A team of professionals from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) is working on the “Soil Conservation, Sustainable Development, and Local Development at the Dindefelo Natural Community Reserve, Senegal” development cooperation project. This action is ongoing through the Vice Rectorate for International Relations and a university development project signed between the UMH and the Consellería of Transparency, Social Responsibility, Participation and Cooperation and Democratic Quality of the Generalitat Valenciana.

This initiative aims to contribute to the conservation of soils and sustainable development in the area surrounding the Dindefelo Natural Community Reserve through fostering development of local communities. This action also strives to help ensure food sovereignty for its inhabitants, which in turn would ensure the sustainability of production systems in accordance with the territory’s environmental conditions. The objectives have been set so that the communities do not have to cultivate new lands, and thus prevent further deforestation.

For two months, UMH investigator Claudia Gallego has provided training in ten villages near the Dindefelo Natural Community Reserve. Her efforts have helped the residents of these locations learn about the characteristics of soil, its chemical and physical properties, agroecological methods, and soil fertility. According to Gallego, “the recommendations consisted in techniques, such as composting, green fertilizers, use of living walls, complementary crops, and plant coverings.” Directing this work is professor of Soils and Agricultural Chemistry, José Navarro, who explained, “it is necessary that the plant seeds used are adapted to the area in order to not depend upon external seeds.”

Furthermore, the project intends to protect the natural environment and species in danger of extinction, such as chimpanzees, and specifically the subspecies, Pan troglodytes verus. To achieve this aim, the work has collaborated with the Jane Goodall Institute of Spain, which is dedicated to conserving this animal.

The objectives pursued by the project are directly linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations for compliance with the 2030 Agenda. More specifically, they are framed within the first and second SDGs, those of No Poverty and Zero Hunger. Furthermore, project objectives are also closely linked to objectives that foster local development and sustainable development of resources associated to indigenous peoples (SDGs 11, 13, and 15).

According to Gallego and Navarro, the goals have been met thanks to co-responsibility by local stakeholders who attended the training and the sustainable management of the environment wherein they live. During upcoming weeks, the UMH investigative team will continue monitoring the project along with leaders from different locations in order to resolve possible doubts and to confirm that the communities have been able to implement the techniques presented to them.

[Show as slideshow]