2. Water for ecosystems: Application of environmental flows for the restoration of ecosystems in the lower Senegal Delta Amadou Matar Diouf and Jean-Marc Garreau, IUCN Central and West Africa Programme

3. In the Sahel region, the floods are the lifeline of the sedentary populations and nomadic livestock keepers in the Delta of Senegal river. In the 1970’s the Senegal river basin organisation proposed to solve the food crisis by intensive irrigated rice production and decided to build two dams leading to : - Termination of flooding of the lower valley of right bank - Destruction of the estuarine and mangrove ecosystems - Spectacular increase in soil salinity in the floodplain “A dusty saline desert with a few sickly looking cows”

5. The Diama dam

6. To compensate for the environmental losses ensuing the dam construction, it was accepted to create an artificial estuary The restoration of the wetlands achieved through the construction and/or improved management of small-scale hydraulic infrastructures This has been the starting point of the creation of a protected area in the Mauritanian part of the delta and the design of a management plan Management plan developed with local population, built on their knowledge of water courses, upon their vision of the use of natural resources. Conducted artificial flood releases largely on the basis of a trial-and error approach

7. Sluice gates and embankments

8. The results : The fish and shrimp populations, which were severely reduced, have now dramatically increased. The conditions of groundwater recharge have improved, which boots gardening activities in the villages Women have resumed their traditional mat weaving activities, using sticks of Sporobolus robustus et the fruits of Acacia nilotica  these species having regenerated The Diawling National Park has become a zone of seasonal transit for thousands of migratory birds, being able to attract tourism. The people which have migrated after severe conditions have come back, the social structure have been rebuilt

9. Recommendations to ensure equitable sharing of water resources that will conserve both ecosystems and support people? It is a mistake to assume the opportunity costs of altering the natural flow of a river to be zero. It is difficult to determine if local communities really benefited from the venture or were net losers. In any case, it seems evident that the benefits of the free flowing river were neglected. In contexts of limited data availability as is often the case in Africa, local people’s knowledge can be an excellent source of information for determining empirically ecosystem water needs. Lack of hydrological data should not be therefore an excuse for not developing and implementing “environmental flows”. Ecosystem needs are often synchronised with the needs of poor people whose livelihoods are largely based on flood-dependent activities such as fishing, gathering wild products, livestock rearing, etc… After the experience in the Delta of Senegal, the Permanent Water Commission has added the Environment into the management priorities of the River Senegal along with industry, agriculture and navigation. There is a need to further disseminate the Water Charter of the Senegal River to consolidate the cooperation between the local level and the basin wide level.