By Haruna Kuyateh
Youths Against Climate Change Association, a community-based organization in Farafenni has conducted a three-day capacity-building training on mangrove restoration and climate mitigation methods for farmers in the North Bank Region.
The training, held in Farafenni, Upper Badibou, was organized with support from the Global Climate Fund (GCF) under the Baobolong Wetland Reserve Environment Enhancement Project for Sustainable Livelihoods (BEEBLS).
Ensa Touray, Director of Youths Against Climate Change Association, said the project aimed to empower women gardeners with skills in climate-smart agriculture while improving livelihoods and strengthening environmental protection.
He said the project had supported the fencing of five hectares of community forest in Balingho, the drilling of a borehole with a 30,000-litre water tank, and the establishment of nurseries for raising tree seedlings.
Touray said the project was working with 10 communities, five within the Baobolong area and five outside it.
He said each community would produce 500 seedlings of different forest species, bringing the total target to 50,000 seedlings.
Touray called on beneficiaries to take an active role in the project and support efforts to raise the targeted seedlings and restore degraded forest areas in their communities.
Tamba Jammeh, a lead trainer and environmentalist, described the intervention as timely, saying the effects of deforestation, windstorms and rising temperatures were increasingly affecting livelihoods and health.
He said the loss of mangrove vegetation in wetland and upland areas had contributed to saltwater intrusion into rice fields, resulting in reduced food production and poor nutritional outcomes.
Jammeh encouraged communities to plant mangroves and Avicennia species to help restore forest cover and protect biodiversity.
Alagie Jammeh of Girom and Aminata Fatty of Balingho were among the speakers that hailed the move.