International Network of Boundary Organizations on Adaptation
Beginning in the late 1960s, a series of prolonged and devastating droughts triggered waves of famine and upheaval in West Africa and the Sahel region. From 1972 to 1984, some 100,000 people are estimated to have died as a direct result of drought-related famine. Nearly three-quarters of a million people were totally dependent on food aid.
In response, the United Nations office for the Sudano-Sahelien zone funded the Sahelian Pastoral Ecosystem Monitoring Project, which helped to consolidate regional expertise in the use of geomatics to manage pastoral resources. These efforts led to the creation of the Ecological Monitoring Center (Centre de suivi écologique – CSE) in 1986. Based on the signature of an agreement with the Government of Senegal in 1997, the Center was recognized as a public utility entity under the technical supervision of Senegal’s Ministry of the Environment.
From space to earth: Technical and scientific know-how for adaptation
The CSE plays a crucial role in preparing West Africa for the uncertainties of climate change. In an already hot and dry region, average temperatures are rising and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense. The region also experiences periods of more intense rainfall and flooding. Since most people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and pastoralism, this combination of floods, droughts and changes in rainfall patterns can spell disaster for livelihoods, food security, health and community resilience.
Through a set of technical and financial partnerships, the CSE provides specialized knowledge, services and decision-making tools to support environmental management, early warning systems, climate change mitigation and adaptation. It provides the necessary skills and knowledge to support adaptation and mitigation decisions taken by national, regional and local authorities, including government and financial partners, the private sector, civil society, development agencies and producer groups.
The Centre's expertise covers a wide range of areas related to adaptation and sustainable resource management, ranging from vulnerability assessment to the use of satellite imagery. For example, as part of the “Sustainable Wetland and Flood Management for Improving Food Security and Ecosystem Resilience in West Africa” (GDZHIAO) project, CSE leverages earth observation data to monitor the region’s fragile wetlands, which are threatened by recurrent flooding in West Africa's major river basins.
As a national implementing entity accredited to the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund, the CSE plays a key role in connecting Senegal and the countries of the subregion to global funding sources created to help developing countries prepare for the impacts of climate change. The Centre also works with a range of national research institutions and plays an active role in training a new generation of experts in Senegalese universities.
Fostering adaptation at the local level
At the local and sub-regional level, the CSE assesses the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of communities whose livelihoods depend on climate-sensitive natural resources and helps them mobilize in the face of an uncertain future. For example, it secured US$8 million to support "Reducing the vulnerability and improving the resilience of coastal communities in the Saloum Islands" (REVARD) — the first project in Senegal to be financed by the Green Climate Fund.
To give these communities a clear idea of how they will be affected and what options are available to them, the CSE is advancing the use of climate change scenarios at the local level. Since 2016, the Center has also hosted the Reference Office on Climate Change and Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies, which builds the capacity of local authorities to integrate adaptation and mitigation strategies into local plans and policies, and mobilize the necessary financing to support their projects.
Whether it's pastoralists in the Sahel who depend on increasingly scarce water sources for their livestock, farmers who are experiencing rising salt levels in the soils they cultivate, or fishing communities whose livelihoods are challenged by coastal erosion and rising sea levels, hundreds of millions of people in West Africa are directly affected by decisions being made today on how to prepare for climate change. The CSE plays a critical role in ensuring that these decisions are based on evidence.
