Witnessing Climate Change in the Sahel

The photo above is from Djangoula Kita in Mali. The most vulnerable of the world, like the residents of Djangoula Kita, are the people experiencing the largest effects of climate change--they have little to no option to technologically adapt in the face of a degrading ecosystem.

This past spring, Molly Burhans, GLP director, and Christopher Hendershot helped plan water infrastructure with the NGO, Mali Nyeta, in Djangoula Kita and Djangoula Foulala, Mali, West Africa. Djangoula Kita is located in the Sahel region of Africa. According to USAID reports, USGS data, and interviews with village residents, the village has been experiencing significantly diminished rainy seasons for over two decades. They have no potable water in this village, except one drilled hand-pump well that reaches the aquifer 25m below the surface. Partially because of poor water quality, they have an infant mortality rate of 1/3. If the aquifer drops too much, that well will no longer be a viable source of water. Molly and Chris met the US Ambassador for Mali, Mary Beth Leonard, before working over-seas in this village. While discussing the environment she emphasized that increasing desertification in the region, as the Sahara encroaches from the north, is tied with social unrest. It is well documented that extremist militant groups, like Boko Haram, have increasingly more power over people as resources become scarce, and these groups become one of the few providers of resources. The ecological and the social are integrally connected--they must be considered together. Damage to the environment today, damages society tomorrow and vice versa. 

Author: Molly Burhans
www.goodlandproject.org

CO2: We Can Make a Big Difference.

One pressing message that can be inferred from the video below is that change that will effectively decrease CO2 concentrations needs to happen, now - we believe it still can, to a significant degree, and that a careful approach to the Church's land holdings could result in a globally positive impact on reducing CO2 concentrations.

In the face of climate change, we believe that it is essential for the Church’s large land holdings to be planned and managed in ways that can help decrease, or at least not contribute to, the effects of climate change. We are building mapping models and will be using spatial analysis techniques to make sure that changes on Catholic Church lands are optimized to have the greatest potential positive impact on local environmental and social factors. Analyses can reveal where small changes can make a big difference for the ecological integrity of a site or pressing social justice issues within an area. The analysis results will be presented as a series of environmental and social justice metrics and reveal how communities can best benefit from selections from a set of optimized design templates, land-use suggestions, and outreach opportunities. This will allow us to engage with Catholic communities and connect them with the resources and organizations that they need to work with to make the changes happen on site. 

Work, such as that accomplished by Project Drawdown, has highlighted the incredible efficacy, and necessity, of engaging land-based solutions to help to decrease overall CO2 levels. An ecological approach can not only help address pressing environmental concerns, such as CO2 levels; it can also help communities. Approaching the land with an ecological design foundation, we integrally value aesthetics and the social factors that create a space. We know that some sites can serve both people and the environment, without greatly compromising either the ecological integrity or the human experience of that area.

goodlandproject.org