The Gambia is taking action on climate change adaptation, addressing its vulnerability to flood disaster risks by establishing a state-of-the-art, end-to-end early warning system.
UNESCO is providing technical expertise to develop the system, which will benefit from the latest technologies, such as drones, as well as strengthened coordination and communication networks based on local knowledge and response capacities.
The project is implemented, thanks to support from the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, by UNESCO in coordination with the National Disaster Management Agency. It was launched on 17 July in Banjul.
“The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lists The Gambia among the 100 critical countries most vulnerable to climate change and particularly susceptible to weather related hazards,” reminded Vice President Dr Isatou Touray, as she opened discussions. Congratulating partners on their support, she pleaded to all stakeholder to act through this project to protect lives and assets from such potential loses.
The launch was followed by a technical workshop, held on 18-19 July. Planning and coordination activities were led by the project management team, with the participation of technical officers from various public agencies in the Gambia that will participate in project activities. Thanks to a budget of $1.2 million over a period of 2 years, this project will purchase technology, including drones, telecommunication equipment, water and weather measurement and analysis tools. It will also design and roll-out a process for data collection, integration, analysis and communication of alerts or requests for action; and establish a blue print early warning system including plans, trainings and drills to enhance preparedness.
At this project’s conclusion, The Gambia will be able to deploy drones and other technologies for disaster and climate risk assessments, as well as for rapid identification of damage to the physical environment and of endangered individuals in post-disaster situations.
Who cares about DRONES! This is what I want.
Tell those responsible for cutting down our trees/our forest to STOP.
Impact of flood is directly related to irresponsible environmental policy. It’s like you set my compound on fire and you say “don’t worry, I will let you know before you get burnt” Makes no sense. This is what I say.
1. Put a moratorium on logging/deforestation for the next 10 years.
2. Those who are in the business of logging, those who derive profit from logging must plant 100 trees for every tree cut down.
3. Logging companies must pay for flood maps and protect all communities down stream.
4. Ministry of agriculture must commission a study on the impact of flooding on our crops.
Thank you for the drones though. I am sure they are a good early warning system.
As I mentioned last time on my comments, most people in Gambia don’t understand the important of the forests, and many will choose to be ignorant and go ahead for deforestation just to make money. If this continues for the next fifty years, there will be no forests at all and the land will become like Sahara, perhaps no rainfall and water table in ground will be unreachable for drinking purposes and live expectancies will be very low as a result of the environmental impact. We need forests around every community every where as part of our lives, we breath through the exchange of what coming out from these trees and keep the environment cool and much more.
Yesterday, July 29th, 2019, something special happened on our continent.
Ethiopia planted 353 million trees in 12 hrs as part of their reforestation campaign called Green Legacy. My hope is that my country will learn from this.
Ofcourse government should take lead on this issues and ensure people get the education they need so that the gold and the objective can meet. In Europe you cannot cut down any trees without permission and every tree standing wether is in your property or not are counted and allocated, therefore they take this seriously any one get caught messing with these trees will be fine up £50,000 or imprison.