When the ocean swallows the coasts of Senegal

Robert’s house is nothing more than a pile of ruins. Shells were deposited on certain debris, which still occupy the beach.

The 86-year-old was born and raised in this house, which he was forced to leave a few years ago. The erosion of the coast, due to the constant advance of the sea, caused the collapse of the family home.

According to the Senegalese Ministry of the Environment, the country, which has 700 kilometers of coastline, is seeing its coastline retreat by 0.5 to 2 meters on average per year.

We didn’t want to move from here. I spent my youth, my studies heredeplores Mady, a neighbor of Robert, who was also forced to settle in a new home 500 meters from the ocean, where there is the heat that bothers you.

Moreover, several of these displaced people return daily to settle in a small shaded place a few meters from the beach to temporarily escape the stifling heat felt inland.

Mame Sarr’s house still stands, despite the persistent threat from the ocean. The 70-year-old man would like to spend the rest of his life there, a wish that he knows is difficult to achieve, given the fate reserved for his neighbors’ residences.

That’s what I want, but with the advance of the sea, we are in doubt. We can do 10 years, or one year and leavehe said.

The phenomenon, which has disrupted the daily lives of residents of Palmarin, like that of many other communities along the more than 600 kilometers of the Senegalese coastline, is not new.

The geologist Pape Goumba Lo explains it in particular by the composition of the soil and sea currents. The professor emeritus nevertheless underlines an acceleration, caused by stronger waves, a consequence of climate change, but also by significant development of the coastline.

The best way to protect the coast is to have a vision, a strategy for developing the coastline.

The professor emeritus, who suggests better protecting coastal natural areas, also proposes protective measures to avoid scenarios similar to those of Palmarin.

According to him, the construction of breakwaters, a kind of low wall, along the coasts would make it possible to reduce the intensity of wave swells.

Some have already been erected off the town of Saly, a tourist community south of Dakar, but this solution presents a significant challenge: costs.

It’s expensive, and that’s where we need supportconfirms Asiatou Sophie Gladima, mayor of the small town of Joal. The elected official herself installed riprap in front of her residence, in order to limit the impacts of advancing water.

Elsewhere, some communities preferred to erect wooden walls to protect the coastline.

This former minister deplores the impacts, particularly economic, of the phenomenon. This advance of the sea is destroying fish habitat, while much is expected of fishingshe indicates.

The politician, who participated in several COPs, believes that part of the international funds dedicated to the climate could be used to mitigate the impact of coastal erosion, not only those of Senegal, but also of several African countries. the West, faced with the same phenomenon.

The first to pay for this climate change is Africa and especially the populations along the coasts.

Leave or stay?

After a new president came to power in March, the Senegalese government ordered the suspension of construction permits in certain coastal areas, notably in Dakar, the capital.

A bill presented under the former government and still under study also aims to regulate development on the coast.

In the Saint-Louis region, in the north of the country, theHIMthe World Bank and the Senegalese government have invested tens of millions of dollars to resettle around 15,000 coastal residents.

However, not everyone has such help. For Mame Sarr, who has lived on the coast of Palmarin since birth, moving is not easy.

The septuagenarian nevertheless bought land far from the coast, but since we don’t have the means, we’re not leavinghe said.

With no solution on the horizon, he even wonders if his son shouldn’t try his luck far, far away, from Palmarin.

If I see a canoe leaving here to go to Spain or Canada, I’m going to say to it: “Come on son, maybe you’ll bring something back so we can build elsewhere”he admits, in reference to the thousands of young people who leave Senegal each year to undertake a very dangerous clandestine crossing, often to the Canary Islands. In recent months, shipwrecks have caused dozens of deaths.

Despite the risks, Mame Sarr cannot help but see hope in this sea which, for him, has become a constant threat.