Earlier in 2025, Samantha Walsh, Segolene Xavier Miller and their team from SOS SAHEL successfully launched the Biodiversity Mapping in Transfrontier Savannahs of Senegal and Chad project in Senegal. Building on the first highlight from SOS SAHEL published in August 2025, we are pleased to share a continuing first person account of the project as it made foundational steps in rural Chad.
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Guéra Region, Chad — Over several days, we sat down with customary chiefs, local authorities and technical services across Aboutour, Tchalo Ideva and Barlo villages to launch community-led biodiversity monitoring. We aligned on why biodiversity matters to food, water, energy and health—and agreed how local people will watch over the species and sites that sustain them.
We have already identified 24 local observers, including women and youth and will document priority species, track pressures such as fires or illegal cutting, and share evidence through open platforms so that data is continuous, locally owned and immediately useful. Technical services and municipal leaders committed to staying at the table.
Abtouyour’s natural assets are rich yet fragile. Shrub-savanna mosaics, mountain foothills and seasonal valleys support crops, grazing, and wild foods; yet woodcutting, over harvesting, overgrazing, bushfires, erosion, and erratic rains continue to increase pressure. Communities highlighted a handful of keystone trees and useful herbaceous plants that anchor diets and incomes and highlighted clear signals that land, water, and biodiversity must be managed together.
What comes next? We’ll consolidate a local observing network with short training cycles, practical field mentoring, and simple protocols on the iNaturalist platform, so observations remain continuous, reliable, and community-owned. The aim is not just a baseline, but a lasting community capacity in Abtouyour to watch, learn, and act—season after season.
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Read more about the Biodiversity Mapping in Transfrontier Savannahs of Senegal and Chad project here.