The Ivorian Ministry of Water and Forests wants to develop the San Pedro lake. Located between two large industrial areas and bordering the districts of Lac, Cité and the industrial area of San Pedro, the body of water faces several challenges, including pollution by waste.
Through the development of San Pedro Lake, the Ivorian Ministry of Water and Forests wants to secure this body of water and the wildlife it shelters. Fed by the waters of both the Digboué lagoon and the San Pedro river, this lake is affected by human activities.
Lake San Pedro has become a dumping ground for industrial, household, medical, electronic and sewage waste. Added to this is “the galloping urbanisation with the phenomenon of landfill and the construction of housing estates which have reduced the initial surface area of the lake by 45% between 1986 and 2015, seriously threatening its existence”, explains Laurent Tchagba, the Ivorian Minister of Water and Forests.
The Ivorian authorities are therefore preparing a development plan to stop the construction of housing estates and the filling in of 25 m of the banks. The plan should also include awareness campaigns for elected officials and the population, with the support of the prefectural authorities.
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While waiting for the implementation of this project, the Ivorian Minister of Water and Forests, Laurent Tchagba, suggested the planting of trees in the area of the immediate perimeter of Lake San Pedro, which is home to a total of 14 species of waterbirds, or 3,150 birds according to the Programme for the Counting and Identification of Waterbirds (DIOE) implemented by the San Pedro forestry services in January 2022.
Lake San Pedro is ranked as the second most important site by the DIOE programme, funded and coordinated by Wetlands International (WI) and its partners. The international programme for ecological monitoring of birdlife is deployed through several identified and listed sites around the world.
Inès Magoum
