by Heather
Lowe Turtle Survival Alliance
February 10, 2014
The Tocc Tocc Community Nature Reserve at Lac de
Guiers in northern Senegal
serves as an important aquatic habitat for many wild species, including the
Adanson’s Mud Terrapin (Pelusios adansonii) and the African Manatee (Trichechus
senegalensis).
Unfortunately, for many years this area has been
subjected to a variety of threats including over-fishing and a high number of
abandoned fishing nets, which continue to capture and accidentally kill
hundreds of turtles, birds, fish and other wildlife each year.
In July 2013, representatives from all five local
villages that participate in overseeing Tocc-Tocc held a community meeting in
the village of Pakh . At that time, a consensus was
reached to impose a ban on all fishing and an agreement to conserve the
wildlife in this area.
However, implementing those actions thus far has been
difficult for the team of trained Tocc - Tocc Ecoguards. The new fishing ban
presented a unique challenge because there were no clear boundary markers in
the aquatic part of the reserve.
The TSA Africa team determined that buoys would
provide a solution to this problem. Specifically, buoys that can be seen from a
great distance would indicate to all lake users the borders of the prohibited
fishing area.
In January, the team successfully completed the
installation of these buoys, and we would like to thank our partners (Save Our
Species, Sea to Shore Alliance and GEF / SGP) who gave financial support for
this important conservation project.
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!