City growth threatening Ivory Coast's vital wetlands

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00:00This sacred land is one of the last mangrove oases in this area.

00:04Out of this vegetation, which used to cover over 500 square kilometres of coastline in the 1970s,

00:09only 30 kilometres remain.

00:14Originally, this mangrove forest was where fish came to reproduce.

00:17It was an area very rich in fish.

00:19As the city of Abidjan grew, there were land grabs.

00:23People came to us with land titles.

00:25We don't know by what magic they got them.

00:27The administration told us that it has not produced any document

00:30that gives authorisation to destroy the mangrove.

00:33There are people who have great political support

00:35and in the administration who commit abuses, and that's the result.

00:54In many cases, the areas which have been refilled

00:56are wetlands which are critical for the environment.

00:59Refilling makes them suitable for building.

01:05Wet ecosystems are the areas that drain water.

01:09When there is a lot of rain, they hold water

01:11and allow infiltration into the water table, a slow infiltration.

01:16When it's backfilled, it's closed, it blocks the system.

01:21The erosion becomes strong and then it causes flooding.

01:28Ivory Coast's Ministry of Construction has been trying to stop this.

01:34We have adopted the Construction and Housing Code

01:36and the Urban Planning and Land Code, to name but a few.

01:41The second thing is stepping up inspections

01:43to prevent uncontrolled construction.

01:47Ivory Coast has struggled to preserve the Bassam coastline

01:50despite it being a Ramsar site,

01:52a convention which identifies wetlands of international importance.

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