After years of decline, Gambia’s natural spaces are on the mend

With waves rippling from its bow, a small motorboat shoots across the languid Gambia River, the rat-tattle of its outboard motor echoing out across the waterway.  

The boat belongs to the Gambian navy and the three sailors onboard are on the hunt for illegal fishing nets. The nets, with their small openings, indiscriminately scoop up juvenile fish before they can breed, depleting stocks and worsening poverty in the Gambia—the smallest country on the African mainland—where many communities rely almost entirely on fishing. “It's very, very important to protect the juveniles so that our future generations can [still] fish in this region,” says Chief Petty Officer Sainey Ngum. 

The patrols are part of a wide-ranging conservation effort that has seen the Gambia protect and restore 340 square kilometres of rivers, coasts and forests during the last five years. That is nearly 3 per cent of the country’s surface area. The push—which has been supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility— has helped create jobs, reverse years of environmental decline, and give communities a voice in managing the nature that surrounds them, say experts.  

“This is a powerful example of how national action, driven by community leadership and innovative policies, can preserve biodiversity and create a better future for everyday people,” says Emmanuel Adonsou from UNEP, who oversees the project. 

The Gambia occupies a narrow strip of land—just 25 km across in places—straddling the Gambia River, one of West Africa’s longest waterways. With about 2.5 million people occupying a territory smaller than Qatar, it is among Africa’s most densely populated countries.  

In recent years, rising demand for food and natural resources has put increasing pressure on the country’s wild spaces. Wetlands have been drained to make way for farms, mangrove forests have been felled for firewood and animal habitats have been diced up by roads. This has caused landscapes to wither and biodiversity to plummet, Adounsou says, deepening poverty in parts of a country where one in two people are considered destitute. 

But in a joint effort, UNEP, the Global Environment Facility and Gambian authorities are working to change that driving initiatives to balance conservation with economic needs.  

Since the project launched in 2020, experts have provided data for Gambia’s central government to update its land-use planning policies and create regulations to protect and revive natural spaces. That work has laid the ground to create four indigenously managed conservation areas and a 40-square-kilometre marine protected area along the Allahein River, a biodiversity hotspot near the border with Senegal. The project dovetails with the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a landmark agreement that aims to, among other things, conserve 30 per cent of coasts and inland water bodies 2030. Observers say the project, which combines conservation with improvements to local living standards, could serve as a model for implementing the framework. 

Teams are also supporting the creation of a community-managed wildlife corridor that would link protected spaces home to keystone species, like hippos, as well as manatees, red colobus monkeys and several types of migratory birds. The Gambia is a key waypoint on the journey south for many avian species, Adounsou adds. 

As well, teams have worked with local officials and community members to develop skills for the sustainable management of natural resources in the Kuntaur Local Government Area in the Gambia’s Central River Region. Along the banks of the Gambia River, arborists trained 16,000 people in how to plant and sustainably manage mangroves. The trees are a haven for aquatic life, like oysters, which are predominantly farmed by women.  

Oyster farmer Fatou Jadama says the return of the trees has led to a surge in catches. “Mangroves have so many advantages,” she says.  

Creating economic opportunities for women has been a key part of the project. Along with supporting oyster farmers, project experts helped women build community vegetable gardens and branch out into sustainable income generating  practices, like beekeeping. 

Teams also worked with leaders of Wasu Village to build an environmental justice centre where those suspected of illegal fishing could be tried. Before the construction of the center trials were held under a tree, says Chief Pierre Bah. The building, he says, makes it easier for community elders to deliberate cases and plan environmental welfare projects designed to benefit the community. 

One visible change in the community of Lamin Koto is the construction of a small naval base. Ngum, the chief petty officer, says before the base was built, with project funding, sailors had been living in tents, and were sweltering in Gambia’s tropical climate. The base has made it possible for the navy to step up patrols in and around the River Gambia National Park, once a hotbed of illegal fishing, says Ngum. 

On a late afternoon in December, with the setting sun casting a red glow over the river, Ngum and his team inspect nets curled up on the riverbank. Ngum grabs one and attempts to squeeze four fingers through its openings but they become wedged. 

“That means this is no good. It’s too small. It will catch the juvenile fish,” he says reeling the net in and putting it inside his motorboat.  

Local fisher Mohammed Conteh credits the navy patrols with scaring off illegal anglers and bolstering local catches.  

“Their work is very important because even if you don’t see them, you hear the sound of their boat engine,” he says. “We know that they are helping us, and we pray that their work progresses.” 

The planet is experiencing a dangerous decline in nature. One million species are threatened with extinction, soil health is declining and water sources are drying up. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework sets out global targets to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. It was adopted by world leaders in December 2022. To address the drivers of the nature crisis, UNEP is working with partners to take action in landscapes and seascapes, transform our food systems, and close the finance gap for nature.     

The  Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral fund dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health. Its grants, blended financing, and policy support helps developing countries address their biggest environmental priorities and adhere to international environmental conventions. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than US$22 billion in financing and mobilized another US$120 billion for more than 5,000 national and regional projects.