects ERI will implement in Cocody involve tree planting along roads, streets, highways, and the production and provision of over 5 million Teliya food bioethanol cookers and solar dryers to rural households (which will help curb deforestation by halving the use of firewood).
Other carbon sequestration projects we will be involved with will include:
- Implementing a reforestation project via bee pollination in an effort to eradicate GHGs
- Improving yields of food crops and agroforestry
- Restoring degraded lands and forests as a means to protect biodiversity
- Educating farmers in order to help them understand climate change and how they can improve their economic empowerment through the use of environmentally friendly practices
- Building the Great Green Wall of renewable energy, reforestation, and adaptation
Other projects will include the Project Blue Carbon mangrove coastal erosion eradication project, which focuses on conservation and restoration for coastal shores.
All these projects that involve ERI will be under the leadership of Professor Toure and his team. The ERI USA and Europe role will be to provide a consortium of experts and volunteers; social and financial support; training and education; and international collaboration and support. To help cover costs, we are in the process of receiving funds from various international agencies such as the GEF, BAD, and USAID.
If you would like to support us or learn more about these projects, please contact at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
