How Gambian women are restoring the mangroves protecting Banjul
The coastal trees provide a living for the women, who plant and care for them, and shield the island capital from erosion and flooding. Banjul
The coastal trees provide a living for the women, who plant and care for them, and shield the island capital from erosion and flooding. Banjul, The Gambia – At dawn, before the heat settles over the coast, Fatou Jarjue waits for the tide to retreat. She pulls on her gloves and socks, steps into the muddy edge of the Tanbi Wetland and pushes her wooden canoe through narrow channels surrounded by tangled mangrove roots. Inside the canoe sit empty pans waiting to be filled, not with oysters today, but with crabs hiding beneath the surface. The life of this mother of one is inseparable from the wetland she navigates each day. The mangroves – salt-tolerant coastal trees that protect shorelines from erosion and flooding – provide the oysters, crabs and fish that sustain her family’s livelihood while serving as a natural barrier against erosion and flooding for her coastal community. Her brother, Musa, trails behind in a smaller canoe whenever he can, keeping watch as she moves deeper into the mangrove channels. On days when he is busy elsewhere, Jarjue ventures into the wetland alone. For generations, women around the Tanbi Wetland have depended on these waters for survival. Jarjue still does. But unlike previous generations, she also spends part of her time restoring the ecosystem that has sustained her family for decades. Only months earlier, these waterways were filled with women collecting oysters attached to mangrove roots. With the arrival of The Gambia’s rainy season, oyster harvesting pauses, forcing many women to turn to crabs and fishing until the shellfish season reopens. For the 34-year-old, the change in her daily catch is temporary. Her commitment to restoring the mangroves is not. “I have restored more than 5,000 mangroves since last year,” she told Al Jazeera. Raised in the mangroves Jarjue grew up in Ndangan, a small settlement of about 300 people located roughly 2km (1.2 miles) from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. Like many children in the community, she grew up with the rhythms of the wetland. At just 12 years old, she began following her mother into the mangroves, learning how to harvest oysters and catch crabs and fish.
The forest was both a classroom and a source of income. Over the years, Jarjue watched the environment around her change. Rising seas, coastal erosion and changing weather patterns began threatening the coastline her community depends on. Instead of only taking from the wetland, she decided to help rebuild it. Today, she returns regularly not only to harvest but also to inspect young seedlings, replace damaged plants and monitor areas where restoration is needed. “The mangroves are part of our lives,” she said. For Jarjue, conservation is not separate from survival. The healthier the mangroves become, the stronger the future of her community. A season’s wait As Jarjue paddles deeper into the wetland, oysters cling to the roots of the mangroves. They are large, growing and ready for harvest in another season. She leaves them untouched. She points towards them proudly, knowing that protecting them now will mean a better harvest later. Although crab harvesting provides income during the rainy season, oysters remain the more profitable catch. A milk-can measure of oysters sells for about 100 dalasis ($1.34), and demand at local markets is higher. “Oysters are difficult to harvest,” Jarjue explained. “But that is where the money is.” The annual closure of oyster harvesting during the rainy season is sometimes misunderstood as a warning that oysters become poisonous at that time of year. But marine scientist Dawda Saine says the reason is more complex and is rooted in conservation, ecology and food safety. The closure forms part of The Gambia’s Oyster and Cockle Co-management Plan, which allows oyster stocks time to regenerate, reproduce and grow while reducing pressure on the resource. “We don’t close the season because oysters are poisonous,” Saine told Al Jazeera. “We close it to protect the resource and because, during the rains, oysters filter everything in the water, including increased run-off, which can affect their quality, taste and safety.” During the rainy season, increased run-off can carry waste and other materials into waterways where oysters feed by filtering water. Allowing them to remain undisturbed helps protect both the ecosystem and consumers.
The BriefWire