From environmental planning to West Africa

In 2015 the association was going through a change of generations. The general meeting of 15 November 2015 added sustainable development to its aims, revised the statutes, moved its seat from Mechernich in the Eifel to Krefeld and changed its name. Since then the focus of our work has been West Africa.

Since 2015 we have worked in Guereo, a fishing village some 70 kilometres south of Dakar. The village lies between the Somone lagoon and Cap de Naze with the Popenguine nature reserve, at a dead end: there is no coastal road, neither across the mouth of the Somone to the south nor over the cape to the north. Fortunately for nature and the landscape.

We are a small, transparent organisation, and our strength is our closeness to the people and organisations on the ground. Members of the association spend long periods in Guereo regularly and know the conditions and the people involved. Decisions are made on site, not in Krefeld.

Our members’ fields range from geography, geology, soil science and landscape ecology to economics, management and sociology. This breadth guards against tunnel vision and bad decisions.

What we do should bring lasting improvements to people’s living conditions while protecting nature and the environment. We want to learn from each other with mutual respect. We place particular emphasis on strengthening women: through training, and by turning their work into an income.