From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: GAMBIA: GOVERNMENT APPROVES ENVIRON
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 19:37:06 GMT

Title: GAMBIA: GOVERNMENT APPROVES ENVIRONMENT ACTION PLAN


an inter press service feature

by peter da costa

banjul, aug 24 (ips) -- gambia's authorities have launched a
wide-ranging environmental action plan aimed at reversing the
potentially critical state of the small west african country's
fast-depleting natural resources.

the plan, approved last week by the government of president
dawda jawara after 18 months of formulation, intends to provide
a framework for long-term national environment policy planning
and natural resource management.

among its objectives are conservation and promotion of
rational use of natural resources, preservation and improvement
of quality of life through sound enviromnental management and
restoration of the equilibrium of ecosystems.

through coordination of environment management, government
also intends to increase community awareness to ensure
environment is an integral part of all development activities
and accelerate the use of alternative energy sources.

consisting of three programmes, on natural resources
management, environmental health and energy, the plan will be
backed with cross-sectoral projects, including development of an
information data base and a public awareness campaign.

according to gambia's chief environment officer, ndey isatou
njie, the new environmental action plan is the best way forward.

''what we've come up with is a holistic multi-sectoral
approach to environmental resource management. every policy
government enacts will now be considered in light of how it
affects the environment'', she told ips.

njie also emphasises creative thinking saying, ''management
is a key part of all this. for example we are putting a stop to
beach sand removal and encouraging people to use inland
quarries. when these quarries are exhausted we will work at
rehabilitating them. you could create lakes and scenic parks''.

the action plan is will be presented to a donors' conference
t0 be held in banjul in december. gambia will seek 35 million
dollars in bilateral and multilateral assistance to fund the
first half of the 10-year programme.

a conference on environment legislation will be convened
before the donors meet to recommend amendments to gambia's 1987
national environment management act. (more/ips)


gambia: government (2)

these initiatives to protect the environment come against the
background of a series of threats to the agriculture-based sahel
country's environment.

among the major threats to the environment is rapid
population growth. with an estimated 1990 population figure of
890,000 growing at 3.4 percent a year, the country's population
is projected to reach 1.2 million by the century's end.

in the island capital of banjul where a quarter of the
population live, (increasing at an annual rate of seven
percent), the effects of rapid population growth are manifest in
substandard housing, poor sanitation and inadequate waste
management.

experts say the current density of 83 persons per square km
will reach an alarming 112 by the year 2000, speeding a
progressive depletion of flora and fauna, soils and water
reserves.

increased cultivation and overgrazing will predispose the
country's fragile arid zones to desertification, catalyzing land
tenure disputes, food insecurity and rural-urban migration.

statistics on agriculture, which accounts for some 60 percent
of gross domestic product (gdp), indicate that over the past
decade, areas under rice cultivation have dropped from 30,000 to
15,000 hectares, mostly as a result of sea water salinization,
the drying up of swamps and less rainfall.

although the new plan is a welcome development in
environmental resources management, gambia's committment to
environmental protection dates back to a 1977 banjul declaration
on the preservation of the country's dwindling flora and fauna.

since then, apart from wildlife conservation,
environment-related projects have been ongoing in forestry, soil
and water management, livestock and range management, fisheries,
and urban management/development. (end/ips/pdc/tvh/ar/92)



-- 
Mr. Aaron Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us -- posting from Evanston, Illinois