Coastal tourism - the climate change threat
In The Gambia, sandy beaches are being lost to rising sea levels and intense storms
© Heico Neumeyer/Flickr
Kotu Strand in The Gambia is a beach area with many tourist hotels, attracting visitors from around the world. But in recent years, erosion by the sea has washed much of the sand away, leaving narrower beaches and threatening local hotels, bars and restaurants with flooding. Saidou Mballow is the manager of Solomon’s Fish Hut, which has been serving tourists for many years. He describes what he and other business owners are doing to protect their buildings, and urges the national government and international community to take urgent action to tackle coastal erosion, sea level rise and climate change.
Broadcast information
Suggested introduction:
Around the coastline of Africa, the tourism industry provides jobs and income to millions of local people, including staff in hotels and restaurants, as well as the farmers and fishermen who supply them with fresh food. But in many areas, coastal industries including tourism and agriculture are under threat from problems associated with climate change. Higher sea levels and increasingly damaging storms are destroying the natural resources and man-made infrastructure that underpin coastal livelihoods, including beaches, fields, buildings and roads.
Ismaila Senghore recently visited Kotu Strand, a beach in The Gambia, to find out what impacts were being felt there by local business owners and what can be done about the problem. He sent this report.
Closing Announcement:
Ismaila Senghore reporting from The Gambia. This interview is one in a series supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network.
Further information:
Making the most of it:
Saidou Mballow’s livelihood is being dramatically affected by climate change. Identify some local business people facing similar issues, either in a coastal situation or working in the tourism industry. Do they have a message for international leaders, or local authorities? And what are they doing themselves to cope with the challenges?
Search Agfax
Email update
To be notified when new Agfax reports come online, write your email address in the box below.
Climate change
Environment
- Unleashing the energy in waste
- Bee-keeping for income and forest protection
- Earning payments from tree planting
- Clean cooking stoves - improving health for people and the planet
- Making rangelands secure - the learning journey begins
- Charcoal from bamboo - the greener option
- Oyster-culture protects mangroves
West Africa
Agfax is a