Despite enormous challenges, a project initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) – within the framework of the Biosphere and Heritage of Lake Chad (BIOPALT) – has begun to enable inhabitants to live and work peacefully on the shores of this vital source of water shared by more than 45 million people.

Since the beginning of the 1970s, the basin has been suffering from an anthropo-ecological imbalance, worsened by climate change.

Shared between Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Chad, the main challenges the project is addressing are: insecurity, by restoring peace and security in the countries of the Lake Chad basin; ecological problems, by conserving the biodiversity and management of ecosystems and their rehabilitation; and socioeconomic, by reviving agricultural, pastoral and fish farming activities, reducing poverty and introducing inclusive and participatory governance.

The project was launched in 2018 for a period of four years. The aim was to take stock of the region’s natural resources so that they could be managed more sustainably. The region abounds in exceptional biodiversity symbolised by the presence of biosphere reserves and wetlands of international importance.

Within the BIOPALT project, UNESCO is applying the principles of its Man and the Biosphere programme to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments. It combines the natural and social sciences to improve human livelihoods and safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, promote innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.

According to UNESCO, these activities range from the creation of an early warning system for droughts and floods to the re-establishment of a fishing industry and the production of lucerne for the endemic Kouri cow, which plays an important role in social cohesion.

To carry out these initiatives, a participatory approach has been adopted, aiming to instil knowledge, training and building capacities, as well as promoting rehabilitation and sustainability. Partners in this project include scientists from universities of the member countries of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, as well as international institutions, non-governmental organisations and associations. The work carried out is validated by a scientific and technical council.

Since the start of the project, 13 studies have been carried out on the biodiversity, hydrology, culture and socioeconomic aspects of the basin, examining the hydro-climatic risks, the quality of the water, the biological and cultural diversity and the variability and resilience to the climate.

At least 2,000 people have been trained in the peaceful management of natural resources, conflict prevention and sustainable conservation.

A biosphere reserve has been created, with a proposal for two more.

Two new community radio stations encourage the prevention of violent extremism, the promotion of peace, environmental protection and sustainable development.

Seven income-generating activities relating to beekeeping, fish farming, agro-ecological market gardening, rice growing and arboriculture have been created. They were launched with 20,000 beneficiaries to diversify their sources of income and strengthen their socioeconomic resilience in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Three ecological restoration techniques have also been developed, allowing the rehabilitation of degraded lands and the improvement of community skills.

Communication actions – website, newsletters and events – aim to publicise the project.

About 80% of the activities planned in the framework of the BIOPALT action plan have been carried out so far. There remains: the finalisation of four publications, a bio-ecological and socioeconomic study in Kalamaloué, Cameroon; a regional workshop relating to the promotion of a World Heritage site; the finalisation of the massive online open course (MOOC) on the reserves of biosphere; and a proposal to inscript the area to a World Heritage site.

Ecological restoration is already under way. Cross-border transhumance has been promoted and mobile pastoral schools are a possibility. A synergy of action between education and literacy is being set up with other initiatives, for example the Project to Strengthen Education and Literacy (PREAT).

Training and capacity-building on the peaceful management of natural resources, based on UNESCO’s From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential (PCCP) approach, has also been developed, as has the strengthening of cross-border cooperation, regional integration and the realisation of dossiers for the inscription of Lake Chad to be placed on the World Heritage list.

In Niger, income-generating activities have strengthened the socioeconomic resilience of nearly 30,000 people, including 13,000 women.

The 5 km² Djonaha pond, the economic lung for thousands of people, has for many years faced the problem of silting up and the invasion by Typha australis, which could lead to its disappearance. The BIOPALT project has enabled the pond to be rehabilitated by helping the fishermen to remove the Typha australis, planting Bauhinia rufescens as a hedgerow to combat wind erosion and filling the pond with 3,000 fingerlings.

UNESCO said that in the villages of Andirni and Djermé in Cameroon, the women were now using ecological stoves made by themselves from local materials. Since then, they have needed less wood to cook and the stoves produce very little smoke.

Further key objectives of the BIOPALT project are to reduce the food insecurity of the local population and to lead women to income-generating activities that could see their income levels increase by more than 50% by the end of the project. For example, women have been supported in various projects for growing cash crops, through the distribution of improved seeds for growing onions, millet, sorghum and groundnuts.

In this region, where climate change and desertification have considerably deteriorated the physical environment, the women aim to plant 1,000 fruit trees, such as mango. These will not only contribute to the reforestation of the Waza Biosphere Reserve but will also provide food and income for many families, said UNESCO.

In Nigeria, the Hadejia-Nguru-Bade Biosphere Reserve has also been affected by Typha. The solution proposed to farmers in the BIOPALT project was to produce fodder from this rhizomatous root to generate economic benefits while helping to reduce its expansion and environmental effect.

In the whole Lake Chad region, the Kouri cow, an endemic species, is of great importance. It confers prestige and is a source of pride for the breeders. It maintains a centuries-old tradition of nomadism strongly rooted in the cultural identity of local communities.

However, the species has been weakened by the shrinking of the lake as it does not tolerate the dune and arid areas resulting from drought. The BIOPALT project has been supporting the training of farmers in the production, exploitation and marketing of lucerne for livestock in a specially created 5ha forage farm. Since then, milk production has increased to 10 litres a day per cow, allowing the sale of by-products, such as butter and curdled milk.  Almost 5,000 people benefit from this activity.

Bevia Respa lives in Bol, in Chad. Nicknamed “The Woman of the Lake”, she has made the fight against malnutrition her battle horse. To achieve this, she relies on spirulina, a protein-rich algae that grows in the lake’s water table. The BIOPALT project has been accompanying Respa in the labelling of this nutraceutical algae.