Sustainable and collaborative management of fishing at Mâl

Beneficiary Nature Mauritanie
Montant du projet € 75 000
Subventions FFEM € 35 000
État du projet achevé

Nature Mauritanie, supported by BirdLife International, the TRANSCO project, the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, IUCN-NL and UNDP, works on the preservation/restoration of wetlands and their associated species. In particular, it has been monitoring the bird populations of Lake Mâl since 2004, located in the Brakna region in south-western Mauritania, which is home to exceptional fish biodiversity (notably the lungfish Protopterus annectens) and constitutes a prime habitat for migratory birds crossing the desert (notably the Northern Pintail Anas acuta, the Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio, the Garganey Anas querquedula, and the Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca).

Most households in the villages surrounding Mâl depend on the lake’s resources (fishers, livestock farmers, and farmers), which today is resulting in a decline in species richness and a threat of siltation of the lake. Indeed, since the 1970s, the Lake Mâl ecosystem has been subject to drying out, and its resources have been overexploited, with a marked decline in fishing yields over the past 20 years. In addition, the construction of a dam has encouraged the farming of more than 800 ha of agricultural land and the settlement of populations that were previously semi-nomadic.

Given the lake’s importance to the rural economy of the area (fishing, water lily harvesting for traditional medicine and food, and the development of market gardening) and for the conservation of migratory birds, Nature Mauritanie has set up a programme to conserve forest, bird and fisheries resources, which also aims to improve the standard of living of fishers in this region.

Direct beneficiaries are 350 fishers (also coming from other regions of Mauritania, Senegal and Mali), while indirect beneficiaries are lake users, staff of the Mâl Commune and decentralised state services, totalling around 700 people.

Détails du projet

Country : Mauritanie

Financeurs : 1 Financeur

Durée du projet : 18 mois

Convention : 04/10/2013

Principales activités

• Local populations have a good understanding of fish breeding periods and are informed about good sustainable fisheries management practices

• At least 30 fishers and 10 women are trained in organisational management and sustainable resource management, and take part in waste management workshops

• A code of conduct is drawn up and signed by all parties, setting out strict rules to be applied by fishers: compliance with authorised mesh sizes and net types; closure of fishing during the flood period when breeding stock enter spawning grounds; a ban on fishing in areas recognised as spawning and nursery grounds; and the abandonment of fishing techniques that are destructive to juveniles and fish-eating birds

• Surveillance patrols are carried out by the Site Support Group (SSG) to ensure compliance with the resource access rules and standards established under the project

• 1,000 awareness-raising leaflets are produced and distributed

• At least 35 drying racks and a set of sustainable fishing equipment (25 conventional nets, 40 packs of fish hooks, etc.) are distributed to fishers

• A conservation and marketing unit is built (a shed housing the drying racks to limit contamination of dried products, which also serves as a sales point)

• At least 30 fishers are trained in dried fish preservation techniques

• A Local Fisheries Council (CLP), the only one on Lake Mâl, is set up — under the authority of the prefect and the mayor — to serve as a consultation body between the administration, fishers, women processors, elected officials and technical services

• The right of access to resources is regulated through surveillance patrols carried out by the Site Support Group, a sort of monitoring unit set up by the BirdLife project, since the police and gendarmerie do not have the authority to carry out this monitoring and the Water and Forestry services are not present everywhere

• Thanks to NM’s support, fishing has been incorporated into the local development plan of the Mâl commune

•A fisheries management plan for the lake has been drawn up

Yelli DIAWARA

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